Brazil: Art for a Tropical Democracy

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU to Present Exhibition of Works by Brazilian Artists in 2018

 

MIAMI [ ABN NEWS ] — The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU is partnering with the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University to present in 2018 the exhibition Brazil: Art for a Tropical Democracy.

This groundbreaking exhibition will feature works by Brazilian artists that address the origins and development of biomorphic and environmentally-informed art, architecture, and industrial design in Brazil, from the 1950s to today. The project will for the first time in the U.S. feature Brazilian artists whose works are rooted in the distinctive ecological and topographical environment of Brazil.

 

 

Brazil is a major player in top international museums, the art market, and histories of modern and contemporary art. Brazil has also been a powerhouse in the fields of architecture, design and art for over a century, although many of these artists are still relatively new to the public in the United States. This exhibition (planned for 2018 in Miami) will bring together for the first time in the United States the work of some of the most important Brazilian artists, architects and designers from the post-war era to today and present them to new audiences in the United States.

The exhibition, the first of its kind in the U.S., will foster a dialogue about the role of environmentally informed Brazilian art, architecture, and design and how art can affect environmental politics, a major topic of discussion in the world today, and especially in Miami.

 

 

The Director of the Museum, Dr. Pomeroy traveled to Brazil from March 1-12 to several cities – she met with the Brazilian Directors of museums, art galleries, cultural institutions, private art collections and artists’ studios. The purpose was to plan this major exhibition of Brazilian art at the museum in Miami. Joining Dr. Pomeroy from Miami was Klaudio Rodriguez, the Curator of the Frost Art Museum.

 

 

 
 

On her recent trip to Brazil, Dr. Pomeroy (along with the Frost Art Museum’s Curator, Klaudio Rodriguez) viewed collections of artwork by many Brazilian artists, including: Ernesto Neto, Helio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Albano Alfonso, Katie van Scherpemberg, Solange Mahalhaes, Burle Marx, Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Sergio Rodrigues, Tarsila do Amaral, Anisio Medeiros, Paulo Werneck, and more. The cities that Dr. Pomeroy is traveling to are: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Belo Horizonte.

 

 

About The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University (the Smithsonian Affiliate in Miami) opened its current 46,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building in November 2008. One of the largest free-standing art museums in South Florida, the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum has welcomed more than 40,000 visitors per year since its original founding in 1977.

 

 

The Frost has a threefold mission: to be a campus resource for the entire FIU community, to offer interdisciplinary training in the arts for the next generation of artists and art historians and to serve as a premier cultural destination for residents of and visitors to one of America’s most vibrant cities – Miami.

The museum was designed by Yann Weymouth, the chief of design on the I.M. Pei Grand Louvre Project. With 46,000 square feet of energy efficient exhibition, storage, and programming space, the museum achieved LEED silver certification.

As the only academic art museum in the City of Miami, the Frost Art Museum is an exceptional regional resource for scholarly research and interdisciplinary collaboration, contributing to FIU’s position as the center of knowledge and culture in South Florida.

Miami is just 55 square miles large, but it anchors a region vast in its diversity.

 

 

Sixty-five percent of the population identifies as Latino, a percentage reflected in FIU’s student population. Two-thirds of Miami-Dade residents speak a language other than English at home. South Florida deserves world-class arts institutions on par with those global cities, and the Frost Art Museum is proud to fill that role through the preservation and exhibition of art as diverse as the Miami communities we serve.

Miami looms large in the world’s imagination as a center of culture and commerce— a fact underscored by the 15 million travelers who come to the city every year — and its reputation as a global destination for the visual arts is second-to-none. In this space, the Frost Art Museum serves as an integral part of the Miami arts scene, with programming that attracts national and international visitors and media attention.

The Museum’s Green Critics’ Lecture Series has featured internationally renowned artists, critics, curators and scholars including Christo, Susan Sontag, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, John Cage and Marina Abramović.

Arts for All, a museum experience geared toward families with disabled children, has been prominently featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and the Associated Press. The museum also offers creative ageing programs for Senior Citizens.

Global Recognition

The Frost has received commendation from a wide array of international leaders in the arts. As the only Miami art museum that is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Frost is able to integrate Smithsonian collections into exhibitions, educational initiatives, and benefits from access to the Smithsonian’s expertise in conservation and development.

Additionally, the Frost is proud to be one of just two Florida arts institutions with works chosen for inclusion in the Google Art Project, which enables internet users worldwide to view works from the Frost’s collection through the power of Google Street View technology.

Admission to the Museum is always free. The Frost is an American Alliance of Museums accredited museum and Smithsonian Affiliate, and is located at 10975 SW 17th Street, across from the Blue Garage and adjacent to the Wertheim Performing Arts Center.

Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and most legal holidays. For more information, please visit www.thefrostfiu.edu or call 305-348-2890.

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU receives ongoing support from: The Steven and Dorothea Green Endowment; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners; Agustin Venero and the Venero Family; The Miami Herald; and the Members & Friends of The Frost Art Museum.