Women make a statement at Miguel Rodez Art Projects.

Eight women took over the visual space at Miguel Rodez Art Projects during the presentation of “A Woman’s Perspective.” No one could miss an impressive installation by Ana Maria Sarlat. Through it, she paid homage to the sacrifice that women make to ensure their family’s survival. Some, like her mother, risk it all to come to America and perform hard labor jobs to earn a living.  Sarlat’s installation consisted of a large format, highly expressionistic, painting that suggests a woman’s figure bending over to pick something from rows of aggressive green strokes and splotches of red paint alluding to a Homestead tomato field. The canvas is overcome by muted tones suggesting a memory rather than a documental image. Her mother, who left a life of leisure in Cuba to flee political persecution, worked her once-manicured hands into red-tinged callouses, as she performed farm work in America to support her family. Sarlat’s canvas was stretched and affixed to the wall with organic material before actual rows of real flowering and fruiting tomato plants that took up nearly half of one of the rooms of the gallery space. Tomato perfume from the blooming plants permeated the gallery. Another impressive installation by Karen Schnell-Chisholm took up a hallway. Her contributions consisted of eight weavings that hung not flat against the wall but protruding from it as a color colonnade waiting to be traversed. Natacha Perdomo, an artist who had been dedicating herself to making amazing wearable art was inspired to creating larger more sculptural pieces for the show. Her contributions, ladened with precious and semiprecious stones and metals, hung prominently on one of the walls. Elsa Roberto’s edgy fine art photography of a brutally dramatic man made a memorable impression and was balanced by sensual, yet strong large format photographs by Meg Pukel. Astrid Alcayaga’s mixed media sculpture suggested that God is a woman, while Laura Luna’s bronze sculptures had women transitioning into a different dimension. Candida Rodriguez filled one of the gallery walls with two large paintings about relationships among women. Miguel Rodez reported that curating and dealing with the logistics for “A Woman’s Perspective” were a challenge, but the show, which took place on October 20, 2012, was among one of the most well-attended and among the most memorable at the gallery.

Opening the Way: Miguel Rodez Art Project

With the show “Drawn from Within” Miguel Rodez Arts Project presented its initial show during the September 15, 2012 Bird Road Art Wallk. The initial presentation showcased the work of seven artists and provided viewers with an exploration of the drawing medium.  These artists demonstrated some of the various means of marking paper to create drawings by using different techniques and by using various materials, such as graphite, charcoal, ink, oil crayons, chalk etc..  This event began an art project which was anticipated would have a two-year run.  It gave Miguel Rodez an opportunity to exhibit his work in carefully curated exhibits, while giving other selected artists the opportunity to do the same.  The artists who participated in the first show were: Antonio Guerrero; Frank Izquierdo; Orocoro; Miguel Rodez; Leon Rosenblatt; Jorge Santos; and, Ana Maria Sarlat.  For most of these artists, this was their first time exhibiting at the Miami’s Bird Road Art District, which is considered the second largest art district in Florida.

The first Art-Walk of 2012 begins at the new Coral Gables Museum

Giants in the City, sculpture Velocity by Miguel Rodez at Art Basel Miami Cuban Latin American artist

On the first Friday of 2012, a night of fine arts and music awaits Gables art-walk enthusiasts at the new Coral Gables Museum’s Plaza, located just around the corner from Books & Books.

That is where the Art in the Breezeway Project led by Mike Thompson will present its monthly al-fresco art offerings. For years, the successful Art in the Breezeway Project has hosted established and emerging artists in a group show that is free to the public, yet manages to raise funds from voluntary donations to purchase art supplies for students.

Miguel Rodez will be the principal featured artist of the group show while the popular Hal Roland will be the night’s pianist.

Some may recall artist Miguel Rodez from the days when he served as Chair of Miami Dade’s Arts in Public Places during the mid-1990s; from his stint as Editor of Herencia Magazine; from a show at Coral Gables Domingo Padron Gallery this past year; or, from exhibits of his giant inflatables sculptures with the International Giants in the City exhibit. One of his “giants” was most recently exhibited at Bayfront Park during Art Basel Week 2011. Miguel Rodez is a comprehensive artist who expresses himself through an amazing variety of media. At the Museum Plaza, Rodez will exhibit paintings, drawings, fine art photography and two of his giant inflatable sculptures (“Lucky Link” and “Velocity”).

There is more in store for those who venture into the City Beautiful for that evening’s Art-Walk. Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason will be receiving his official portrait, created by artist Pery Franco pursuant to a commission by Mike Thompson. Several other fine artists will also have works gracing the night, including the following:

Henry Barnes
William Brito
Pery Franco
Rita V. Gaudry
Edgar Hernandez
Carole Hughes
Terry Jenssen
Sonia Kohler
Dawn Lovell
Miguel Rodez
Emilio Hector Rodriguez
Mike Thompson
Katrisk Toimil
Others

To RSVP click here

Miguel Rodez “Giants in the City” Bayfront Park 2011

Velocity: Whether one thinks of an ancient hunter in pursuit of elusive prey, a warrior’s weapon, work tools or modern man’s quest to conquer the bounds of the celestial realm, speed has always played a role in the process of our specie’s survival. In the sculpture Velocity, artist Miguel Rodez points to elements that suggest speed, such as an arrowhead, a drill bit, a propeller or the quills of an early rocket design to suggest the concept of speed.

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Giants in the City

IRREVERSIBLE hosted the show GIANTS IN THE CITY last June at Miami Beach Botanical Garden. The show included top artists from around the world, such as America [Frank Hyder and others] Argentina [Mariano Costa Peuser] Cuba [Jose Bedia and others] Japan [Maki Hashizume] Haiti [Eduard Duval-Carrie], Italy/PR [Gino Tozzi], Mexico [Othon Castaneda] South Africa [Anja Marais] and Venezuela [Noor Blazekovic].

“Imagine Liberation”

On May 6, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., the Domingo Padron Gallery, hosted a significant portion of the painting collection “Imagine Liberation” as a month-long solo show for artist Miguel Rodez. The first piece in the Imagine Liberation collection began with a giant inflatable sculpture about 10 meters high that Mr. Rodez designed for the 2010 Giants in the City exhibit curated by Alejandro Mendoza. Creating that giant sculpture unleashed a massive rush of inspiration that resulted in a flood of paintings, some of which form part of the show, which also included an installation of thick chains hanging from the ceiling.

Thanks to the efforts of Madelyn Padron and fellow artist Miguel Fleitas, the event was a huge success that packed the house. Distinguished Chilean curator Fernando Alessandri served as the Master of Ceremonies and delivered a presentation featuring the curator’s impressions of Miguel Rodez’s works.

For years, Artistic Director Madelyn Padron has been the engine that runs the gallery that her father Domingo Padron founded over 20 years ago. It is one of the oldest and best established galleries in Coral Gables, only seven blocks south of the famed Calle Ocho. Together with curator Fernando Alessandri, the gallery selects works for exhibition based on the quality, innovation and significance of the work. This gallery has served as an important step for emerging and mid carreer artists seeking to make their mark in the South Florida art scene. It is an international gallery that caters to a clientele devoted mostly to American, Cuban and Latin American art.

The universal appeal of Miguel Rodez artwork was a hit with the crowd, which included some notable personalities from South Florida’s art, culture and legal community. It a ppears that this was a memorable show that left a lasting impression on the viewers.