The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, in collaboration with the JW Marriott Miami, is honored to present 'Vibration in Color,' the latest and captivating solo exhibition by acclaimed Venezuelan visual artist Adriana Dorta. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore a deeply personal world where science and art converge, experiencing the movement, optical phenomena, and light effects that emerge from her innovative sculptures. Adriana's pieces dynamically and functionally encourage interaction with her audience, making for an engaging and immersive experience.
A selection of works from the Fine Arts Ceramic Center's collection traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the 57th Annual National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). In collaboration with The Annex Gallery, FACC presented a curated selection of recent pieces by artists Ivonne Ferrer, Milena Martínez Pedrosa, and Carlos Enrique Prado. Accompanying these works were a hundred original ceramic plates by Cuban artists and two ceramic murals crafted by Ciro Quintana. The Annex Gallery, operated by photographer and cultural promoter Jens G. Rosenkrantz, is situated within the Pendleton Art Center in the Annex Building. NCECA is a vibrant non-profit organization dedicated to fostering and sustaining a community of ceramic art, education, and learning.
In collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas in Kendall, the Ceramic League of Miami presented its annual exhibition, featuring a distinguished presentation by master ceramicist Tom Coleman. This esteemed artist delivered a keynote lecture on his work and the inspiring creative experiences that have shaped his career. Both institutions have joined forces to achieve the shared goal of promoting the appreciation of ceramic arts and educating their members and the general public on all aspects of this unique art form. This year, their classic annual members' exhibition was held in the galleries of MoCAA, in partnership with the Fine Arts Ceramic Center. For seven decades, the Ceramic League of Miami has been the leading organization for artists working in Miami-Dade County.
A selection from the ceramic plate collection of the Fine Arts Ceramic Center, affiliated with the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, was displayed in one of the rooms at Pinecrest Gardens, Florida, also known as the historic district of Parrot Jungle, located in Pinecrest, Florida. This installation has been listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places since October 17, 2011. The selection showcased a collection of original ceramic plates crafted by renowned Cuban artists. A total of 108 plates, all produced in the museum’s own workshop, were admired in this carefully curated exhibition by artist Carola Bravo, from the hARTtvest project. Each piece is a unique masterpiece that invites exploration of the rich culture and vibrant creativity of Cuban art.
On Friday, January 20, 2023, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas inaugurated the exhibition 'Manuscript in a Bottle' by the esteemed Cuban artist Arturo Montoto. The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas has graciously facilitated the presentation of a selection of his recent work to the South Florida community, marking his first solo exhibition in the United States—a rare opportunity to delve into his creative process. Montoto stands as a distinguished figure in Cuban art over the past decades, both nationally and internationally. 'Manuscript in a Bottle' showcases a collection of 12 pieces, most of which were created over the past year, with four works conceived specifically for this occasion. 'Manuscript in a Bottle' is also the first exhibition by a Cuban artist since the KAC's conversion into a museum.
On the evening of Friday, November 18th,the latest installment of acclaimed art magazine, C de Cuba, Issues 28, 29 and 30, were presented to the public after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this event the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas gave continuity to a longstanding and fruitful working relationship with the magazine’s editorial designer, Ximo Sánchez, currently based in Valencia, Spain. Sánchez has dedicated his long career to the publishing world, and in the promotion of Cuban art in Spain and the United States. The C de Cuba editorial project notably presents the magazine’s newest issues in art galleries, cultural and artistic institutions, art fairs and book fairs in the United States (Miami, New York), Cuba (Havana), and Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona).
In collaboration with the "Threading the City" event and the Fiber Artist Miami Association, this exhibition illuminates how artists blend and utilize textiles, fibers, and threads as innovative mediums in the creation of fine arts. "Subverting Materials: Textile and Fiber Art by Women Artists" adheres to the museum's policy of promoting and showcasing the work of female artists. The artists featured in this exhibition subvert expectations through the skill of their manual work, the masterful use of materials, and the conceptual strength of the messages and stories they convey. Each artist stands out and actively participates in a historic moment where those working with textiles, fibers, and other materials and techniques traditionally associated with handicrafts are breaking down barriers and establishing themselves in the field of contemporary art.
In collaboration with the Ceramic League of Miami, MoCAA hosted a conference and a master class for CLM members and those interested in ceramic arts in general. The event saw a large turnout and was deemed highly beneficial by many of the artists in attendance.Joe Robinson has been working with clay for 19 years. He has an MFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft, with a practice centered around wood firing and community building. As owner of the East Creek property since 2015, Joe’s focus is in furthering ceramic education through the continued operation of the historic East Creek Anagama and studio.
Conceived by artist, curator and gallerist Tony Khawam, Crossing Borders was an ongoing exhibition featuring the work of immigrant artists from Turkey, Israel, Syria, the UK, Cuba, Haiti, Columbia, and Venezuela. This fourth installment features the collaboration between Khawam Galleries, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas and Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus Gallery of Art, with MoCAA loaning the work of artist's Ivonne Ferrer and Jose Bedia. This exhibition focuses on the artists' cultural heritage intertwined with their American experience, and the impact of immigration and the new American culture on their lives and art making. The project is an art exhibition from South Florida’s rich multicultural community.
An exhibition completely composed of ceramic art featuring the work of 70 Cuban-American artists, curated by Ruth Grim was inaugurated at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona. Originally as Fine Arts on the Plate, this exhibition represents the expansion of Leonardo Rodriguez’s original vision, where a group of 50 artists from his permanent collection of paintings and sculptures, translate their style and subject matter into the ceramic arts. With the foundation of the Fine Arts Ceramic Center–the studio annex to the long-standing Kendall Art Cultural Center– Leonardo Rodriguez had the idea to create a line of work entirely composed of ceramic artworks, as a way to celebrate, champion and exhibit this understudied and underappreciated art form.
The Miami Power Team Art Festival 2022 was an event held to raise funds for children with terminal conditions and various disabilities from South Florida. The Kendall Art Center participated in the auction through the Rodríguez Collection, featuring renowned artists. Leonardo Rodríguez, the founder of KAC and owner of its collection, donated several serigraphs by celebrated Cuban artists Ciro Quintana and Pedro Vizcaíno. Since 1995, The Miami Power Team Foundation has ensured that children with disabilities and terminal illnesses have a fair chance in life. They provide these children with lasting memories through fun activities that were previously impossible due to their disabilities. Their cause also transforms the lives of their volunteers, helping them become better citizens.
In 1999, in response to the challenge issued by Pope John Paul II during his historic visit 'to help Cuba open to the world and the world open to Cuba,' Friends of Caritas Cuba was founded in Boston. Today, Friends of Caritas Cuba is Caritas Cuba’s largest worldwide donor. Leonardo Rodríguez, owner of the Rodriguez Collection, donated a significant piece by the renowned Cuban artist Ciro Quintana through the Kendall Art Center. The piece, titled "May I Present to You the Cuban Art," is an oil on canvas measuring 55 x 41 inches, created in 2019. Rodríguez acquired it the same year and has since sponsored the career of this important Cuban painter. "Giving Is Caring" is the motto of Caritas, a principle also embraced by the Kendall Art Center since its founding.
The Kendall Art Cultural Center had the distinct honor of donating a piece from the Rodríguez Collection by artist Pedro Ávila Gendis to the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center's Visual Arts Department. This donation not only seals future collaborations between both institutions but also acknowledges the MAR JCC's continued efforts to bring art to their community. Both the Kendall Art Center and the MAR JCC are committed to serving their community through the education and exchange of art, culture, and ideas. The Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching Jewish life by fostering its members' spiritual, emotional, and physical development through all of life's stages and circumstances.
KAC, in collaboration with Gustavo Scarrone, director of the Visual Arts Department and the Visual Arts Academy at the MAR JCC, presented the Show 'Timelines in Cuban Art: Selections from The Rodríguez Collection.' This exhibition brings together a carefully selected group of Cuban artists to create a special overview of contemporary Cuban art spanning almost 50 years. Addressing various aspects of art-making, media, styles, and themes, "Timelines" explores art's ability to communicate ideas, experiences, and cultural exchange. The objective of KAC is to educate and create an ongoing dialogue with the public about the concepts of contemporary art and its role in society.
The Women in the Arts program at the Kendall Art Center brought a selection of contemporary works in a wide variety of media to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach this January. The exhibition highlighted the artistic diversity of the Miami metropolitan area and showcased the vibrant energy of women artists from diverse cultural backgrounds who have been collected by Cuban-American businessman Leonardo Rodríguez and his family over the years. According to several experts, each of these artists has helped us understand that there is no such thing as 'female art.' Rather, art in general is shaped by culture, which conveys ideas about beauty, gender, power, and more, and can be a powerful tool for questioning issues of race, class, and identity.
As part of an initiative to foster collaboration between private collectors and public museums, KAC has facilitated the partnership between the Rodriguez Collection and the Museum of Arts & Sciences of Daytona Beach. This collaboration has led to the donation of key pieces by contemporary Cuban artists such as Lisyanet Rodriguez, Ivonne Ferrer, Milena Martinez, Ciro Quintana, Noel Dobarganes, Jorge Santos, Adrián Menéndez, Néstor Arenas, Carlos Luna, Reynerio Tamayo, Aldo Menéndez, Patricio Rodriguez, Maikel Domínguez and Pedro Avila Gendis. Gary Russell Libby and Ruth Grim, curators and prominent figures at MOAS, expressed their gratitude for the generosity of Mr. Rodríguez and the KAC.
KAC, in collaboration with FACC and with the participation of more than 50 artists, presentó "Fine Arts on the Plate" with the aim of preserving and educating new generations in the invaluable practices of ceramic arts. Curated by Carol Damian, this exhibition of ceramic plates by over 50 Cuban artists marks a continuation of Cuban ceramic traditions, achieved by artists at various stages of their careers and levels of experience. They all respect the medium and employ numerous techniques involved in shaping and firing to create unique, often experimental pieces. The artists' goal was to use ceramics to continue their personal aesthetics and styles while integrating the familiar into new circular forms. For generations, artists have found the transition from images on flat surfaces to working in the round to be challenging.
The Kendall Art Center/ Rodríguez Collection has established itself as one of the most recognized spaces for the collection of contemporary Cuban art outside the island. 'Collecting is not hoarding,' and KAC embodies a space where, beyond the act of collecting itself, artistic and cultural processes are generated, harmoniously bringing together the promotion and exhibition of the most prominent Cuban art of the moment. Art Looking North: Cuban Art In The Rodriguez Collection,' a selection curated by the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center and its curator César Aguilera, showcased the work of 23 artists who had established the key principles of a visual language with global implications that transcended the island and its diaspora. Their works span over 50 years and includes a diversity of styles and media.
Kendall Art Center, in collaboration with Presencia Projects, The Mestre Family Collection, and The Rodríguez Collection, presents 'The Repeating Island: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean.' Curated by Roxana M. Bermejo, the exhibition explores distinctive artistic practices in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. For this edition of Miami Art Week 2019, Presencia Projects arrives at Kendall Art Center with a more ambitious endeavor. This special edition showcases the rich and diverse cultures of the Hispanic Caribbean Islands through the works of thirty artists, ten from each island. Simultaneously, KAC presents the project 'MANIFIESTO PÚB(L)ICO MP' by Cuban artist Aimée Joaristi: a collective act carried out by women, intervening in the city and marking 'their' territory as a social structural axis.
The magnificent piece by Reynerio Tamayo, 'The Last Vampire,' belonging to the Rodriguez Collection, is on display in Havana at the Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art, courtesy of Leonardo Rodríguez, owner and founder of the Kendall Art Center. The piece was selected by the curatorial team to participate in the artist's solo exhibition titled Eden Havana. This exhibition, which succeeds in eliciting the viewer's laughter, touches emotional chords through associations and the perception of humor as a supreme act linked to the collective intelligence that characterizes the Cuban people. Moreover, it ridicules the tyranny of the art market, showcasing works where satire and caricature—genres not favored by the art elite—take precedence over everything else.
The Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, FL took the initiative to select a series of works by the renowned Cuban artist Ciro Quintana, belonging to the Rodriguez Collection, to produce a small solo exhibition. Confessions of a Cuban Artist was inaugurated on November 8, 2019, and extended until the 30th of the same month. The Alliance promoted the event as an invitation to delve into Quintana's unique world, where the real and surreal blend into imaginative and colorful collages. Drawing from the realms of comics, pulp art, cinema, and pop culture icons, these works offer a sardonic commentary on the history of Cuban art over the past decades, exile, and his personal battle against communism.
Miami Dade County Public Schools offered their art teachers a collage workshop organized by the Kendall Art Center. The Rodríguez Collection and the KAC Board provided the space and logistics, and invited the renowned Cuban art critic, cultural promoter, and graphic artist Aldo Menéndez to lead the workshop. A sizable group of professionals attended, seizing the opportunity to create their own collages under the guidance and advice of the Cuban expert. Menéndez's vast experience and knowledge were essential in capturing the essence of such a unique and relatively recent art form as collage, of which the artist is one of its finest exponents. The workshop was held in conjunction with his exhibition Retratos en Chino.
Crosscurrent presented works by contemporary Cuban artists at the Foosaner Art Museum of Florida Tech. The pieces belong to the Rodríguez Collection and showcase the acquisitions made by Cuban businessman and collector Leonardo Rodríguez over the past 20 years. They were selected by Carla Funk, Executive Director and Chief Curator of University Museums, who prioritized outstanding pieces from the New Cuban Art movement that developed in Havana in the 1980s. The artists include José Bedia, Rubén Torres Llorca, Rogelio “Gory” López Marín, Ana Albertina Delgado, Ciro Quintana, Tomás Esson, and Ángel Delgado.
On Friday, March 10, 2019, KAC inaugurated the exhibition '15 Hours' by the renowned Peruvian artist Hernán Helfer. Holding a Master of Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, USA, Helfer also attended the Miami International University of Art and Design in Florida and earned his bachelor's degree from the National School of Fine Arts in Lima, Peru. With over 50 years of experience, Helfer has served as a professor and is also a talented Art Director with a strong background in Primary Forms, Painting, Drawing, Illustration, Alphabet, Calligraphy, Graphic Art, Design, and Papermaking. The exhibition featured nearly 20 works of a geometric nature, both on canvas and on paper.
The Coral Springs Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Kendall Art Center, presented Echoes of Silence by Alvaro Labañino. Labañino was born in 1989 in Miami, Florida, to a working-class family. His father, born in Baracoa, Cuba, was a self-employed handyman who emigrated from Cuba to the U.S. soon after Fidel Castro’s takeover of the island nation. His mother, born in La Lima, Honduras, was a self-employed housekeeper who emigrated from Honduras to the U.S. in search of a better life than that in poverty-stricken, crime-ridden Honduras. Labañino earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (majoring in Painting, with a minor in Art History) cum laude from Florida International University in 2012. He currently lives and works in Miami, Florida.
This exhibition was, above all, a sincere tribute from a mother —a great art lover, Xiomara Almaguer— to her son, Hamlet Casals, who left when too many expectations were imposed upon him. He was already part of a movement of young creators, who were also his friends and companions in adventure; a collective of Cuban visual artists whom Hamlet wished to support personally, thereby also promoting their works. This is how his private collection was formed, which also includes names of masters such as Tomás Oliva, an essential figure of the abstraction movement that emerged in the 1950s, connected to Hamlet through family ties. Nearly all of the 25 names that make up the reward of this exhibition have become an indispensable part of the capitalized panorama of our existing arts.
As part of an initiative to foster collaboration between private collectors and public museums, the Kendall Art Center and the Cornell Art Museum presented Tech Effect. This exhibition, which was open until February 2019, explored the ways in which technology has influenced contemporary art. The show featured works by Henry Ballate, Walter Brown, Miguel Chevalier, Ellen de Meijer, Brian Dettmer, Daniel Fiorda, Antione Geiger, Speedy Graphito, Camomile Hixon, Allison Kotzig, Matthew LaPenta, Alain LeBoucher, Taekyeom Lee, John Messinger, William Montgomery, Pia Myrvold, Elizabeth Phelps, Jonathan Rosen, Constance Scopelitis, and Sara Zaher.
As part of an initiative to foster collaboration between private collectors and public museums, the Kendall Art Center facilitated the donation of one of the key pieces for the exhibition ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues. The Smithsonian Museum of American History's exhibition explored the influences of Latinos on the history of the sport and included a section dedicated to the artist Reynerio Tamayo and the artworks donated by the Rodríguez Collection. For curator Margaret Salazar-Porzio, Tamayo's 2017 piece "José D. Abreu," which will remain in the prestigious institution's collection, is one of the most significant.
This exhibition was a tribute from a mother —a great art lover, Xiomara Almaguer— to her son, Hamlet Casals, who left when too many expectations were imposed upon him. He was already part of a movement of young creators, who were also his friends and companions in adventure; a collective of Cuban visual artists whom Hamlet wished to support personally, thereby also promoting their works. This is how his private collection was formed, which also includes names of masters such as Tomás Oliva, an essential figure of the abstraction movement that emerged in the 1950s, connected to Hamlet through family ties. Nearly all of the 25 names that make up the reward of this exhibition have become an indispensable part of the capitalized panorama of our existing arts.
The Thrasher-Horne Center hosted Cuban artist Ciro Quintana during its Fall Exhibitions. The selection of pieces was curated by the Lee Adams Florida Artists Gallery of the Thrasher-Horne Center, Orange Park, FL. The exhibited pieces, belonging to the Rodriguez Collection, were facilitated by the Kendall Art Center with the aim of promoting local artists and are part of an initiative to foster collaboration between private collectors and public art institutions. The Lee Adams Florida Artists Gallery features artists three times a year, providing them with the opportunity to display their creations for four months. Alongside Quintana, natural and landscape acrylic artist Sophie Dare and versatile local photographer John Woods also exhibited their work.
In collaboration with The Rodríguez Collection and the Caribbean Educational & Baseball Foundation (CEBF), Arena Stage presented "Cuban Slugger," an exhibition by Cuban artist Reynerio Tamayo. Coinciding with the All-Star Game in Miami, "Cuban Slugger" showcased over 35 artworks and was displayed at the Kendall Art Center. This exhibition, which initially debuted at Galería Habana in Cuba, arrived in the United States to coincide with the All-Star Game held this summer at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. With a new curation, it was presented at Arena Stage for the enjoyment of art lovers, baseball fans, and the general public.
Kendall Art Center, in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, presented 'SMACH' (South Miami Art Show) on Sunday, May 20, 2018, an exhibition featuring artwork by students from South Miami K-8 Expressive Arts Magnet Program. The students had the opportunity to share their art with peers, receive feedback, and gain well-deserved recognition from friends, family, and art enthusiasts. These young talents benefit from four to five weekly hours of highly specialized instruction in drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpting, textiles, photography, aesthetics, and art history. This show is part of an initiative by Kendall Art Center to celebrate students’ creativity and achievements in art.
The renowned New York advertising executive, Jorge Reynardus, raised in Cuba, is exhibiting more than 50 works of art, including paintings and sculptures. He also presented a book of the same name that explains the significance of these creatives, who currently live outside their homeland, particularly in the United States. The English volume is published under the auspices of the Cuban Art Alliance, an institution founded and directed by Reynardus himself. The editor, Aldo Menéndez, includes analyses by other prominent critics, intellectuals, academics, gallerists, and more. The volume includes an introductory foreword by the distinguished American writer and Pulitzer Prize winner, William Kennedy.
Kendall Art Center, in collaboration with Florida International University, presented the book "Liborio en la encrucijada de los nuevos tiempos" by Roxana Martínez Bermejo as part of the Eleventh Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. Roxana's sessions will examine the role of popular humor in the daily lives of émigrés and the collection and archiving of Cuban art. The Eleventh Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies took place from February 23 to 25, 2017.
The Kendall Art Cultural Center (KACC), dedicated the past six years to the preservation and promotion of contemporary art and artists, and to the exchange of art and ideas throughout Miami and South Florida, as well as abroad. Through an energetic calendar of exhibitions, programs, and its collections, KACC provides an international platform for the work of established and emerging artists, advancing public appreciation and understanding of contemporary art.
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The Rodríguez collection is a blueprint of Cuban art and its diaspora. Within the context of the new MoCA-Americas the collection becomes an invaluable visual source for Diaspora identity. It represents a different approach to art history to try to better understand where we come from to better know where we are heading.
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