Conceived by art collector Leonardo Rodriguez, owner and founder of the Kendall Art Cultural Center, the Fine Arts Ceramic Center (FACC) was established in 2020 in order to realize a long awaited project: a permanent ongoing exhibition composed entirely of ceramic artworks. The original initiative began with Rodriguez inviting 50 contemporary artists in his permanent collection of painters and sculptures to the studio, in order to translate their work onto white bisque ceramic plates. The exhibition program, "Fine Arts on the Plate" was inaugurated later that same year.
Since then, the exhibition and collection has expanded to include 70 artists and the production of ceramic murals, sculptures and installations. Now appropriately renamed, "Beyond the Plate / Contemporary Ceramics," this unique exhibition is dedicated to advancing and promoting the history, beauty, and most of all, the innovation of the ceramic arts.
The Rodríguez Ceramics Collection is composed of ceramic works from over 70 artists, beginning with the initial 450 ceramic plates which inaugurated the collection back in 2020, the RCC has expanded to include ceramic murals, sculptures and innovative installations. All designed, developed and fired at the Fine Arts Ceramic Center.
The RCC is mostly composed of over 500 hand painted ceramic plates, each created with by individual artists in Leonardo Rodríguez's permanent collection; invited to translate their signature style from canvas to ceramics. The RCC has expanded to include up to 70 artists to date, with more being invited to produce and contribute to the collection every year.
The integration of ceramic murals into the collection was based on the desire to meld the tradition of a wall-hung work of art, with the innovation and beauty of the ceramic medium. The utilization of hand painted ceramic tiles gave the invited artists the chance to produce and design on a larger scale. The murals constituted the second phase of ceramic production in the FACC.
Sculptures and installations make up a growing part of the ceramics collection. Made entirely of ceramic the FACC's development of large-scale sculptures and installations demonstrates how ceramics is able to be taken to new and daring heights. The sculptures in the collection are the result of the creativity and ingenuity of their artists.
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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