“Target Wednesday” brings innovation to The Frost

Edwive Seme/Staff Writer

This past Wednesday, July 18, the Frost Art Museum presented two new exhibitions as part of their first “Target Wednesday After Hours” for the new academic year of 2012-2013. These two exhibits, “This and That” and “Shared Thread,” came from artists of different cultural backgrounds who used different art styles to convey different messages.

“Target Wednesday” is sponsored by Target, and after visiting the museum, Target representatives fell in love with the Frost and saw a perfect opportunity to reach out to students and advertise what they have to offer while promoting the values of art and culture, so they decided to support the museum, as they do for multiple other cultural institutions, creating “Target Wednesday After Hours.”

According to Carol Damian, Director and Chief Curator of the museum, these exhibits allowed them to use works from their permanent collection and provide a platform for museum staff to curate.

Klaudio Rodriguez, who set up “This and That,” and Ana Estrada, who displayed “Shared Thread,” are both staff members who creatively put this exhibit together. “Klaudio Rodriguez… was given the freedom to choose these very non-traditional objects and organize an intriguing exhibit. Ana Estrada, also on our staff, has been working in the Amazon for her graduate work and presented this proposal to me last year, and when the space became available, she was happy to create the exhibit,” said Damian.

“This and That” was selected from the museum’s permanent collection. It featured works from artists such as Guerra de la Paz, Pepe Mar, Jillian Mayer, Bert Rodriguez and Graham Hudson.

The works of this exhibit presented a wide range of mediums and might seem to look out of the ordinary at first glance, either by the subject’s matter or the artist’s use of materials or art principles.

Be it either fun or mysterious, it can definitely change people’s expectations when it comes to art, stimulating their reactions and causing them to pay more attention to the hidden meanings behind the artworks. It introduces visitors to a new way of viewing art. This exhibit is scheduled to run until Oct. 21.

“Shared Thread” is the result of two artist’s collaboration in the Amazon region of Pucallpa, Peru. These two artists, Maria Lino being the key artist, merged their different cultures, artistic traditions, design and technique to create this exhibit, most of which was done over a period of 10 days spent collecting video footage in Pucallpa to depict the portrait of a Shipibo Healer.

This is part of Lino’s series of video portraits put together over a period of eight months working in Peru. She’s an FIU graduate, a Cintas Fellow and was awarded a Fullbright Scholar Grant in 2011.

The exhibit features Shipibo textiles and is sponsored by “Latino Magazine.” This exhibit is scheduled to run until Sept. 30.

The event ran from 6-9 p.m, and being a summer event, the outcome was favorable. “We had around 200 people; the people who came were very interested, so it was a good night,” said Damian.

The next Target Wednesday will be on Sept. 12 from 6-9 p.m. featuring two new exhibits, “Out of the Ordinary Geometry” by Lydia Azout and “The Faculty Show,” an annual FIU exhibition of the Art & Art History Department.

–life@fiusm.com