Míssil Gaza
Originally uploaded by la maw
Extremely interesting!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Alonso Rey
The Singer I and II
When I started this painting, I asked my dad to model for me, assuming that, as in any traditional portrait, the subject would like to dress to be recognized, not just by his face but according to his profession, as well. For example, if he were a soldier he would wear a military uniform. A politician would wear a suit and a doctor would wear a white coat with a stethoscope around the neck. While I was preparing the lights for our photo session, my dad showed up in nothing but his underwear! I invited him into the studio, and we started the photo session. I found out that my dad was extremely photogenic and we had a lot of fun.
My dad passed away two years ago, and I‘ve seen those paintings so many times since. Finally, I have come to understand why my father showed up that day to model in his underwear. My father, a doctor, was a person who dedicated himself to helping people. His view about life was that a person should study what he or she liked and become good at it because at some point that skill could be used to help a lot of people. My dad modeled in his underwear because, at 81 years old, he had a clean conscience. He could smile, laugh and joke all day because he had piece of mind. One day I asked my dad what he regretted and what he did right in his life, and he told me he was satisfied with his life and his actions in his life. That’s why he didn’t need to hide behind some sort of uniform. In his mind and soul he was at peace and ready to face death whenever the time would come. (partial story)
Read complete story at: Alonso Rey on Facebook
See exhibition at: MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM
LAPIDUS INFINITUS by Carlos Betancourt
Miami, FL. October, 2009- Artist Carlos Betancourt most recent exhibit, LAPIDUS INFINITUS, will open at Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts in Wynwood, Miami, Florida, during Art Basel Miami Beach. A special celebration will take place Saturday, December 5th, 2009. The exhibition will be on view through February 6th, 2010.
Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz
An inside look at Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Home. Courtesy of www.ARTVI.com
Rosa de la Cruz takes throughout the various works and installations by various artists.
The works are collectively know as their home. Please enjoy the tour TOUR
Video rights: Artiv Art in motion
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Palermo Flower, Argentina
This metal sculpture is called Floralis Generica, located in a water basin at the United Nations Plaza in Palermo, Buenos Aires. The sculpture was created by Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano is made of stainless steel and aluminum. The six pedals of this huge flower open and close according to the sun.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Carlos Alves: Prolific Works
Carlos Alves has been serious about art since he was a child and it shows in his passion for making things out of clay, glass, salvaged artifacts, broken shards and recycled ceramic knick–knacks. Alves has created mosaic murals for walls, floors, driveways, and swimming pools. Alves is now applying his artistry to large public and private artwork projects throughout the US and abroad. Most recently Alves finished the fountain on Miami Beaches’ Lincoln Road, in front of the Colony Theater. He originally tiled the fountain after Hurricane Andrew and when the City of Miami Beach installed a new water feature to the fountain, they called Carlos to embellish the new fountain.
It is a magnificent coral reef theme, one Alves uses throughout a lot of his work. Many of you may recognize his work as you walk thru Art Center
South Florida, Miami Beach City Hall, Miami’s 8th Street Metro Mover
station and the 40’ Sand Castle at the Miami Children’s Museum.
Carlos Betancourt
Artist Carlos Betancourt was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1981 he moved to Miami, Florida.
Mr. Betancourt’s artwork is part of public collections such as the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno in the Canary Islands, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Santo Domingo, San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas, the Miami Art Museum, the Bass Museum in Miami Beach, the Lowe Art Museum at the Univesity of Miami, and the Museum of Latin American Art in California.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Exhibitions CuratedBy Roly Chang Barrero
All Florida Exhibition, June 2016
KeroWACKED: Homage to Neal Cassady, April 24, 2016
Havana Soiree, April 20, 2016, at Benvenuto, Boynton Beach
Richard W. Dempsey March 23- April 15, 2016 at Rolando Chang Barrero Fine Art, Lake Worth, Florida
4 Visions: Fine Art Photography, Philip Ross Munro, Brian Cattelle,Pat Swain, Adam Collier Noel,Joanne Urban, Ali Miranda, Paul Solovay, David Snow ( March 19-April 15, 2016), Rolando Chang Barrero Fine Art Gallery, Lake Worth, Florida
See:
SunSentinel Article
See:
SunSentinel Article
TINYworks, Group Exhibition of miniature works, (March 24-March 31, 2016) at ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach, Florida
Art Frenzy: Indoor Trunk Show, various artists, February 25, 2016 at ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach, Florida
Wet Foot/ Dry Foot, Juan Erman Gonzalez, Patricio Rodriguez, Alejando Justiz, Noel C. Hernandez, at Rolando Chang Barrero Fine Art, Lake Worth, Florida
#LoveWins Exhibition, July 2015
Arté Cuba, April 24- May 15, 2016, Rolando Chang Barrero Fine Art, Lake Worth, Florida
Prodigy and A Master, April 2015
Girls' School: A Political Disregard of a Gender, Co-curated, (March 2015)
Monochrome Works February 2015
Serafima Sokolov, January 2015
B/W Affair, Uta Brauser and James Rabidoux, Dec. 27-Jan. 15, 2015
Golden, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach
Valn Calhoun Retrospective, August 22-Septrmber 27, 2013
Bird’s are Nice, July, 2013
Printed Matters: Cary Polkovitz, June 26-July 10, 2013
Paper Plane: To Ecuador and Back, May 2013
Baby Whores and Other Politcal Commentaries, March 28-April 19, 2013
2nd Annual KeroWACKED Multimedia Festival, February 17th, 2013
International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium, February 09-10, 2013
Opus Majus: An Exhibition of Works by Kim Fay, February 6, 2013-March 1, 2013
Black and White Exhibition, December 28, 2012-January 24, 2013
ActivistArtistA, Art and Wine Promanade, West Palm Beach
Golden Celebration , Group Exhibition and Music Festival at ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach,
(Oct. 7, 2012 to October 13, 2012)
(Oct. 7, 2012 to October 13, 2012)
The Sacredness and Profanity of it All, Pam Trent, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach,
(Sept. 27, 2012)
(Sept. 27, 2012)
Paint UNITED Project at United Way PBC, 2600 Quantum Blvd.,Boynton Beach,
(Sept. 15, 2012)
(Sept. 15, 2012)
Symbolism: Pushing Boundaries, Garcia, Gonzalez, Mostel, Saraiva,Walter, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (June 28, 2012 to August 9, 2012)
Rolando Barrero Recent Works, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach ( May 24, 2012 to June 21, 2012)
Packaging Nature, Bentivegna, Wendy Doscher-Smith, Kim Fay, Juan Gonzalez, Brian Lewis , Saramati Narasimhan, Elle Schorr, Vicki Siegel, Serafima Sokolov , Ryan Spinelli, Karla Walter, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (April 26, 2012 to May 17, 2012)
Journalist/Vouyeur, Michael Herb & Jonathan Dvoretz , ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (March 23, 2012 to April 20, 2012)
KeroWACKED, (Feb. 26 to March 15, 2012)
Stroke of Genius, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (Jan. 26, 2012 to Feb. 16, 2012
Kim Fay & Robert Catapano, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (11-11-11 to 1-6-12)
Pre-Opening Exhibition, Sonday, Barrero, Bentivegna, Alves, Carroll, Hitz, Writer, Delgado, Reed, ActivistArtistA Gallery, Boynton Beach (Sept 9,2012 to Oct. 23,2012)
Personal Prophecies, Nereyda Garcia-Ferraz, Sylvia Gruner, and Eugenia Vargas-Daniels,
Center Gallery, Miami (Sep 10 - Oct 10, 1991), 1988-1991
(includes a typescript about Gruner; 6 folders)
Abstractions, Juan Carlos Garcia-Lavin, Jose Iraola, and Luis Marin, Inter American Gallery, Miami (Sep 12 - Oct 17,
1991), 1991
Porkopolis, Sue Coe, Inter American Gallery, Miami (Oct 29 - Dec 10, 1991), 1990-1992
Art Against AIDS III , Central Gallery, Miami (Dec 7, 1991), 1991
Memorial/Remembrance, Nat Dean , Inter Amercan Gallery (Nov 7 - Dec 13, 1991), 1991
David Kruger Recent Works, Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, May 9-June 7, 1991.
WE ARE HABLANDO
WE ARE HABLANDO
Featuring: Roly Chang Barrero Roberto Rodriguez-Montoya
Videography: Raul Ferrera-Balanquet and Joe Castel
Music: La Tarima de Locombia
Video 3/4", Duration 14 min., color, 1991
SYNOPSIS: Produced during the Gulf war, this experimental documentary brings the issues of censorship, family values, gay relationship, language, and culture within the US/Latino Diaspora to a global level. Mexican American Roberto Rodriguez and Cuban American Roly Chang Barrero speak about artistic censorship, identity, and sexuality from their personal experience.
Ferrera-Balanquet's "experimental documentary" offers a multi-layered examination of personal, artistic and global censorship. Cuban-American artist Roly Chang Barrero recounts two occasions when his work was censored, once by a curator in Florida who feared that his treatment of the clashes between the Marielitos and first-generation Cuban immigrants would fan the flame of the controversy, and once when a gallery owned by the United Methodist Church rejected his piece on the AIDS crisis. Roberto Rodriguez, a gay Chicano man, recalls his initial subjection to censorship when he was forbidden by family members to speak English at home, a censoring similarly invoked at school where he was discouraged from speaking Spanish. Roberto also encountered censorship in the purported "liberal" atmosphere of the university campus where he was chagrined to experience a negation of his sexuality and, perhaps most surprising, a denial of his working-class identity. The testimonies of Barrero and Rodriguez are intertwined with videotext concerning the sexual/ethnic identity of the videomaker, culturally informed footage of a Latino celebration and the media-censored broadcasts of the Gulf War
Credits: Producer/Director: Raúl Ferrera-Balanquet; Videography: Joe Castel, Raúl Ferrera-Balanquet; Music: La Tarima de Locombia
Glimpses of a Journey:Videos By Raul Ferrera Balaquet*
GLIMPSES OF A JOURNEY: Videos Produced, Directed and Edited by Raul Ferrera Balanquet*
TRAIGO UN CANTAR  | Video, 3/4"/4 min./color/1989 SYNOPSIS: A combination of animation, collage, cut out images from the Cuban National Ballet, and performance to the music of the well know Cuban singer and composer Carlos Puebla. | ||||
MERIDA PROSCRITA(*) | Video 3/4" Duration: 7 min., color, 1990. Featuring: Eligio Romero and Gabriel Arroyo SYNOPSIS: When one of the lover refuse to kiss , a narrative unfold exploring the past of the characters, the imposition of heterosexual roles in Latino men relationship, classism and the archeology of desire. | ||||
WE ARE HABLANDO | Featuring: Roly Chang Barrero Roberto Rodriguez-Montoya Videography: Raul Ferrera-Balanquet and Joe Castel Music: La Tarima de Locombia Video 3/4", Duration 14 min., color, 1991 SYNOPSIS: Produced during the Gulf war, this experimental documentary brings the issues of censorship, family values, gay relationship, language, and culture within the US/Latino Diaspora to a global level. Mexican American Roberto Rodriguez and Cuban American Roly Chang Barrero speak about artistic censorship, identity, and sexuality from their personal experience. | ||||
CAMINAMOS SOBRE LAS OLAS | Video 3/4"/7 min./color/1992 SYNOPSIS: An experimental video structured around a never ending trip to a Caribbean island. Shot in the island of Holbox, north of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. | ||||
EBBO FOR ELEGUA | Featuring: Roman Pacheco Videography: Ju Pung Lin, Bonnie Sparling, and Raul Ferrera-Balanquet Video 3/4" Duration 15 min. SYNOPSIS: Ebbo for Elegua is an experimental documentary tracing the life of Cuban exile sent alone to the United States when he was seven years old. The video intercut interviews, graphics, and a body painting performance to present issues of the family, memory, migration, desire, and ethnicity within the Cuban exile experience. | ||||
OLUFINA ABUELA BALANQUET | Video 3/4" 5 min. color 1994 SYNOPSIS: A compositional investigation of a ritualistic space. This stylized video recreates the myth of Shango, the Afro-Cuban deity of the thunder and the presence of the the ancestors in the Cuban imagination. | ||||
NUBES SOLEADAS AT THE CROSSROAD (SUNNY CLOUDS EN LA ENCRUCIJADA) | Cuba/Mexico/USA, 28 min., color, 1996 Featuring: Moises Abrahams, Tony Jackson, Jorge Savedra, Alfredo Vergara, Dione D Love, Surama Balanquet, Hugo Ferrera-Balanquet, Ernesto Pujol de la Vega, and Raul Ferrera-Balanquet. videography: Raul Ferrera-Balanquet, Enrique Novelo Cascante, Olivero Rivera Davila, Carlos Rojas Cardona script: Raul Ferrera-Balanquet and Enrique Novelo Cascante. music: Aron Villanueva and Raul Ferrera-Balanquet. SYNOPSIS:A recollection of fragmented memories from childhood to the present are intercut with historical and fictional events to reconstruct the exile self of a Cuban immigrant. After years in the exile Ernesto wants to understand how his emotional instability is linked to the historical moment he is living. Colliding, juxtaposing, spinning from and jumping into different levels of narrative, the video creates a layering of images which recreates the accumulation of experience and the multiplicity of the self created by the exile. Shoot in Havana, Cuba, Merida, Yucatan, Chicago and Iowa City, the United States. | ||||
| *Merida Poscrita was written and Directed by Raúl Ferrera-Balanquet and Enrique Novelo Cascante. | |||||
©LMVC- krosrods moarquech, 1990-1996 | |||||
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Out and About in Austin July 18 2009
First Stop: Chain Drive Austin's iconic institution, a great place to connect with the bear/leather community! Fun was had, drinks were pored, drag shows were seen, and off to the next bar..Rusty Spurs then off to Kiss & Fly.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
A PLACE FOR ART THAT'S EXPERIENCED RATHER THAN BOUGHT
A PLACE FOR ART THAT'S EXPERIENCED RATHER THAN BOUGHT
HELEN L. KOHEN Herald Art Critic
Ground Level, the newest art place to sprout in a storefront on Lincoln Road, is also the latest project of the South Florida Art Center.
A gallery and a performance site that will play host to programs from poetry readings to New Music events, the new alternative space marks the center's official entry into
the superactive world of experimental art, a showplace for art forms that audiences support rather than buy.
The young professionals programming the space feel part of an evolving activity.
"We plan to make Ground Level a place where people can experience new art, the art that is making history," says Jenni Person, a part-time program staffer at the
center and its director of performance art. "What we present will be recorded as part of a great movement."
That it's been a movement with limited local exposure is why the space has been fired up before such establishment things as a detailed program schedule and a solid
ongoing funding base are in place. "This is our shakedown period," says SFAC Executive Director Pat Jones, who envisions annual summer shows -- "reminiscent of
garden objects, beach towels, sand castles and lifeguards."
The kickoff presentation earlier this month was a visual arts exhibition (South Florida Collective II), performances involving South Florida's poets, dancers, musicians and
performance artists, and an open forum. It taught Person and ceramic artist James Herring, her counterpart in the visual arts, one thing: You can't open an exhibition and
inaugurate a series of performances in the same space on the same night. "There was too much going on," says Herring, who envisions bleachers to hold an indoor
audience of 65 to 100.
The gallery/performance space easily accommodates the 13 works by 10 area artists now hanging there. Organized by Roly Chang and juried by Olga Garay and Cesar Trasobares, the exhibition brings together new names (Clive King, for example, the new chair of the visual arts department at
Florida International University), fairly new names (Rowena Luna, Silvia Espinosa, William Villanueva), and familiar names (Mario Algaze, Jens Diercks, Claire Garrett,
Robert Calvo, Sherri Tan, Betty Fleisher).
While there is no breaking history here (some of the work is literally tired), it is always interesting to see what happens to an artist's work when the magic of Florida sets
in.
That magic has opened up and loosened the graphite drawings of King, a Welshman who, under the spell of the state's lushness and light, has turned away from limning
bony, skeletal forms in minutely marked voids to creating roomy spaces for his own
vision of the tropics.
There's interest, too, in Espinosa's abstract paintings, done with oil and wax on shaped pieces of wood, which escape looking overly decorative by keeping up the
inevitable play between smoothness and grit.
And though her punch lines are barely worth the elaborate setups, Luna's photographic interpretation of the myth of feminine equality in the corporate workplace (an equal
Roly Chang AND Art
Miami Herald: Document View 1/28/09 9:29 AM
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid…olandobarrero&s_accountid=AC0109012815100727043&s_upgradeable=no Page 2 of 2
chance to become a plastic person) adds irony.
Clearly, the role the gallery will play in Ground Level projects needs the same kind of vision the presenters are refining for what else will happen there. Jones, who
expects it will become a place where art activities are always happening, talks about partnering with other alternative spaces across the country in both organizing events
to travel the performance art network and providing a venue for those launched elsewhere. Person and Herring are eager to plug into such events as the Subtropics
festival and the Miami International Book Fair, to do more than one kind of presentation around themes or issues, to combine art forms with activism and culturalism.
Ground Level, Person says, is about creating an arts community and creating a forum: "People must feel that this a place where they can be stimulated and embraced.
Above all, I hope it will become a place where work will grow."
South Florida Collective II will be on view through May at Ground Level, 922 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
HELEN L. KOHEN Herald Art Critic
Ground Level, the newest art place to sprout in a storefront on Lincoln Road, is also the latest project of the South Florida Art Center.
A gallery and a performance site that will play host to programs from poetry readings to New Music events, the new alternative space marks the center's official entry into
the superactive world of experimental art, a showplace for art forms that audiences support rather than buy.
The young professionals programming the space feel part of an evolving activity.
"We plan to make Ground Level a place where people can experience new art, the art that is making history," says Jenni Person, a part-time program staffer at the
center and its director of performance art. "What we present will be recorded as part of a great movement."
That it's been a movement with limited local exposure is why the space has been fired up before such establishment things as a detailed program schedule and a solid
ongoing funding base are in place. "This is our shakedown period," says SFAC Executive Director Pat Jones, who envisions annual summer shows -- "reminiscent of
garden objects, beach towels, sand castles and lifeguards."
The kickoff presentation earlier this month was a visual arts exhibition (South Florida Collective II), performances involving South Florida's poets, dancers, musicians and
performance artists, and an open forum. It taught Person and ceramic artist James Herring, her counterpart in the visual arts, one thing: You can't open an exhibition and
inaugurate a series of performances in the same space on the same night. "There was too much going on," says Herring, who envisions bleachers to hold an indoor
audience of 65 to 100.
The gallery/performance space easily accommodates the 13 works by 10 area artists now hanging there. Organized by Roly Chang and juried by Olga Garay and Cesar Trasobares, the exhibition brings together new names (Clive King, for example, the new chair of the visual arts department at
Florida International University), fairly new names (Rowena Luna, Silvia Espinosa, William Villanueva), and familiar names (Mario Algaze, Jens Diercks, Claire Garrett,
Robert Calvo, Sherri Tan, Betty Fleisher).
While there is no breaking history here (some of the work is literally tired), it is always interesting to see what happens to an artist's work when the magic of Florida sets
in.
That magic has opened up and loosened the graphite drawings of King, a Welshman who, under the spell of the state's lushness and light, has turned away from limning
bony, skeletal forms in minutely marked voids to creating roomy spaces for his own
vision of the tropics.
There's interest, too, in Espinosa's abstract paintings, done with oil and wax on shaped pieces of wood, which escape looking overly decorative by keeping up the
inevitable play between smoothness and grit.
And though her punch lines are barely worth the elaborate setups, Luna's photographic interpretation of the myth of feminine equality in the corporate workplace (an equal
Roly Chang AND Art
Miami Herald: Document View 1/28/09 9:29 AM
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid…olandobarrero&s_accountid=AC0109012815100727043&s_upgradeable=no Page 2 of 2
chance to become a plastic person) adds irony.
Clearly, the role the gallery will play in Ground Level projects needs the same kind of vision the presenters are refining for what else will happen there. Jones, who
expects it will become a place where art activities are always happening, talks about partnering with other alternative spaces across the country in both organizing events
to travel the performance art network and providing a venue for those launched elsewhere. Person and Herring are eager to plug into such events as the Subtropics
festival and the Miami International Book Fair, to do more than one kind of presentation around themes or issues, to combine art forms with activism and culturalism.
Ground Level, Person says, is about creating an arts community and creating a forum: "People must feel that this a place where they can be stimulated and embraced.
Above all, I hope it will become a place where work will grow."
South Florida Collective II will be on view through May at Ground Level, 922 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
ART IMITATES LIFE IN A CELEBRATION OF CHANGE A DOZEN ARTISTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SOLAR CYCLES
As the years go by and I look back I realize that I can pin point parts of my life where I learned great lessons.
It was during my years spent with Marilyn Gottlieb-Roberts that I leaned about collaboration, unity, altruism, but most of all I learned how to have fun.
I don't recall if any of those gifts were on the curriculum per se, but teaching by example seemed to work for this life long student.
January 14, 1988
Section: NEIGHBORS MB
Edition: FINAL
Page: 18
Memo:LIFE STYLES
Miami Herald, The (FL)
ART IMITATES LIFE IN A CELEBRATION OF CHANGE A DOZEN ARTISTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SOLAR CYCLES
IRENE LACHER Herald Staff Writer
Marilyn Arsem is looking for a few good ironers.
Here's her vision: At precisely 8:57 a.m. Sunday, armies of people will iron and mutter in front of Woolworth's on the Lincoln Road Mall.
Arsem has been recruiting people off the street for her volunteer army. That's where she met aspiring ironer Ruth Martin, 60, a woman expansive and old enough to say
what's on her mind. Which is precisely what she did when she spotted Arsem sipping coffee at a restaurant on the mall last week.
"Oh, you're having a snik-snack," Martin called out.
"I just want her to talk to people," Arsem confided.
Turning Lincoln Road askew is on the menu when Arsem, a Boston artist, orchestrates a 13-hour performance art piece on the mall as part of the Miami Waves avant-garde
art festival.
Solar Cycles will involve a dozen artists and countless passers-by when it unfolds from exactly 6:25 a.m. to 5:53 p.m.
"It's a sunrise-to-sunset event from Miami Beach to Biscayne Bay," said Arsem, 36, founder of Mobius Inc., a performance art space in Boston.
"It celebrates change. We all try to pretend change doesn't happen or avoid it or resist it and it is the way of the world."
The piece springs out of the new Lincoln Road presence of Miami-Dade Community College, which sponsors the Miami Waves Festival. The college wanted to spur more arts
events on the mall, said Marilyn Gottlieb-Roberts, an Miami-Dade Arts Department associate professor.
"It's not just a cultural decision," said Gottliebd -Roberts. "It's become part of the piece now, the notion of moving from sunrise to sunset and using Lincoln Road as a giant
gnomon, a sundial. It's beautiful.
"Sometimes you start off with a bureaucratic decision and bureaucracy melts into poetry and that's what you want."
To compose the piece, Arsem made a chart, first listing every kind of cycle she could think of -- lunar and solar cycles, the color spectrum, life cycles and Chinese year cycles,
cycles built around how we spend our days and weeks.
She divided the day into 13 parts, "which makes odd times for the performance," and assigned participating artists to create an event that correlates with their point in these
various cycles.
The events move across the mall, starting with Charles Recher's arrival by boat on the beach at 6:25 a.m. and ending with the two Marilyns performing at the bayside park at
5:53 p.m.
"So you get birth and waking up at sunrise and death and rebirth at sunset," said Arsem, who worked with Miami-Dade student Roly Chang.
Ironing day is the second stop, inspired by an old nursery rhyme that assigns that task to Tuesday. Later, at 12:31 p.m., Celeste Miller, an Atlanta artist who flies in each year
for Miami Waves, will do a summer solstice dance at Euclid Avenue.
Kim Irwin, a North Carolina artist whose daily cycle point hits coffee break at 9:50 a.m., will serve the brew to an audience at Burger King, where she will interview people
about their jobs. That's because her life-cycle point hits the age of 18, when young people set out in the working world.
"The idea is to have fun, to think about cycles in your life, to recognize more of the world functions in cycles rather than literally," Arsem said.
The seed for the piece was Vulture Kulture, Beach artist Gottlieb-Roberts' tongue-in-cheek homage to Miami vultures' annual return from Hinckley, Ohio.
"The truth is they don't migrate farther than 80 miles radius, but it's wonderful to think they go as far as Hinckley, Ohio."
Miami Herald: Document View http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_d...
1
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The MIX Festival 1987-2001
It's strange to find out that your work has been in a awesome festival and you find out totally by accident one day...years later.
My film , transfered to VHS, "La FRUTA" was programed and shown. I have a feeling I know who was responsible; thank you Raul!
Summary
Creator: The Mix Festival
Title: The Mix Collection
Dates: 1987-2001
Abstract: The Mix Collection contains the paper and media files for the Mix: New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film and Video Festival. Started in 1987 by filmmaker Jim Hubbard and novelist Sarah Schulman, Mix is the longest-running experimental film festival and the largest queer film festival in the United States. The Festival has been instrumental in both launching the careers of filmmakers such as Todd Haynes and Sadie Benning and in providing an exhibition space for and preservation of the work of older filmmakers such as Barbara Hammer and James Broughton. Mix was also one of the first film festivals to embrace installations and online artwork to showcase the depth and breadth of queer digital media. The Festival has traditionally been held annually at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City.
Quantity: 175 linear ft. (41 boxes of paper files, 82 boxes of videocassettes)
Call Phrase: MSS 143
Return to top
Historical Note
The Mix Festival, originally known as the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival, was created in 1987 by filmmaker Jim Hubbard and novelist Sarah Schulman. The purpose of the festival was to create an alternative to mainstream gay and lesbian film festivals and to highlight the important contributions that queer filmmakers have made to experimental and avant-garde film practices. The program of the initial festival, which was first held at the Millennium Film Workshop, included a number of both classic and new works by queer filmmakers, including Todd Haynes' very first film, Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud, showcases of films by Barbara Hammer, Roger Jacoby and James Broughton and Joel Singer, and a program containing "Gay Films of the 1890's," all of which demonstrated the various strains of queer representation in film history. The festival was curated by Hubbard and Schulman themselves. A small group of unpaid volunteers helped out during the festival. The following year, the festival was once again held at Millennium, with films by Chantal Akerman, Abigail Child, Tom Chomont, and a panel moderated by Barbara Hammer entitled "Does Radical Content Require Radical Form?".
The third festival was held in 1989 at the Anthology Film Archives, where it has more or less been held ever since. The focus of the 1989 festival was on representations of the AIDS crisis, including several works by experimental filmmakers who had succumbed to AIDS and many others who were fighting the virus themselves (as if to illustrate the tragedy the virus had wrought on the gay arts community, filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith died the night before the festival opened that year). The fourth festival included a special emphasis on films by and about black gay men, such as Marlon Riggs' Tongues Untied, Isaac Julien's Looking for Langston, and Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason. Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris Is Burning, about drag ball culture in Harlem, was the closing night feature at this festival, and would shortly go on to much wider critical acclaim. In 1991, like many arts organizations around New York, the festival suffered a severe cut in funding from the New York State Council of the Arts. Nevertheless, the festival continued to show films that posited themselves against mainstream representations of homosexuality and AIDS.
After the 1991 festival, Schulman left to spend more time writing. Hubbard, Marguerite Paris and Jerry Tartaglia curated the 1992 festival, recruiting a group of guest curators including Thomas Allen Harris, Cheryl Dunye, Daryl Chin and Tania Cypriano to program 5 of the shows. In 1993, Shari Frilot and Karim Ainouz became the festival directors. Shari continued to direct the festival through 1996. With the change in membership came a change in name - the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival was now known as Mix. The festival also started to focus more on showing films by and reaching out to younger queer filmmakers of color. Additionally, the festival began to depend more on having guest curators create and exhibit programs. In 1993, Mix became the first lesbian and gay film festival to feature video installations with both the 1000 Dreams of Desire "queer co-ed porn extravaganza" at the Ann Street Bookstore, co-curated by Jim Lyons and Christine Vachon, and the Go!Go!Spot! cafe/installation showcase. 1993 also saw the launch of Mix Brasil, an international extension of Mix and the first lesbian and gay film festival in the history of Brazil. Mix 94 was a joint venture with the LOOKOUT Festival, held at both Anthology and the Downtown Community Television Center. Among the innovations that year was the Cyberqueer installation, which showcased the emergence of interactive multimedia and queer digital media.
1995 marked the beginning of the festival's partnership with Free Speech TV, which broadcast activist media on local cable and community access networks. Another highlight of Mix 95 was the 100 Years of Cinema/100 Years of Sodomy tribute program to the centenary of cinema. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Mix 96 expanded to 4 venues, NYU's Cantor Film Center, the Knitting Factory, and Harlem's Victoria 5 Theatre, where Victoria MIX, Harlem's first gay and lesbian film festival showcase, took place. 1997 saw the departure of Shari Frilot as Festival Director, with Rajendra Roy taking her place. This year also saw the development of Mix Mexico, Mexico's first ever gay and lesbian film festival, and a collaboration with the PlanetOut website to present the first ever online queer film festival.
Mix 98 witnessed an increased push toward corporate sponsorship and support from grant foundations. Anie S8 Stanley became Mix's Artistic Director, and the Festival that year showcased films that documented the vogue for reclaiming "antiquated" forms of film technology, such as hand-processed and super 8mm films. The theme of Mix 99 was "Get Lucky," with programming that "gambled" on promising new work by upcoming filmmakers. Memorizing Mix, a gay and lesbian film and video preservation project launched in collaboration with the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS and the Guggenheim Museum, and the HONCHO Blue Movie Midnight Series, were both prominent features of the festival this year. In 2000, the festival instituted screening and programming committees to review the abundance of film submissions. Among the special attractions this year were the ACCESS digital media series and the Innovations Features Series, which showcased full-length feature work by Mix alumni. In 2001, Hubbard, Frilot, and Roy each curated guest programs as part of the Memorizing Mix series, with each showing work that highlighted films from festivals past.
In recent years, Mix has continued its dedication to providing downtown New York with a venue for formally challenging gay and lesbian film and video. The 2002 festival included a showing of James Wentzy's AIDS activism tribute video Fight Back, Fight AIDS: Fifteen Years of ACT-UP on Video. In 2003, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation had its world premiere at Mix and would eventually foist Caouette into the indie-film spotlight. While the Mix Festival has most often been held every November at the Anthology Film Archives, in 2006 the festival opened at Manhattan's 3LD Art and Technology Center. It is currently directed by Stephen Kent Jusick with co-directors Szu Burgess, Andre Hereford and Kate Huh.
My film , transfered to VHS, "La FRUTA" was programed and shown. I have a feeling I know who was responsible; thank you Raul!
Summary
Creator: The Mix Festival
Title: The Mix Collection
Dates: 1987-2001
Abstract: The Mix Collection contains the paper and media files for the Mix: New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film and Video Festival. Started in 1987 by filmmaker Jim Hubbard and novelist Sarah Schulman, Mix is the longest-running experimental film festival and the largest queer film festival in the United States. The Festival has been instrumental in both launching the careers of filmmakers such as Todd Haynes and Sadie Benning and in providing an exhibition space for and preservation of the work of older filmmakers such as Barbara Hammer and James Broughton. Mix was also one of the first film festivals to embrace installations and online artwork to showcase the depth and breadth of queer digital media. The Festival has traditionally been held annually at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City.
Quantity: 175 linear ft. (41 boxes of paper files, 82 boxes of videocassettes)
Call Phrase: MSS 143
Return to top
Historical Note
The Mix Festival, originally known as the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival, was created in 1987 by filmmaker Jim Hubbard and novelist Sarah Schulman. The purpose of the festival was to create an alternative to mainstream gay and lesbian film festivals and to highlight the important contributions that queer filmmakers have made to experimental and avant-garde film practices. The program of the initial festival, which was first held at the Millennium Film Workshop, included a number of both classic and new works by queer filmmakers, including Todd Haynes' very first film, Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud, showcases of films by Barbara Hammer, Roger Jacoby and James Broughton and Joel Singer, and a program containing "Gay Films of the 1890's," all of which demonstrated the various strains of queer representation in film history. The festival was curated by Hubbard and Schulman themselves. A small group of unpaid volunteers helped out during the festival. The following year, the festival was once again held at Millennium, with films by Chantal Akerman, Abigail Child, Tom Chomont, and a panel moderated by Barbara Hammer entitled "Does Radical Content Require Radical Form?".
The third festival was held in 1989 at the Anthology Film Archives, where it has more or less been held ever since. The focus of the 1989 festival was on representations of the AIDS crisis, including several works by experimental filmmakers who had succumbed to AIDS and many others who were fighting the virus themselves (as if to illustrate the tragedy the virus had wrought on the gay arts community, filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith died the night before the festival opened that year). The fourth festival included a special emphasis on films by and about black gay men, such as Marlon Riggs' Tongues Untied, Isaac Julien's Looking for Langston, and Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason. Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris Is Burning, about drag ball culture in Harlem, was the closing night feature at this festival, and would shortly go on to much wider critical acclaim. In 1991, like many arts organizations around New York, the festival suffered a severe cut in funding from the New York State Council of the Arts. Nevertheless, the festival continued to show films that posited themselves against mainstream representations of homosexuality and AIDS.
After the 1991 festival, Schulman left to spend more time writing. Hubbard, Marguerite Paris and Jerry Tartaglia curated the 1992 festival, recruiting a group of guest curators including Thomas Allen Harris, Cheryl Dunye, Daryl Chin and Tania Cypriano to program 5 of the shows. In 1993, Shari Frilot and Karim Ainouz became the festival directors. Shari continued to direct the festival through 1996. With the change in membership came a change in name - the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival was now known as Mix. The festival also started to focus more on showing films by and reaching out to younger queer filmmakers of color. Additionally, the festival began to depend more on having guest curators create and exhibit programs. In 1993, Mix became the first lesbian and gay film festival to feature video installations with both the 1000 Dreams of Desire "queer co-ed porn extravaganza" at the Ann Street Bookstore, co-curated by Jim Lyons and Christine Vachon, and the Go!Go!Spot! cafe/installation showcase. 1993 also saw the launch of Mix Brasil, an international extension of Mix and the first lesbian and gay film festival in the history of Brazil. Mix 94 was a joint venture with the LOOKOUT Festival, held at both Anthology and the Downtown Community Television Center. Among the innovations that year was the Cyberqueer installation, which showcased the emergence of interactive multimedia and queer digital media.
1995 marked the beginning of the festival's partnership with Free Speech TV, which broadcast activist media on local cable and community access networks. Another highlight of Mix 95 was the 100 Years of Cinema/100 Years of Sodomy tribute program to the centenary of cinema. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Mix 96 expanded to 4 venues, NYU's Cantor Film Center, the Knitting Factory, and Harlem's Victoria 5 Theatre, where Victoria MIX, Harlem's first gay and lesbian film festival showcase, took place. 1997 saw the departure of Shari Frilot as Festival Director, with Rajendra Roy taking her place. This year also saw the development of Mix Mexico, Mexico's first ever gay and lesbian film festival, and a collaboration with the PlanetOut website to present the first ever online queer film festival.
Mix 98 witnessed an increased push toward corporate sponsorship and support from grant foundations. Anie S8 Stanley became Mix's Artistic Director, and the Festival that year showcased films that documented the vogue for reclaiming "antiquated" forms of film technology, such as hand-processed and super 8mm films. The theme of Mix 99 was "Get Lucky," with programming that "gambled" on promising new work by upcoming filmmakers. Memorizing Mix, a gay and lesbian film and video preservation project launched in collaboration with the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS and the Guggenheim Museum, and the HONCHO Blue Movie Midnight Series, were both prominent features of the festival this year. In 2000, the festival instituted screening and programming committees to review the abundance of film submissions. Among the special attractions this year were the ACCESS digital media series and the Innovations Features Series, which showcased full-length feature work by Mix alumni. In 2001, Hubbard, Frilot, and Roy each curated guest programs as part of the Memorizing Mix series, with each showing work that highlighted films from festivals past.
In recent years, Mix has continued its dedication to providing downtown New York with a venue for formally challenging gay and lesbian film and video. The 2002 festival included a showing of James Wentzy's AIDS activism tribute video Fight Back, Fight AIDS: Fifteen Years of ACT-UP on Video. In 2003, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation had its world premiere at Mix and would eventually foist Caouette into the indie-film spotlight. While the Mix Festival has most often been held every November at the Anthology Film Archives, in 2006 the festival opened at Manhattan's 3LD Art and Technology Center. It is currently directed by Stephen Kent Jusick with co-directors Szu Burgess, Andre Hereford and Kate Huh.
La FRUTA : Video by Roly Chang
It seems like a lifetime ago, I released the only two films I was ever satisfied with"El Pajaro" and "La Fruta." What remains is the following:
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2596
Fax: (212) 995-3835
Email: fales.library@nyu.edu
© 2006 Fales Library and Special Collections . All rights reserved.
New York University Libraries, Publisher
Processed by Joseph Gallucci, 2005-2006, Joe Ketner, 2005. Megan Wacha, 2006, Luke Martin, 2008, and Brent Phillips, 2008.
Machine-readable finding aid created by Joseph Gallucci, 2006. Description is in English.
Subseries L: Media - Video and Audio
80 143.1591 Title: La Fruta Screened: [1991]
Old number: MT 02
Director: Barrero, Roly Chang
Distributor:
Format: VHS
Duration: 15 minutes
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2596
Fax: (212) 995-3835
Email: fales.library@nyu.edu
© 2006 Fales Library and Special Collections . All rights reserved.
New York University Libraries, Publisher
Processed by Joseph Gallucci, 2005-2006, Joe Ketner, 2005. Megan Wacha, 2006, Luke Martin, 2008, and Brent Phillips, 2008.
Machine-readable finding aid created by Joseph Gallucci, 2006. Description is in English.
Subseries L: Media - Video and Audio
80 143.1591 Title: La Fruta Screened: [1991]
Old number: MT 02
Director: Barrero, Roly Chang
Distributor:
Format: VHS
Duration: 15 minutes
Thursday, July 9, 2009
SWELTER: Hurricane Arts Auction
By Tom Austin
Published on September 23, 1992
Hell Town booming. Artist Roly Chang Barrero and Olga Garay of the Miami-Dade Community College Wolfson campus, coordinating a Hurricane Arts Auction at the school's Centre Gallery, set for November 4 and featuring the work of Carlos Betancourt and Tomata du Plenty. Another hurricane relief fund raiser at The Bay Club, organized by the Miami Film Society.
Program Notes
By Greg Baker
Published on January 22, 1992
This sounds awesome: Acting Out: 7 Unspeakable Acts at Island Club tonight (Wednesday). The Goods provide the opera, Frank Falestra is DJ, and the solo performance artists are Matthew Owens, Mary Luft, Joanne Butcher, Roly Chang-Barrero, Ric Cockerell, Mitch Rosenberg, and Matthew Zbornik. Call 865-9470.
SWELTER
February 05, 1992
The Long and Winding Road
Click on article for full story.
Published on November 30, 1995
Published on November 30, 1995
Flush with valuable Lincoln Road real estate and saddled with major debts, the South Florida Art Center ponders its options, its future, and its purpose..
By Judy Cantor
Published on November 30, 1995
.....If Ellie Schneiderman was considered the art center's omnipresent fairy godmother, then Pat Jones was seen as its wicked stepmother. At least that was how many of the resident artists viewed Jones when she became SFAC executive director in October 1992 and began to shake up the status quo.
Schneiderman had bolted from the post earlier that year. In the seven years since she'd founded the center, she had gained 25 pounds and had developed a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit. Schneiderman now says she was ready "to get back to her life." Gary Feinberg, an artist and the art center's property manager, ran the art center until a new director could be found.
Jones, who grew up in Miami, had served thirteen years as director of the Alliance for the Arts in New York City, a nonprofit service agency affiliated with that city's Department of Cultural Affairs. Jones was chosen to head up SFAC because of her extensive experience with arts organizations and what board president Jan Cheezem calls "an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary art." Cheezem stresses that it was the artists on the search committee who most strongly supported Jones's candidacy. Jones was brought in on the premise that the SFAC was ripe for change, and that she was the person to impose it.
"The basis for which I was hired was that up to then the organization had focused on developing the [studio] spaces and serving the resident artists," Jones recalls over lunch at a quiet restaurant on lower Ocean Drive, far removed from the clamor of construction crews on Lincoln Road. "And that now with the changing nature of the Road and with a growing organization, they would have to raise outside funds. And if they wanted to raise outside funds, the only way to do that was to really serve the changing nature of South Beach, to serve two other audiences, in terms of programs, exhibitions, and education Athe broader arts community and artists who were not residents of the center."
To accomplish these goals, Jones hired Jenni Person, who had previously worked at the Loft Theater in Tampa, as SFAC program director. Person and artist Roly Chang came up with the idea for Ground Level, an alternative space first located in the 924 building, where Person began organizing poetry slams and other performance events. Meanwhile, Jones sought outside funding and implemented a curated exhibition program that included work by nonresident artists.
At an open SFAC meeting in May 1994, Jones, board members, resident artists, and members of the community met to discuss many of the same issues now on the agenda of the recently formed planning committee. Much of the meeting's transcript contains contentious dialogue: While Person advocates "placement of the organization in the field" through marketing, artist George McClements tersely responds with the comment that artists want to be in their studios selling. Cheezem talks about movie theater negotiations, while ClaySpace director Bonnie Berman cautions against selling the buildings and expresses her suspicions about the city's interests. The only thing all parties seemed to agree on was that they would have to work on better communication.
(Click on title for complete story)
Opening With A Bang!
Click on title to see full article.
By Jen Karetnick
By Jen Karetnick
Published on January 20, 1993
No local resident needs to be reminded that Manhattan and Miami are now enjoying the lucrative benefits of their seasonal trade agreement -- tourist dollars for sand dollars. We need only to drive past the lines at Wolfie's and Rascal House, or watch white flesh singe into sunsets on the beach, to acknowledge this annual truth.
But this season Manhattanites have a larger stake in Miami than sunburned-earlobes status used to warrant. Not only have they flown south to avoid the north, their favorite restaurants have migrated as well.
In the past, New York restaurants intent on exploiting the Miami market simply packed up and moved, sacrificing their northern clientele (or perhaps their lack of one). In some cases, such as North Miami Beach's Cafe Chauveron, the success was so immediate and the transition so long ago, most of its patrons believe the restaurant to be as indigenous as stone crabs.
The latest expression of business savvy, however, is to mimic snowbird mentality and maintain dual residences. SoHo's clever I Tre Merli cloned itself in SoBe down to the last lobster ravioli. Barocco Manhattan has its local counterpart in Barocco Beach. Maybe it's the comfort factor: If you frequent the place in New York, you may be more inclined to try its subtropical twin.
I prefer a bit of subtlety. You would never know from appellation, for example, that the owners of the Grove's Brasserie Le Coze are also the proprietors of the Big Apple's Le Bernardin. Unless, of course, you read it somewhere.
The same is true for BANG, cousin of SoHo's BOOM, and newest member of Club South Beach. Both title and menu differ enough from restaurant to restaurant to make them identifiable, but not identical.
For instance, due to part-owner/chef Geoffrey Murray's passion for travel as well as cookery, BOOM's menu features "world" cuisine, while BANG spotlights the "islands" (islands pertaining not only to the Caribbean but to every land mass smaller than a continent and surrounded on all sides by water). It's entirely possible that a sojourn in Sardinia prompted the Sardinian ravioli stuffed with potato, ricotta, and mint, with a tomato and mint sauce ($9.00). That appetizer may be drawn from an island, but how to account for the Vietnamese five-spiced grilled quail ($8.50)? Regardless, it is a beautifully charcoaled combination of delicate poultry and hearty piquancy.
Granted, BOOM, BANG, and CRASH (the latest onomatoapoeic eatery in the series, to be opened in a hot market soon) are about as subtle as a Fourth of July celebration, but it could have been worse. It could have been SNAP, CRACKLE, and POP. Or BOOM could have been the Batmanesque BAM, an anagram of the owners' last initials -- Cesare Bruni, Rocco Ancarola, and the aforementioned Murray. Perhaps they should be congratulated on their restraint.
Indeed a classy restraint characterizes much of BANG, from the small brass wall plaque outside (in lieu of a flashy sign) to Murray's deceptively simple dishes (often the descriptions of entrees sound more overwhelming than they actually are). My grilled blue prawns with a Hawaiian lili koi (passion fruit) basil butter and macadamia nut stir-fried rice ($18.50) translated into three tremendous crustaceans, cooked in the shell like langostinos but thankfully served headless. These were a bit more pungent than a smaller shrimp, a flavor complemented, not diminished, by the strength of the grill. A mound of sweet, fruited rice acccompanied this dish that was so quietly rich I finally believed the claim that shrimp have as much cholesterol as egg yolks.
I also admired the poise of the host, who kept cool during BANG's opening explosion, when patrons hadn't yet realized call-ahead confirmations were in order. Confronted with an obviously reservation-less model and an equally obvious "prince" (who laid his calling card on the hands of beautiful women as if placing them on silver salvers), the maitre d' still honored his prior commitment to us (neither models nor princes, except in our own minds). Of course, fair treatment should be a given. But the encoded crowd that frequents perinatal BANG (a restaurant that, suckling on the reputation of big sis BOOM, sees no need to advertise) allows one to form the occasional misconception.
Or preconception. Because excess, ying to restraint's yang, is also in fashion at BANG. Though Manhattan (an island!) clam chowder ($6.00) and Greek salad ($7.00) contribute to the appetizer selection, the norm tends toward more exotic dishes. Japanese-style spinach and seaweed salad ($6.50), a tender twirl of greenery that would empower Popeye, and Tahitian coconut marinated fresh tuna ($8.50), a rare pleasure of cured tuna, reflect Murray's desire to bring the expansive world to the common table. What can we expect if he ever goes on a safari? Blackened zebra on a bed of fresh meadow greens?
The decor adds to the sensation of superfluity. Nothing has been left undesigned, including the wait staff, who wear traditional kung-fu blouses and brass and sea-glass jewelry (Billy Peacock for Dayne Duvall). The interior of BANG, dubbed "ocean and stars," combines the mysticism of abstract artist Gianfranco Langatta and figurative artist Kaye Mahoney with the earthiness of found-art sculptor Gerd Verschoor. The ceramic dinner plates were designed by local artist Roly Chang; metal cocktail tables and chairs were conceived by Dana Hotchkiss, also a Miami-based artisan. From floor to ceiling, including most of the clientele, BANG is either a work of art or a piece of work.
But perhaps the most self-indulgent and ambitious aspect of BANG is its beverage list. Red and white wines are featured from eleven different countries; beer represents twenty. This United Nations of refreshments would be commendable if they were all in stock. However, on a recent visit, three consecutive selections of beer were unavailable. And rather than asking us for another choice, our waiter would simply gift us with a beer he thought we'd appreciate. Most of the time -- a Presidente for an Amstel Light, for instance -- he wasn't even close.
Still, the juxtaposition of excess and restraint is an ideal one for South Beach, and an attitude that is highly reminiscent of the New York social scene. True, some difficulties have arrived along with the migration of the herd: New York prices have been introduced to South Florida budgets, an irreconcilable discrepancy. Another potential problem is a result of BANG's tasteful nuances: The nameplate that adorns the restaurant's entrance is not visible from the street, and may cause consternation in those seeking the eclectic establishment. But an evening with the Hong Kong-style wok stir fried lobster with a black bean chili sauce ($19.50) and the Puerto Rican chicken adobo with roasted mashed tomatoes, black beans, and rice ($15.00), two outstanding preparations, is more than worth the trouble of locating BANG. This is cuisine sure to convince you that a world (or island) view of food isn't restricted to a single city any more than a restaurant belongs to a specialized crowd. In a couple of months, when the novelty has worn away, natural selection will ensure that BANG, and its talented chef who has done our traveling for us, enjoys continuous cosmopolitan success.
BANG 1518 Washington Ave; 531-2361. Open for dinner nightly from 6:00 to midnight. Bar is open to 4:00 a.m.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)