It’s been twenty five years since Diana Lowenstein first opened the doors to a gallery. When she introduced the gallery, The Berlin Wall had just fallen and only 15 percent of homes had computers, none connected to the internet. (I can hear the gasps from here). Friday, Nov. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. heralds an opening reception to an exhibitionary archeaological trip.
Curator Ombretta Agró Andruff in conjunction with Lowenstein gallery has amassed over fifty artists from the gallery’s past quarter century archives into one cohesive show, bringing topics of those years into sharp focus as the events and emotions of our recent past come into full visionary reality. The show title aids in defining objectives:
4409.72 miles
9125 days
25 Years of Art Discourse from Buenos Aires to Miami
"Circulo Rosa I" - Xawery Wolski
Through Jan. 31, Diana Lowenstein celebrates the trajectory of a successful gallery from its roots in Buenos Aires to the shores of Miami’s fledgling art environment before Art Basel put down stakes on our sandy ledge. Since 2000 Lowenstein has been a Wynwood staple after departing Argentina’s largest city. The gallery covers many genres, but maintains a distinctly contemporary bent.
Curator Ombretta Agró Andruff arrived in Miami Beach via Turin and New York City, packing her expertise in curation, art consulting, writing and a long list of exhibition background in Europe, Asia and the United States.
I asked Agró Andruff how she became hooked on the project, what piqued her imagination.
"I met Diana (Lowenstein) two years ago right after moving to Miami. She gave Loris Cecchini, an Italian artist whose work I love and have followed for many years, his first U.S. solo show. I included three of the artists she represents (Felice Grodin, Alex Trimino and Michael Loveland) in shows I have curated here in Miami. I was, and am, truly honored by her request (to curate)."
"Vent D´Atomes" - Roberto Matta
An overview of the life of a gallery has so much to wrap one's arms around. I ask Andruff how she tackled the direction? What elements was she most interested in highlighting?
"Initially it was essential to familiarize with the history of the gallery and with Diana herself, so I spent the first couple of months researching the gallery's extensive archive (catalogues were made for every single show for the first 10 years of activity before the gallery moved to Miami) and having multiple long conversations with Diana and her long time gallery manager, Juliana, who has been working with the gallery since before it moved to the US.”
Agró Andruff made notes of artwork “that particularly struck the cord, without any rhyme or reason at the beginning, knowing that eventually some kind of structure would start shaping up on its own accord. I was considering myself more as documentarian and archivist than a curator. I started to 'connect the dots' while identifying thematic groups and connected various artists to specific groups.”
She continues: "I wanted to keep the show as inclusive as possible, and approached it as I would approach the retrospective of an artist; there are works that I like and feel connected with more than others, but I recognized that they all played a role in shaping the activity and the personality of the gallery which so intimately connected with Diana herself.”
Fifty four artists of varying generations, content, process and prominence light up the retrospective illuminating a future path for Diana Lowenstein. Four Miami artists (Alex Trimino, Felice Grodin, Chu Teppa and Michael Loveland) will highlight site specific installations in outdoor containers created especially for the 25th anniversary exhibition.
I spoke with one artist, Cecilia Paredes, about her photography, an engaging treatment submerging portrait into design patterns.
Your work is captivating and interesting to parse; what was the road traveled that prompted the original idea?
"Nocturne" - Cecilia Paredes
“The original idea behind this ‘Landscape’ series talks about the process of adaptation a persona goes through when he/she relocates. Here, she is aiming to be ‘part of the landscape’. As in an aim of belonging; she wants to develop a link with her surroundings. The character is me in all instances, I am the photographer and also the subject. At the beginning I thought of doing it myself as it is sometimes so difficult to be there for hours posing. Then I realized I was being autobiographical. Relocation has been what I have been doing for many years.”
Participating artists include:
Adami, Amaral, Bacon, Bairon, Bechara, Bedia, Brown, Cecchini, Chillida, Christo, Clary, Colectivo MR, de Sagastizabal, de Villasante, Dompe, Flomen, Fors, Gallardo, Garcia, Glajcar, Gonzalez, Grodin, Hart, Jimenez, Kina, Labin, Lam, Lamiel, Lathan-Stiefel, Lindner, Loveland, Machado, Matta, Miranda, Miro, Noger, Ortiz, Padilla, Paez, Paredes, Parisi, Park, Peña, Plensa, Peters, Rivas, Sacco, Scoggins, Squire, Tapies, Teppa, Torres Llorca, Trimino, Villanueva, Wolski
Gallerists and museums are showing their strongest work during Art Basel season; it is an opportune moment to revisit our vibrant and longest living institutions to see exactly what has transpired over the decades, what we have learned and hope to subsequently experience.
Nov. 21 to Jan. 31
4409.72 miles
9125 days
25 Years of Art Discourse from Buenos Aires to Miami
Diana Lowenstein Gallery, 2043 North Miami Avenue, Miami
305.576.1804
