Of all the very vivid images to be seen at Art Wynwood throughout this President’s Day weekend, some of the vividest will be in actual motion. We mean video, dig? And we mean “Moving”. Behind the line-up of moving imagery is Wet Heat Project’s Grela Orihuela, who’s put on her curatorial cap for the occasion. Expect to be, well, moved.
Before we begin, what’s the Wet Heat Project? Wet Heat Project is an outfit that makes documentary films on contemporary art which started in Miami four years ago. So far we've made two features -- one on painter Hernan Bas entitled miamiHeights, and one on conceptual artist Bert Rodriguez entitled making sh*t up. We've also produced many short films, all of which can be seen on our site. This year we are expanding to other cities, first in NY and LA .
Is that the concern which is behind what you’ve got goin’ on at Art Wynwood? No, the curating is something I do independently. It all started with “Home: Dream Home”, an exhibit I did last year at Praxis at the request of Julian Navarro, a dear friend who took a chance on this crazy idea I had to furnish an entire house with art -- and do it all in four weeks. Thirty-two artists were included in the show, which was my interpretation of a dream home, and we so completely transformed the gallery -- including the kitchen and bathroom -- that people wanted to live there! Since then, I've been asked to jury and curate and produce other exhibits and I'm so happy to do it because it's another way to work with artists.
What exactly do you have goin’ on at AW anyway? Thanks to Nick Korniloff and the folks behind the fair, Art Wynwood includes a curated video exhibit. It’s called “Moving” and it features 11 works in eight screening rooms from Monika Bravo, David Antonio Cruz, Teresa Diehl, Guerra de la Paz, Rivane Neueshwander in collaboration with Cao Guimaraes, Martin Murphy, Lindsay Scoggins and Diana Shpungin.
How’d you decide whose work to showcase? It's a combination of work I’d seen at shows (Martin Murphy, Diana Shpungin) and work I went searching for -- through the Internet, through friends, reading articles, etc. For instance, I’d never met Lindsay Scoggins, but I had seen her Guggenheim piece “Wonderland Mafia”, which stood out among some 10,000 YouTube videos, so I called her. She then sent me the link to “Reagan”, a piece I had not seen, and said if she only had two more days she could also give me the premier of “Kennedy”. Well, that was just amazing, so, of course I chose both. Lindsay's now working on a third piece and all I want is to figure out where we can screen the entire series.
Is this your first time curating for the Art Miami folks? Yes, it's my first time working with them and it's been a wonderful experience. Everything happened very fast and they were great pulling it all together with me in merely a few days. Another thing I really appreciate is their commitment to exhibiting art video with the proper equipment and in an optimal environment.
Do you see your part becoming an annual affair? Wow, wouldn't that be nice?! From your mouth to Nick's ear!
“Moving” can be seen at Art Wynwood from February 16-20. For more information log on here.
