The City of Hialeah Announces CLIMA by Xavier Cortada

Hialeah sea level rise exhibit during Art Basel, Paris Talks

(Hialeah, Florida, October 30, 2015) – Mayor Carlos Hernandez and the City Council are proud to present CLIMA – a solo art exhibit by Xavier Cortada addressing sea level rise and global climate change, which will run from November 30th, 2015 through January 29th, 2016 at the Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment in Hialeah, FL.

The CLIMA exhibit is presented by the City of Hialeah in partnership with the Florida International University Sea Level Solutions Center (SLSC), Florida International University College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS), the Florida International University College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA), and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy –with special acknowledgement of the support from the Rauschenberg Residency/Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

ART

CLIMA will feature the following works by Cortada, who serves as Artist-in-Residence for Florida International University‘s College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS) and FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA):

Rising Seas:
Videos, silk screens and digital prints created during the artist’s participation in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency Rising Seas Confab 2015

Performances | Panels:
During November 30th -December 11th (to coincide the COP21 Paris Talks), Cortada will convene 12 panel discussions and accompanying performance art works, each addressing an important theme related to global climate change.

Solar Panels:
Cortada will create a progressive painting on three solar panels onsite. The background will depict diatoms (the original solar panels) used by FIU scientists to research sea level rise. Inspired by CLIMA’s daily panel discussions, Cortada will paint additional images to the solar panels every day.

Digital Works:
Small scale replicas of Cortada’s recent environmentally-themed commissions for the Florida Turnpike, Port Everglades Terminal 2 and Terminal 4, Honoring the Future and the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.

Paintings:
Littoral Creatures, works created in 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve and protect the sea grasses.

Polar Installations:
Selected works from the artist’s environmental installations at the South Pole in 2007 and at the North Pole in 2008.

Honoring the Future is also presenting an ancillary exhibit at the site, Climate Art & Action. The touring exhibit features works by ten American artists motivated by concern over climate change. It was last on exhibit during August-September at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional headquarters in Philadelphia. One of the works featured is a detail of Ichthys, a digital artwork created by Miami artist Xavier Cortada to welcome the Pope’s climate change message and U.S. visit. Honoring the Future used Cortada’s image as part of an effort welcoming Pope Francis on the eve of his visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.

CLIMA EVENTS

CLIMA will open with a reception at 7pm on November 30th, at the conclusion of a “Sea Level Rise in Hialeah” panel discussion. During the reception, attendees will be invited to see the screening of Cortada’s Five Actions to Stop Sea Level Rise (created during the artist’s participation in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency Rising Seas Confab 2015).

During the first twelve days of the exhibit, Cortada will convene a series of participatory performances and panel discussions on sea level rise, global climate change, and environmental impact with a diverse group of scientists and community leaders, including our school superintendent, a bishop, an infectious disease expert, an historian, a literature professor, an environmental lawyer, a county commissioner, and many more…This will coincide with coincide the COP21 Paris Talks, a crucial UN conference seeking to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. The panels and events are designed for broad participation from students, scientists, community leaders, planners, and the public.

The opening of the exhibit also coincides with the beginning of Miami Art Week. On that Friday, CLIMA presents “Tirandonos pa’l Solar,” a party encouraging solar choices and celebrating Art Basel week. The event will feature Cortada’s SOLAR, a triptych on three solar panels in support of a ballot initiative proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, and engage attendees with Brighter Painting and other performance and participatory art projects.

About the City of Hialeah

The City of Hialeah, incorporated in 1925, is the fifth largest municipality in Florida, serving over 233,000 residents living in approximately 20-square miles. Hialeah, located in NW Miami-Dade County, has a Hispanic population of over 94%. A working class community, Hialeah is viewed as an industrial city that continues to grow. “The City of Progress” as known to many, is home to many Cuban exiles. The City of Hialeah is a full service city offering quality and affordable services to residents of all ages and abilities. Hialeah is a vibrant, family oriented community marked by cultural heritage and traditions known for its myriad of mom and pop stores which productively compete against national retail and restaurant chains and franchises.

About the artist

Xavier Cortada serves as Artist-in-Residence for Florida International University’s College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS) and FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA).

Cortada often collaborates with scientists in his art-making: Cortada used samples (and inspiration) provided by researchers in Antarctica to create his National Science Foundation-sponsored works there. He has also worked with a population geneticist on a project exploring our ancestral journeys out of Africa 60,000 years ago, with a molecular biologist to synthesize an actual DNA strand made from a sequence randomly generated by participants visiting his museum exhibit, and with botanists in eco-art projects to reforest mangroves, native trees and wildflowers. At CERN, Cortada worked with a physicist to develop a site-specific art installation and performance piece capturing the five search strategies which the CMS experiment has used to discover a new Higgs-like particle.

The Miami artist has worked with groups globally to produce numerous collaborative art projects, including peace murals in Cyprus and Northern Ireland, child welfare murals in Bolivia and Panama, AIDS murals in Switzerland and South Africa, and eco-art projects in Taiwan, Hawaii, Holland and Latvia.

Learn more at https://www.cortada.org

For more information, please call 305-883-5800.

www.hialeahfl.gov

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EVENTS:

OPENING
Monday, November 30th, 2015

6:00 pm: “Sea Level Rise in Hialeah” panel discussion

7:00 pm: CLIMA opening reception and screening of Cortada’s Five Actions to Stop Sea Level Rise (created during the artist’s participation in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency Rising Seas Confab 2015)

OTHER PANELS/PERFORMANCES
December 1, 2015 through December 11, 2015
Daily @ 10 am

Cortada will convene a series of participatory performances and panel discussions with scientists and community leaders on sea level rise and global climate change. This will coincide with coincide the COP21 Paris Talks, a crucial UN conference seeking to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. Cortada will create a progressive painting on three solar panels onsite. The background will depict diatoms (the original solar panels) used by FIU scientists to research sea level rise. Inspired by CLIMA’s daily panel discussions, Cortada will paint additional images to the solar panels every day. Please visit EVENT PAGE to see list: cortada.com/events/2015/clima

PARTY
Friday, December 4, 2015 @ 7 pm
“Tirandonos pa’l Solar,” a party encouraging solar choices and celebrating Art Basel week. The event will feature SOLAR, a triptych on three solar panels in support of a ballot initiative proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice, and engage attendees in Brighter Painting and other participatory art and performance projects.