The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, this year in partnership with West Kendall Baptist Hospital, celebrates Art Basel Miami Beach with its tenth annual Breakfast in the Park, on Sunday, December 8, 2013, from 9:30 am to noon. Guests will enjoy a complimentary outdoor breakfast, relax and sip Korbel Champagne Mimosas on the terrace, hear a stimulating talk by the featured sculptor and take guided tours of the Sculpture Park, as well as the exhibitions in the Museum.
This year’s featured sculptor is John Henry. This renowned American artist has long been recognized for his ability to transform the simplest of forms into complex visual statements. Whether they are situated in the land or as part of a cityscape, John Henry’s monumental abstract sculptures challenge notions of balance and equilibrium. A formalist at heart, his concern for line, shape and form is essential to the structure that is the basis of his work and the varied angles that define their recognizable configuration. Although the shapes in John Henry’s works may appear as simple elements arranged like pick-up-sticks, there is no doubt that the concepts that drive his constructions are complex, and the visual experience enhanced by their energy.
Born in 1943, Henry received a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and an Honorary Doctor of the Arts from the University of Kentucky. He has received numerous awards, including the Governor’s National Award in the Arts from the State of Kentucky.
John Henry has been an active participant in promoting the arts, serving on the Board of Trustees of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, and the Board of the International Sculpture Center, where he held various leadership roles, including Chairman. Henry was a founding member of ConStruct, the artist-owned gallery that promotes and organizes large-scale sculpture exhibitions in the U.S.
His works grace many public and private collections around the U.S., Europe and Asia, and are included in the collections of the British Museum, London; the Dallas Museum; MOCA, Chicago; and the Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea. The Frost Art Museum and The Sculpture Park at FIU have several of his works in their collections and on display.
The Frost Art Museum is delighted to partner with West Kendall Baptist Hospital to bring Breakfast in the Park to our community. This innovative partnership assists both our organizations with the important task of inspiring and educating our community toward an appreciation for the arts, and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Our new coalition, “Healthy West Kendall,” aims to use our collective resources to influence and improve health outcomes in the area we serve. This overarching goal will be accomplished by engaging our community in initiatives that advocate for active living, healthy lifestyle and community well-being.
Breakfast in the Park guests are also invited to view the six current exhibitions on view at the Frost Art Museum:
• Things that Cannot be Seen Any Other Way: The Art of Manuel Mendive
• Humberto Castro: Tracing Antilles
• Crisis and Commerce: World’s Fairs of the 1930s
• Eternal Cuba: The Darlene M. and Jorge M. Pérez Collection at FIU
• Deep Blue by Javier Velasco
• Alberto Baraya’s Naturalism/Artificiality: Expeditions, and Research of the Herbarium of Artificial Plants
Breakfast in the Park is held the final day of Art Basel Miami Beach. County buses will offer free transportation for Art Basel patrons and the general public, leaving from the Miami Beach Convention Center at 9:30 am, and leaving the Frost Art Museum for the return trip to Miami Beach at 11:30 am. For further information or to make a reservation to attend, please call 305.348.2890.