MIAMI INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR ANNOUNCES GROUNDBREAKING EXHIBITION BY FEDERICO URIBE
Colombian Master in the Spotlight with Major Show Entitled “Risk”
Miami International Art Fair (MIA) is pleased to announce a landmark exhibition, entitled “Risk,” by Federico Uribe. The show is presented in collaboration with Praxis International Gallery, Miami, New York and Buenos Aires. Uribe’s internationally acclaimed work is one of the highlights of MIA’s January fair line up, which includes internationally renowned dealers exhibiting contemporary art, photography, works on paper, sculpture, installations, video and new electronic media. MIA takes place January 7-10, 2010 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with an opening preview party on January 6.
“Federico Uribe’s artistic achievement expands the boundaries of creativity, and we are thrilled he will be exhibiting at MIA,” said Lee Ann Lester, MIA Fair Director. “His work is pure creative genius, and this exhibition, “Risk,” will be a truly unforgettable fair experience for all attendees.”
The exhibition will feature many pieces from Uribe’s “Pencilism” and “Human Nature,” major installations recently exhibited at The Chelsea Art Museum in New York. For “Human Nature,” Uribe worked in collaboration with the footwear company Puma to create a life-size urban jungle composed entirely of shoes. The environmentalist work, which was also exhibited at the Oratorio di San Rocco in Padova, Italy focuses on the human impact (“footprint”) on the planet and the contrast between artificiality and nature.
“Pencilism” is a reflection of the interactions among materials, techniques and art history. These works are created with colored pencils and make direct references to creation and childhood.
Federico Uribe, originally from Colombia, is a conceptual artist, living and working in Miami Beach. His work invokes the language of Pop art through the use of objects of daily life, but carries a formal reference to the history and tradition of classical art.
Uribe’s art-making is labor-intensive, repetitive and almost compulsive, a process essential to re-envisioning how the human body and ordinary objects from today’s culture are perceived. By recombining them in an obsessive manner, Uribe introduces irony into both the technique and the meaning of the work, with a fresh and radical association of materials and ideas. He induces the metamorphosis of items used in daily life into new objects that have a different significance, appearance and texture. Once past the “wow” factor, the viewer’s own meaning attaches to the work in a personal way. His exhibitions include, Praxis International Art Miami, Bass Museum of Art, Design Miami, and the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C.
“I have the hope,” says Uribe, “that people who relate to my sculptures and live with them will see the love I put into them. I want people to feel that I do this with a lot of careful attention and the purpose of beauty. I give my life to my work, and I want people to see it.”
For more information on MIA, including Praxis International’s special exhibition “Risk”, the lecture series, and exhibitor images, please call 239.949.5411 239.949.5411 or visit, www.mia-artfair.com and www.artpalmbeach.com.
About Miami International Art Fair
Miami International Art Fair kicks off the international art fair season at the Miami Beach Convention Center January 7-10, 2010 reestablishing the eighteen year tradition of an international fair in January. Galleries are participating from every continent presenting the best in contemporary art, photography, video, and installation art. The fair includes a lecture series featuring prominent experts in Latin American and International Contemporary Art. Other fair highlights include: “Next Generation: 30 artists under 40,” and a special exhibition, “Focus Argentina.” The fair will open with an invitation-only Collectors’ Preview Party on the evening of January 6th.
About IFAE
David and Lee Ann Lester, owners of International Fine Art Expositions (IFAE) have been the pioneers of the Florida market, establishing Art Miami in January, 1991, The Palm Beach International Art & Antique Fair (now AIFAF) in 1997, and Artpalmbeach in 1998.
In 2009, the Lesters resumed control of the two Palm Beach fairs, acquired the historically favorable January dates formerly occupied by Art Miami for 18 years at the Miami Beach Convention Center, and entered a joint venture with Clarion Events to serve as the directors of the Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair, now re-branded as the London International Fine Art Fair at Olympia.