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VERGE emerging art fair is proud to host an extraordinary list of programs for its second year Miami Beach fair, December 2-5, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. VERGE is THE source for emerging art during ABMB Week, located two short blocks from ABMB and the newly-relocated Design / Miami. Representing seven countries, VERGE is the only art fair exclusively devoted to emerging art in Miami Beach and throughout the Miami art fair scene. Come meet us for our second year effort.

December 2-5, The Catalina Hotel and Beach Club 1732 Collins Avenue
Private Press Collector, Press and Art Professionals Reception*
Thursday, December 2, 2010, Noon to 6:00 pm
Opening Night Preview Reception
Thursday, December 2, 2010, 6:00 to 10:00 pm
Rooftop VIP Pool Party*
Thursday, December 2, 2010, 9:00 pm to 1:00 am
Public Hours
Friday & Saturday, 3 - 4 December, Noon to 8 pm
Sunday, 5 December, Noon to 6 pm
*Invitation or press accreditation required

Join us at hotspot The Red Bar at the Catalina for daily FREE cocktail mixers at its famous Happy Hour from 7-8pm. Yes, free drinks every day!

VERGE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCES

Cirque du Soleil at VERGE

VERGE and Cirque du Soleil invite you to a very special, intimate evening of performances that will thrill, titliate and exhilarate. VERGE will serve as the center of the Cirque du Soleil on Miami Beach at its Opening Night Preview Reception with amazing live performances on location to wow attendees, with a lineup that includes contortionists (by a two-time Russian Gold Medalist), sky jumpstilt walkers, jugglers, Cerceax acts and more! If you've never attended a Cirque performance, this not-to-be-missed event will give attendees the once-in-a-lifetime chance to get up close and personal with Cirque performers like never before!

L.A. Phenom Sister Sims Performs Opening Night


Image courtesy Sister Sims.

Sister Sims  (nee Sarah Sims) has a deep history of music and rhythm in her veins. Starting her musical career as a recording artist, she was trained personally by Seth Riggs (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Dianna Ross, Janet Jackson) and sang backup in many R&B, Hip-Hop and Gospel albums.   However, she quickly found that her love of electronic/house music would steer her into new directions.   A West Coast native, you can find her behind the turntables at LAX, El Centro, Carbon, and the world famous Chateau Marmont, as well as spinning at some of the hottest Hollywood private celebrity parties. As a budding producer, be on the lookout for her first EP coming out in 2011.

Pocket of Lollipops Performs Opening Night

Image courtesy Pocket of Lollipops.

Visual art and indie musical performance group Pocket of Lollipops brings together the talents of husband and wife team Tony Kapel and Maitejosune Urrechaga. The Miami based duo have performed at various art spaces and live music venues around South Florida and the U.S., including Dorsch Gallery, Hollywood Art and Culture Center, and more traditional rock settings. They define their musical genre as sophisticated punk rock; their sound is noisy but organized, thoughtful and melodic. With Maite on bass and Tony on drums, their music is directly influenced by David Byrne and Lou Reedʼs live performances; they identify with Sonic Youth, another band that features a musical collaboration by a married couple.

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW PARTY: Thursday, December 2, 2010, 6:00 to 10:00 pm
TICKETS AT THE DOOR Opening night preview: $20

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE and Russell & Danny Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation teamed up to create the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series. Launched June 1st, this nationwide search aimed to discover the next big names in both urban photography and multi-media art. Twenty of the nation’s finest aspiring artists from these two fields were shortlisted, before going on to compete for the top artisan title at a finale event that will be unveiled at VERGE.

All submissions were judged by a panel, including Marc Ecko, Rush Philanthropic Vice Chairman, Co-Founder and artist Danny Simmons, along with curatorial staff from the Foundation, and curators from around the country. Those selected were invited to have their work displayed at a sequence of nationwide events, taking place from July through October. Ten fine arts photographers and ten multi-media artists were drawn down from these heats to compete in the finale event at VERGE. Prior to the VERGE premier, these artists will have their works installed at Rush Arts Gallery and Resource Center in New York City. “Rush’s commitment to promoting and developing emerging artists is as strong here in New York City as anywhere else in the U.S., and so we are very excited to partner on this initiative which will help us continue to engage talented artists across the country,” says Danny Simmons.

Nicholas Kuwick, Remember Our Coast. Installation view. Courtesy the artist.

ABOUT RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is dedicated to providing underserved urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, and to offering exhibition opportunities for underrepresented artists and artists of color. Rush was founded in 1995 by three brothers: Danny Simmons, visual artist and community builder; media mogul Russell Simmons; and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons of the legendary hip-hop group Run-DMC. Their goal was to fill the gap that poor and minorities face in both accessing the arts and exhibition opportunities. Over the past 15 years, Rush has served over 700,000 urban youth and has developed a broad base of friends, collaborators and supporters dedicated to addressing these issues. In addition to the 2,000 students served each year in its education programs, Rush exhibits the work of 40 to 50 emerging and community-based artists in its galleries; welcomes over 10,000 gallery visitors; distributes grants to nonprofit arts organizations in NYC and South Florida; and provides unique opportunities for young people interested in careers in the arts. Rush currently operates two galleries, Rush Arts Gallery and Resource Center in Chelsea (Manhattan) and Corridor Gallery in Clinton Hill (Brooklyn).

ABOUT BACARDI U.S.A., INC.
Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. is the import, sales and marketing arm of one of the world’s leading wine and spirits producers. Bacardi U.S.A. boasts a brand portfolio of some of the most recognized and top-selling spirits in the United States including: BACARDI® rum, the world’s favorite and best-selling premium rum, as well as the world’s most awarded rum; GREY GOOSE® vodka, the world-leader in super-premium vodka; DEWAR’S® Scotch whisky, the number-one selling blended Scotch whisky in the United States; BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin, the top-valued premium gin in the world; CAZADORES® blue agave tequila, the top-selling premium tequila worldwide; MARTINI® vermouth, the world-leader in vermouth; and other leading and emerging brands.

FIT-Fine Arts/Urban Studio + Unbound

Installation view rendering courtesy FIT-Fine Arts/Urban Studio + Unbound.

Catalina Hotel Lobby Shipping Box Installation
The wall that follows the entrance of the Catalina Hotel will be lined up by shipping boxes from the floor all the way up, and partially along the ceiling as it towers over the viewers as they enter.  The physicality of the structure will resemble that of a wave, waiting to crash down on what’s before it.  It will stimulate a sense of anxiety as if it will collapse if one’s not cautious while approaching it. Each box will be labeled by a shipping service tags representing the artworks they once contained and the galleries participating in the venue. The objective is to amplify the overwhelming sensation of one being bombarded by the excessive amount of visual information at such international event by create an installation that physically engulfs its visitors.

Catalina Hotel Lobby Video Projection
An image of pseudo –classical nude sculptures will be projected larger than life onto the wall.  At first glance it just seems to be 3 female nudes, picture perfect. Then for about a second and a half the arms/hands of the center figure move and intimately touch the other two figures. It happens so quickly that visitors almost question if they actually saw it or not. .

Maxine Hotel Lobby Video Projection
A lady dressed in sassy business attire slowly paces herself up a descending escalator in an elegant fashion. Seemingly, the momentum of her steps are matched by the swiftness of the escalator as the lady is kept, perhaps even trapped, at the same spot.  Only over the course of 8 to 10 minutes does the viewer realize she’s actually making progress up the steps reaching higher and higher over time. 
Her every step will appear effortless, even till the very end.  However, our empathy will render this act of climbing a struggle as we inevitably draw connection to our personal experiences.   Only with training and endurance can we perform such strenuous tasks with ease. What we do and where we arrive at, may often be seem, in an outsider’s perspective, a walk in the park. The projection will also be a coherent introduction to the event that will take place at the pool (fashion magazine party) as one walks through.  The lady can symbolize a model with her womanly physic, a business man’s single-minded ambition, or an artist’s continuous challenge in practice. 

Maxine Pool Video Installation
Looking up onto the video projection overhead is like peeking up onto the floor above (made up of translucent surfaces or panels of support with cracks and holes) to find the people walking about without realizing they are being looked at.   The viewers below will be able to follow each individual’s steps and actions as they interact with one another, and on some instance, be able to even intrusively look up their skirts and shirts for a brief moment.   The viewers, realizing that they are consciously invading other’s privacy, will continue to do so, because “art”, on such occasion had appropriated and compromised the social and moral boundaries to render such act suitable. 
The happenings in the video will be choreographed.  At first glance, it just might appear to be a group of people going about their own business, but after following the progression of the video, one soon realizes that there’s a lyrical movement and composition that comes in and out of the projection canvas.   The video will also an interactive piece because of the size of the projection.  Viewers will be able to walk around the pool and follow the people above if they choose to. 

ABOUT URBAN STUDIO + UNBOUND
Urban Studio is a collective of artists formed by Richard Pitts, Gloria Eng, Melissa Starke and Suikang Zhao in the fall of 2003. Urban Studio was founded on the observation that the art world has rapidly changed from the traditional route of museums and galleries. Success is now based on artists courageous enough to seize their own destiny, create, and foster relationships with their audience. Making art about the unconventional, the interactive and redefining what it means rather than the manufacturing of a commodity. Artist's are encouraged as activist's to participate in art administrative activities as well as hands on studio projects. Urban Studio's strength of purpose combines emerging artists as well as mid career veterans all working to embrace a wide range of artistic approaches. Urban Studio creates and nourishes professional development through emphasizing participation and collaboration. Artists are engaged in a broad range of issues and topics, and are encouraged to find new and diverse venues for their work.

Features the work of Miami artists Brian Reedy, Nina Surel, Luis Garcia-Nerey, Natasha Duwin, Alette Simmons-Jimenez, Randy Burman, Pip Brant, Donna Haynes, Rosario Bond, Duane Brant, Sibel Kocabasi, and others. The temperature of Miami is heating up once again as Artformz prepares the 2nd edition of its renowned survey of outstanding local artist’s small format work. 

These works are an important part of every artists practice as they experiment and explore ideas not required as work for any institution or gallery.  The exhibit will occupy the 2nd floor lobby of the historical Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, on Miami Beach, showcasing the art of now: quick, small, and directly to the point.  A cornucopian installation of thoughtful – coveted - irreverent – and spontaneous expressions, the show is a document of the current artistic practice in our community. Small Wonderz is a laboratory, and a means for the collector to put his finger on the pulse of what is happening now.  Watch out, it’s hot!

Small Wonders, installation view. Image courtesy Artformz.

Saturday Dec. 4 & Sunday Dec. 5, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, Dec. 4th 7-9pm

ABOUT ARTFORMZ
Artformz was founded in 2004, and as a collective group focuses on the development of compelling ideas and projects submitted by artists and curators. It is Artformz mission to allow artists room to create without pressures of market, trend, or establishment pressures. Artformz cultivates a spirit of professional collaboration that seeks to open doors and foster creative exchange and intellectual dialogue.

 

Cirque performers, image courtesy Cirque du Soleil.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Audrey Hynes' neither here nor there

neither here nor there, installation view. Courtesy Audrey Hynes.

neither here nor there is a site-specific installation that addresses our perception of reality by rethinking and re-contextualizing the use of locally found materials in conjunction with sound recordings of memory and static noise.  In this project, I sew bark from melaleuca trees together and drape the sheet of “skin” onto an existing outdoor palm tree where sound emits from inside the tree.  The invasive melaleuca trees are a species originally from Australia brought to South Florida during the late 1800’s in part to combat erosion. However, due to it’s ability to reproduce at a rapid rate, these trees have been destroying the natural ecosystem in the area, and have been part of an eradication program for the last ten years.  The investigative process to acquiring these trees involved environmental, technological and social interaction. Once I began experimenting with the bark from these trees and peeling apart the many layers, I began hand sewing them together and the material began to reference skin.  Combining this intuitive process with the beautiful yet aggressive tendency of the trees, the relationship of the environmental impact became curious in both an aesthetic and destructive way.

There is a love/hate relationship with these trees that is also found through native Floridians’ fond childhood memories of them. The disjointed audio coming from inside the bark speaks of memory, temporality, and otherness, and it is overlaid with sounds of static from an old television set.  The mixing of technology and memory with organic elements explores the relationship between our  ever-evolving digital world and interpersonal relationships.  The viewer’s experience creates not only a distance between subject and object, but also produces a phenomenon that, through the disparity between form and space, intervenes as a means to displace one from the environment. In this way, the sculpture inhabits a liminal space between the real and the bizarre, between the experiential and the existential.

E.M. Romero's One Tree Forest

One Tree Forest, installation view. Image courtesy E.M. Romero.

Art is the noblest of human endeavors. - Art Munch 1989
Art is the noblest of human endeavors. - Art Uberalles 2001

E.M. Romeo is concerned with the transformation of objects whether  natural or manufactured through a simple shift of context. The shift is purposefully void of complexity but radical enough to uncover the identity of what we see but are not aware of (a common affliction). Scale and tension, compression and release are the triggers. In One Tree Forest, a single tree was transformed and saved from fire. Cut into pieces and spun at high speed, the tree expressed its inner form thus guiding the artist’s knife towards release. Standing again, the tree becomes a forest; the sum of its parts being greater than its original identity.

Christine Finley's Wallpapered Dumpster Project

Image courtesy Christine Finley.

The Wallpapered Dumpster Project is an inquiry into urban waste, free art, and notions of femininity, beauty and domesticity. “Inspired by free and accessible art the artist states, I like to think of these interventions as polite graffiti” Says Finley.  This project is in conjunction with the Cool New York Dance Festival which takes place January 27 though February 7th,  this ongoing series of urban interventions will continue in Los Angeles and 10 select cities in Europe through 2010. Previous dumpsters have  appeared in Rome and around Los Angeles and have remained wallpapered for up to a year, depending on use and environmental factors.

Ellis Gallagher's Chalk Shadows

Image courtesy Ellis Gallagher.

Ellis Gallagher's shadow chalk drawings, executed in both urban and interior settings, seek to enhance the beauty of everyday objects and mundane situations that are routinely overlooked. Chalk drawings of bicycles, signage, fire hydrants, milk crates, shopping carts, fences, plants, and trees inspire curiosity and encourage the viewer to pause, observe, initiate conversation and experience their surroundings with a renewed sense of optimism.

Ellis Gallagher is a native New Yorker. As a former graffiti writer, his work can be found in New York City and beyond, in Autograf: New York City's Graffiti Writers by Peter Sutherland (Powerhouse Books), also The Street Art Book: 60 Artists In Their Own Words by Ric Blackshaw and Liz Farrelly (Collins Design) as well as in numerous newspapers, magazines, on television and in films. Gallagher's work has also appeared in numerous publications and features. For more information on the artist, please visit www.ellisgallagher.com.

Any given ear Video Screening Curated by Tony Kapel

Daniel Clapp, Dirty Talk / Looking for Love, installation view. Image courtesy Daniel Clapp.

From day to day the mind finds stills and makes pleasant piece of noise. Gathered from inside and outside these visuals set to resonate far beyond their time.  Turning the sound to an image and an image to sound keen vibrations are apparent amongst the artist. All of which are from the Miami area, some born and raised others brought here as gifts from another side of town. In any case all are moved by sound and light to create the group show  “Any given Ear”. The seven artists exhibiting are Daniel Clapp, Aiden Dillard, Cristina Molina, Tony Kapel, Isabel Moros-Rigau, Dylan Romer, Oly Vargas

RUN OF SHOW PERFORMANCES

Heather Wareen Crow Performs I M On Vacay Muthafucker


Image courtesy Heather Warren Crow.

At Verge Miami Art Fair 2010 artist Heather Warren-Crow will present I M On Vacay Muthahfuckah. The piece is a solo performance in which Warren-Crow will install herself in the exhibition space for several hours, executing a series of actions. Warren-Crow’s performance area will contain the following items: a small patch of sod, just big enough for her to kneel on; a small square of sand; a lawn chair; and a pile of fashion and celebrity magazines. For the piece, Warren-Crow will perform several actions as if they were a kind of circuit training.  First, she will kneel in the sand for as long as she can endure it.  At the same time, Warren-Crow will sing an energetic but fractured version of Lindsay Lohan’s newest single, “I’m Too Young to Die,” which was recently leaked online. Warren-Crow will repeat the song for the duration of her kneeling action.  Then, Warren-Crow will assume a position in the chair, circle various words in the magazines, and add her own hyperactive written annotations.  When she feel that she is done, Warren-Crow will read these words and the annotations aloud.  Next, she will kneel on the sod and return to my idiosyncratic rendition of “I’m Too Young to Die.”  Finally, Warren-Crow will sit back on the chair, circle the words, make her comments in the margins, and read them aloud.  The circuit will continue for about 2 hours.

Like all of Warren-Crow’s work, I M On Vacay Muthahfuckah should not be watched from beginning to end.  It invites the kind of distracted, mobile, and/or intermittent viewing appropriate to an art fair.  No chairs will be available for the audience, which should be able to get as close to Warren-Crow as they want.  Viewers are encouraged to watch for as long or as short as they like, to take as many pictures as they want, and to return if they want to see how the piece develops over time.  Since I M On Vacay Muthahfuckah is an endurance work, the execution of the series of repeated actions will necessarily change considerably over time as Warren-Crow tires and as her knees bruise and abrade.

Thursday from 7-9
Friday from 1-3 and 5-7
Saturday from 1-3 and 5-7

Eliza Stamps Performs The Oracle Project


Image courtesy Eliz Stamps.

The Oracle Project is an exploration of aesthetics, performance, and intimacy through mark-making and fortune-telling.  During the performance, fortunes will be read using a deck of cards comprised of representational and abstract drawings that have been created in direct reaction to the news and atmosphere of the weeks leading up to the performance.  The Con Leche Oracle is the fifth installment of the project that began in Beijing, China and has since traveled across the country.   The Oracle Project looks at how the artist prescribes meaning, how the viewer accepts meaning, and what happens when one suspends their better judgment and believes in a little bit of magic.

Thursday 7-8
Friday 4-5
Saturday 4-5
Sunday 4-5