Lost Spaces & Stories of Vizcaya

Photo: Armando Rodriguez, Miami Dade County
 

Today, we take you to the wild side of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, Florida. Curator Gina Wouters, and artists Mira Lehr and Yara Travieso talk about What This Place Does Not Remember, one of eleven projects in the contemporary art exhibition Lost Spaces and Stories that celebrate Vizcaya’s centennial.

The inspiration for Mira Lehr’s and Yara Travieso’s dramatic Baroque performance installation is a forgotten garden at the edge of the museum’s south property and Henry Purcell‘s Dido and Aeneas, an English opera he composed more than 300 years ago. The opera tells the mythological story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her love for the Trojan hero Aeneas. In What This Place Does Not Remember, the two contemporary artists personify Vizcaya as the legendary Queen Dido. Lehr’s environmental installation sets the stage for Dido’s Lament, the performance that Travieso directs. An opera singer, a dancer, and a cellist enact the queen’s tragic love story within a lyric web of black rope that evokes the surrounding mangroves.
 

Link to the podcast on the Fresh Art International web site:

www.freshartinternational.com/2016/12/22/lost-spaces-and-stories-of-vizcaya

Link to their podcasts on iTunes:

itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freshartinternational/id499581084

Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan
Project commissioned by Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Performance: Mira Lehr (Artist and Set Designer) and Yara Travieso (Director and Choreographer) with Jacqueline Bulnes (Dancer), Amanda Crider (Mezzo Soprano), Stephanie Jaimes (Cellist), David Redmond (Fabricator and Engineer), and Ingrid Travieso (Costume Designer)

"Earth SOS" 2016-2018 Traveling Exhibition

The "Earth SOS" traveling exhibition will begin at Flomenhaft Gallery with an exhibit of 10 artists’ works from September 8 - October 22, 2016

The goal of this exhibit is to portray art that awakens the public. The works will be by artists that are passionate about the decay of our environment and the future for our selves and generations yet unborn. Highlighting this important topic will make an effort to help save us all from an ecological apocalypse.  

Image: Mira Lehr, Coral Accretion 1 and 2, 2016, Resin, Copper Mesh, Steel Wire, Corals, Zip Ties, 32 x 30 x 14 inches

Vizcaya "Lost Spaces & Stories" Commission for 2016

Vizcaya "Lost Spaces & Stories" Commission for 2016

The artist's latest venture is the Lost Spaces and Stories of Vizcaya commission for 2016. Part performance, part installation, referring to a baroque opera happening within the mangroves. Mira Lehr and Yara Travieso’s installation will personify Vizcaya as Queen Dido, the first queen of Carthage according to ancient Greek and Roman writers. Their work will be activated through performances, and evoke the exotic wildlife that once existed on the South Property.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is pleased to present Lost Spaces and Stories of Vizcaya, a two-part exhibition on view from May 2016 through October 2017, in conjunction with Vizcaya’s centennial.

THE INSPIRATION
The inspiration for the exhibition is closely tied to Vizcaya’s history, as the property has traditionally been home to commissioned work by contemporary artists. While we know much about the estate’s history, many of Vizcaya’s compelling spaces and stories have disappeared. Lost Spaces will showcase installations in and around the Main House and gardens that aim to bring these lost spaces and stories “back to life.”

AN EXHIBITION IN TWO PHASES
Phase I of Lost Spaces is on view through October 2017 and features projects that relate to Vizcaya’s Moat, Map Racks, Staff Life and Lost Decorated Rooms. Phase II, on view from November 2016 through October 2017, will focus on four recreational spaces and highlight elements of Vizcaya’s original design intent that no longer exist. These include the Casba, South Property, the Casino and Basement Recreational Rooms. The Casba is a small, exotic pavilion that was originally part of Vizcaya’s southern gardens and is now on the grounds of the Archdiocese of Miami.

"Second Nature" OPENING at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden

"Second Nature" OPENING at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Mira Lehr
Second Nature
July 23 – October 2, 2016
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Adam R. Rose & Peter R. McQuillan Arts Center
10901 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables, FL 33156
Open everyday from 9:30am until 4:30pm

Mira Lehr’s work is a meditation on the natural world—more on what things do, than how they look.
 
Her connection with South Florida’s unique landscape and its complex relationship to both human and natural forces has been a constant influence on her work. Lehr brings the fragile qualities of nature to the fore through her use of materials. Gunpowder-burned trails as roots and blooming organic forms are juxtaposed in her visual narratives.
 
The creation of art within Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden offers a synergy where nature and art are intertwined. It captures the imagination of the human spirit, and ideally, we see our existence linked with nature. Lehr hopes to take the viewer into an exploratory journey capturing the spirit of the vulnerable enigma that lives amongst us.
 
Second Nature is influenced by the concepts of creation and destruction, the hard edge versus the soft focus, the yin and the yang, as well as the harmonious and the enigmatic.

Image: Mira Lehr, Approaching the Singularity (triptych), 2016
Ignited Fuses, Gunpowder, Resin, Inks, & Acrylic on Canvas, 8 x 22 feet
 

Citrates Benefit Auction "Make a Difference Through the Arts"

CITYarts Benefit Auction "Make a Difference Through the Arts"

Auction Description
CITYarts is celebrating 48 years of empowering youth to transform their communities and their lives through the creation of public art.  The benefit is also honoring four amazing women, Virginia Zabriskie, Eleanor Flomenhaft, Nada Anid and Cheryl Wills.  All proceeds benefit CITYarts’ mission to "Make a Difference Through the Arts." CITYarts Benefit Auction was held from May 11-17, 2016

Lot Closed - SOLD

Description: 
Mira Lehr, Stone Flowers (Edition 1 of 10), 2015
Water based screen print, 38.5 x 27 inches

 

Florida Grand Opera

Florida Grand Opera

Showing the work of Mira Lehr at the Adrienne Arsht Center, during the run of the new Opera, The Passenger. The pieces will be installed from April 2nd-April 10th, in the Donor Room.
This image, "The Passenger", was created specially for the opera.

Lehr Speaks Before BOCA Museum Collectors Council & Director, Irvin Lippman

Lehr Speaks Before Boca Museum Collectors Council & Director, Irvin Lippman

Mira Lehr spoke for the Boca Museum Collectors Council and Museum Director, Irvin Lippman, on Wednesday, March 2nd, at the Rosenbaum Gallery. There, four of her resin Jellyfish were greatly admired while she explained different parts of her art making processes. 

A pleasant luncheon followed the morning's presentation. Mira shared the spotlight with another female artist, as she values opportunities to build the community of women in the art world

OPENING Tuesday, February 16th - "Between the Meadow and the Moon"

OPENING Tuesday, February 16th - "Between the Meadow and the Moon"

Between the Meadow and the Moon, an ongoing site-specific installation—including paintings, rugs and sculptures—opens on February 16, 2016 at 6pm. 

Temple Beth Sholom is deeply honored to open 2016 by presenting Miami-based, internationally exhibited and acclaimed artist and sculptor, Mira Lehr. A key feature is the 12x40 foot window made of poured resins. It continues Lehr's focus on the South Florida landscape and the state of our environment.
 
Arc of Nature, her most recently published book, will be available for purchase at this event*. This is a once in a lifetime not-to-be-missed opportunity for all lovers of art and beauty to expand their vision and interact with the artist and her work in our Welcome Center. The wine and hors d’oeuvres reception honoring Ms. Lehr will be held from 6:00-8:00 pm on Tuesday, February 16th and all are invited. *All of Ms. Lehr’s work is available for purchase.