PressWeston Gazette 09/07/2014 —————————————————————– Excerpt from interview by Jami Nix Rahn, editor at www.artsouthflorida.com, President of the Arts Council of Greater Weston www.artscouncilwestonfl.org, and fellow artist in the 63rd Annual All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art www.bocamuseum.org:
How long have you lived in Weston, FL? I moved to Weston less than a year ago. Before that, I lived in Miami Beach for a couple of years. I decided to move west looking for peace and quiet and to avoid traffic. Are you originally from Florida? If not, where are your from originally? I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I lived in New York City in the 90s and settled in Boston for a decade before moving to sunny Florida in 2011. Some of my relatives settled in Florida in the 60s and 80s, so I have been a constant visitor until recently. I have always had a strong connection to and felt at home in south Florida. What is your background in art? I started studying painting at the School of Fine Arts (Escuela de Artes Plasticas) in San Juan at an early age, studied art history and the humanities in college between San Juan and Madrid, and eventually went on to medical school, diagnostic radiology residency, and imaging fellowship. Soon after completing such formidable training I realized I needed to get reconnected with the arts. I got right into it, and started by collecting contemporary art, and getting involved in projects with artists, curators and cultural agents. From 2004 to 2008 I founded and directed Space Other Gallery, a project space for contemporary art in Boston. This was a great opportunity to learn by doing. I mainly focused on emerging artists who lacked a venue in New England. I initially invited independent curators to work on each show, but later collaborated with them or curated the exhibitions myself. The gallery also participated in several international art fairs, so it nurtured a sort of extended family or network. It was a lot of excitement and fun during the times of irrational exuberance, but it all had to come to an end following the global financial crisis. It took me a couple of years to reconsider what to continue to do in the arts. I have heard that imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, so I retook where I had initially started off. Moving to south Florida helped me to focus on my own artistic production. Where is your studio? I recently moved my studio from the Fountainhead Studios in Miami. I work from home in Weston and from a studio space in Old Fourth Ward Atlanta, Georgia. Are you currently associated with a Gallery? No. What media do you employ? I mostly work with collage, non-figurative painting, and mixed media installations. I am currently working on a series of artist’s books, the first to be published by Meneses + Leder Kremer, an artist run self-publishing operation based in Miami, FL. This first book is produced with the support of Florida Gulf Coast University for the exhibition Self-Published: Artists Making Books, Editions and Zines, on view October 9 through November 7, 2014 at the ArtLab of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, FL. What are your influences? Certain subtopics within various areas of interest are common offenders: the avant-gardes of the early 20th century, philosophy, history of medicine, radiologic imaging. I also like to sort through inventories and collect paintings, posters and photographs that I find in thrift shops, second hand stores, online, or literally in the dumpster. The work that was included in the 63rd Annual All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Quaternity Series #41 (Droppings), includes a cutout from Life Magazine 1937, which is one way I transform or incorporate these artifacts into my works. This piece belongs to a series derived from an exploration of Carl Jung’s concept of “quaternity”, motifs related to the number four found in mandalas. I am interested in the potential heightened insight that mandala images may be able to elicit, both in the processes of creation and viewing. Please tell me anything you would like us to know about yourself? I believe art and culture continue to have a great potential to work as matrix to bring people together for a greater good. These should be supported at all costs, specially during difficult times.
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Johnson, Kenneth. Speaking volumes about their work: A pleasing, puzzling exhibition takes pages out of artists’ books. Boston Globe, March 18, 2007. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/03/18/speaking_volumes_about_their_work/?page=full Speaking volumes about their work – The Boston Globe
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Malone, Micah J. Interview with Gamaliel Herrera. Big, Red and Shiny, Issue #32 launched: December 5, 2005. http://www.bigredandshiny.com/cgi-bin/BRS.cgi?section=article&issue=32&article=INTERVIEW_WITH_OTHER_2014308 Big Red & Shiny: INTERVIEW WITH GAMALIEL HERRERAwww.bigredandshiny.com/cgi–bin/BRS.cgi?section…issue=32…
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