After appearing at the 61st Venice Biennale, a major international art exhibition held every two years in Italy, acclaimed Miami-based Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié returns with a retrospective designed to connect Miami’s communities.
“From Venice With Love” features the work of acclaimed Miami-based Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié and is curated by Pulitzer Prize-winning Haitian-American visual historian and Miami Herald photographer Carl-Philippe Juste.
The exhibit is at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach. It gives South Floridians and hotel guests a chance to experience his work locally while exploring themes of migration, memory, spirituality, and Caribbean history.
Jonathan Plutzik, co-owner of The Betsy, said he often overhears guests' surprise when they realize the walls of a South Beach hotel are adorned with meaningful art. He told WLRN he likes to show that the perceived superficiality of Miami and Miami Beach does not define the cities.
“It’s a deeply rich community in terms of culture and interests and people and so forth, and of course, this is a place that attracts … people from all over the world,” he said. “And so to have on display, again, Edouard's art and others who we embrace, is really important for delivering a message about Miami Beach.”
Valentina Sandoval
Some of Edouard Duval-Carrié's Les Têtes Gravées series on display at The Betsy
Much of Carrié’s art tackles stories and themes relevant to Haitian history and culture, which he understands will always surprise and intrigue audiences.
“ Haiti has been a puzzle for me; that's my life, so I understand where they're coming from, and I'm trying to palliate for that,”
Carrié said. “Like, to make sure that they understand a little bit more because it's a complex history, very controversial.”
A defining part of this exhibit is its use of “The Orb”, an egg-like structure that connects the bridge between the Betsy’s two buildings. Last year, The Betsy installed a projector in the orb so it can be programmed from anywhere in the world. Any artist that they associate with can program it whether they're at the hotel or not.
An animator took some of his paintings and sculptures and used AI to animate them. One of the paintings animated on the orb is his 1996 piece, The World at Present, or Èzili Intercepted.
READ MORE: Haiti’s Visionary: Edouard Duval-Carrié previews Venice-Bound work in Little Haiti
It depicts the Haitian Goddess of Love Èzili being intercepted by the Coast Guard.
“ The painting itself is quite dramatic because she's carrying a baby tied up to her stomach, and she's trying to look very distinguished as she comes down this Coast Guard boat,” Carrié said. “But at one point the music starts, and we're in Miami.”
“And the Coast Guard is actually twirling their guns, which is very unique,” Juste said. “Placing those two actions in the same space at the same time is almost as if it's choreographed, like a dance … If it was just still, how do you react to it?”
The Orb represents another theme important to “From Venice With Love”: the power of multimedia. Juste and Carrié
work in fields where what you capture exists in a still photo or a sculpture. Juste says adding the orb to the mix provides another way to interact with these mediums and their truth, which needs many voices.
“Truth needs the painter, truth needs the mixed media artist, truth needs the songstress … And Jonathan talks about this bridge, but there's another bridge that's being built,” Juste
said. “The bridge between those who are native to this space, and those who came in search of something better than what they left. So when you look at this bridge, you know, it's easy to get caught up in the technology, but I think that's what The Orb does really well. You forget the technology.”
IF YOU GO
What: "From Venice With Love" Exhibit
When: Available to view until November 15th
Where: The Betsy Hotel, Miami beach
More information: Here
