by Onajídé Shabaka - 20 Mar., 2007

   More March Madness

    by Onajídé Shabaka

Crowds seemed a bit more sparse than normal this past 10th of March but, it could be that we have so many more places to check out now. And, certainly, one person cannot make the rounds to all of them including, those that get paid full time to do it.

Continuing the Wynwood/ Design District Gallery Night found a crowd of people standing in front of a darkened room at the rear of Kevin Bruk Gallery. Midori Harima was born in Japan. Much of her work is made the way she perceives our sense of reality by piecing together bits of information and stimuli. The artist materializes her sculpture from bits and fragments of mass media found in various publications, as well as the internet. Her room-sized installation (seen below made up on various transparent floor-mounted screens and a wall projection) created a darker than normal scene of nature. The foreboding quality was achieved by both lighting and materials.

Michael Sweet's drawings on wood were richly crafted and created with a wood burning tool set. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, enjoy the work. However, once the wood is burned, the lines cannot be erased as with a pencil. So, even though some marks may be incorrect, they are what they are. I would personally love to see more of this work.

Kerry Ware (above) is one of the painters in Miami I really enjoy viewing. His rich, vibrant, entrancing colors usually have us visually walking across its distant planet-like surfaces looking at every nook and crevice for something more to feast our eyes upon. Also at Dorsch Gallery with Ware is Runcie Tatnall. Tatnall's brushwork was just perfect for her subject matter, two playful dogs animated and full of energy. Tatnall captures both the motion and light with rich tones and saturation that are beautifully layered and nuanced by that brushwork.

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