Brigitte Onorato/ Staff Writer
The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum brought in 12 artists on Saturday, July 14, to present their pieces in “Deconstruction: A Reordering of Life, Politics, and Art,” an exhibit based off of one theme—deconstruction. The pieces reflect the process of taking apart things and creating something that re-examines the world around us.
A variety of artworks surrounded the walls of the museum, such as photographs of people
and places. One picture in particular was an image of a homeless man underneath a bridge, which was taken by Zachary Balber. In the image you can partially see the man’s face in the photograph, depicting the way homeless people are viewed.
Another photograph piece from Zachary Balber named “Booties and Astroburf to walk the moon,” was taken of him laying on artificial grass outside of a beautiful Miami penthouse. Balber took the image himself.
Balber works during the day as a high-end real estate photographer. The symbolism behind this picture was to show Miami’s luxurious homes and his own childhood dreams of wishing to step into one of these estates and live a rich life.
There was an art piece very different than the rest, however. This composition resembled the artists life, and the meaning behind the way the pieces within the artwork joined together, it was a design called “Declaration” by Jamilah Sabur.
Sabur’s art was a simple framework consisting of a rectangular linen material. Above it said Ibine-Ella-Acu, which signifies Water Sun Moon in the Timucua language, and also her adopted middle name when she became a U.S citizen in 2018. In the middle of the frame below the name was a ziploc bag, inside had Sabur’s picture similar to a passport photo that was taken during an immigration proceeding.
Christopher Carter, an artist of “Cross Cultural Trap,” explained to Student Media the reason behind the piece.
“Originally it was a column someone purchased and I kept the remaining piece and placed it somewhere behind my house,” said Carter. “As the days followed I got contacted by the chief curator, Amy Gaplin, she explained the meaning behind the exhibit and I thought, ‘Oh wow, this column I have can be of great use, so I went to work on it and placed all the broken parts back on and painted the column bronze.”
Pepe Mar, another artist, describes the meaning behind the artwork and the inspiration that influenced his piece. He goes on to explain the painting that was located in the middle of the entire wall.
Jeffery Roberson, and his drag persona Varla, is someone who Pepe admires. He decided to base the piece about her, and it’s clear that there are different pictures of Varla within the artwork as well as the painting he drew of her.
Pepe’s artwork covered an entire wall and consisted of clothing material, newspaper and objects. The colors were vibrant, with various shades of pink.
The contrasting perspectives of these twelve artists depicting life through the reconstruction and deconstruction of art elements,enlighten the viewer about topics that we are facing in today’s world.
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