art meets world - The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum - Florida ...

EXHIBITIONS
The FIGURE Past and PrEsenT
Selections from the Permanent
Collection
JOHN HENRY’s
Drawing in Space:
THE PENINSULA PROJECT ILLUSTRATED
Head of an Oba, early 19th century, West Africa, Late Benin Kingdom
Bronze, 16.5 x 11 x 13 inches
For thousands of years, every culture across the world has
paid homage to the human body. Today, in a world of vastly
expanded knowledge of physical life, artists go beyond the
simple representation of the human body by relating it,
by analogy, to all structures that have become part of our
imaginative and intellectual experience.
This exhibition showcases the similarities and differences
among the traditional cultures of Asia, Africa, Europe and
the Americas, and honors the achievements of the men
and women we now call artists. Many of them were not
artists in the contemporary sense, but rather magicians,
shamans, priests and anonymous servitors of a higher
authority. This selection is meant to introduce the viewer to
the rich traditions associated with figurative representation,
real and imagined, human and animal, and the often
fantastic combinations of both. By casting wide temporal
and geographic nets, the exhibits show the cross-cultural
influences so relevant today, especially in the Miami area.
This selection represents only a small number of works
in The Frost Art Museum’s collection of more than
6,000 pieces of art.
Exhibition runs through 2010.
Image courtesy the Peninsula Project
This exhibition highlights the process and concept
behind Drawing in Space: The Peninsula Project, which
incorporates large scale sculpture into the Florida
landscape. Henry specifically chose Florida for its
peninsular shape which creates a unique geographic
environment. Each individual sculpture invites the viewer
to see the next, thus experiencing a new part of Florida.
This is not only an art exhibition but a way to provide
a deeper connection between the viewer, the cities and
the sculptures that encourages exploration of the natural
beauty of Florida. Along with each outdoor installation, a
local museum partner hosts an accompanying exhibition.
The Frost presents the signature exhibition for the
project: Peninsula Project Illustrated and showcases all nine
monumental works in the seven participating Florida
cities. With models of the sculpture and large photographs
of the pieces set in their various landscapes, the show will
illustrate the artist’s unprecedented use of the Florida
peninsula as his canvas.
Exhibition runs through March 9, 2009.
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