4/5/2010
When: 4/5/2010
2:00 PM
Where: Florida International University
Biscayne Bay Campus (BBC) Library Room 150
3000 NE 151 Street
North Miami, Florida 33181

Florida International University

Honors College Colloquium at BBC

Xavier Cortada

Artist

“Art and the Environment:

The Eco-Art Work of Xavier Cortada”

Monday, April 5, 2010

2:00 – 3:15 PM

BBC Library Room 150

Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus

Miami artist Xavier Cortada has created art installations around the world to raise

awareness about issues like global climate change, deforestation and the plight of

endangered species. In 2007, the artist used the moving ice sheet beneath the South

Pole as an instrument to mark time and highlight the impact of wide-scale climate

change. The following year, he launched a global reforestation eco-art effort, called

“The Reclamation Project” by planting a green flag at North Pole and reclaiming it for

nature. He has worked with scientists, arborists and environmental managers to

develop eco-art projects that engage community residents in bioremediation. One of

his current projects, “Endangered World: Biscayne National Park Installation,” allows

individuals and organizations to adopt an endangered or threatened animal, paint an

image of the species on one of the 360 colored flags planted along Convoy Point in

Biscayne National Park, and commit to an “eco-action” that directly or indirectly

mitigates the plight of this animal. Cortada has been commissioned to create art for

the White House, the World Bank, the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Governor’s

Mansion, Miami City Hall, Miami-Dade County Hall, the Miami Art Museum, the

Museum of Florida History, the South Pole Station, and the Frost Art Museum.