presents
Mangroves
a solo exhibit by
Xavier Cortada
in the
Capitol Gallery
22nd Floor, Florida Capitol
Tallahassee, FL

April 4 – June 3, 2005

click for more info

Xavier Cortada: “Seeing” in tune with Nature

an essay by Alfredo Triff

The Everglades is one of the most polluted and abused wetlands in America. Its soil has been dug up for limestone (to use in construction), flooded by the sugar industry’s chemical by-products and guttered with sewer water. Poachers prey on alligators, turtles, rare birds and manatees. Lately, its green expanse has been trimmed down by South Florida’s multimillion-dollar real estate industry.

Mangrove swamps, which extend as far north as Tampa on the Gulf Coast, and to Daytona Beach on the Atlantic seaboard, are a crucial Everglades’ habitat. In this vegetation mass, fresh water meets salty water from the tidal flats; an impenetrable maze of woody vegetation grows amidst the tensions of flooding and salinity. The marsh remains a paradox of nature: mud and decaying matter with very little oxygen beneath, with a profusion of tangled aerial roots trapping that sediment in order to make for a tightly packed, beautiful forest.

Miami artist Xavier Cortada is captivated by this treasure of our flora. Last year, at OMNI Art, he showed Miami Mangrove Forest, an installation consisting of drawings, rows of beakers containing mangrove roots and a video. Again, the mangrove was the protagonist for a public mural underneath I-95 that he created for last year’s Art Basel and another he was commissioned to create for Miami-Dade County Hall. Why the fascination?

Eco-art is a new term, its scope in direct response to an environmental crisis. In this context, artists have come up with different approaches. Some “reclaim” the environment, like Mel Chin’s use of living organisms to “cure” polluted sites. Others, like Augustine Lynas “recycle” manufacturing by-products with natural materials into “ephemera,” such as building giant sand-sculptures on the beaches of Fire Island, New York. There are the “ritualists,” like Joseph Beuys, who lived for three days shut up with a coyote inside a New York gallery, or Minimalist sculptor Richard Long, a kind of pilgrim traversing the earth, mapping its contours with his crossings and recrossings.

Though Cortada is not an Eco-artist per se, we can see his work as eliciting awareness through active contemplation. This style harks back to the landscape school of the 19^th century. By showing Nature as a spectacle, those artists were among the first to warn of the danger of –as Thomas Cole put it– “the wilderness passing away and the necessity of saving and perpetuating its features.”  But today, being “real” or “grand” can be self-deceiving, in the sense of using Nature’s beauty to hide its tragic destruction.

Cortada’s approach is more abstract and personal, but at the same time, as reverent. The mangrove’s resilience and adaptability can become a metaphor for South Florida’s exile reality. Immigrants flourish in adverse and diverse environments. They –as the aquatic tree— take root and flourish, its fruits given back to the rest of society.

As in the tradition of natural history, Cortada “records” biological events. He explores his natural milieu carefully and patiently, creating a rich and detailed range, from colored to monochromatic, to darker and mysterious. Slowly, we see a development in the art that begins to suggest a human dimension.

It is a slow progress, which aims to understand “how to see” and discover. From this repetition and contact, hopefully, Cortada suggests a deeper learning. “Seeing” in tune with Nature can bring forth the most meaningful metaphors.

©2005 Alfredo Triff

Division of Cultural Affairs
Glenda E. Hood
Secretary of State

For Immediate Release                                                                     Contact: Erin Long
March 28, 2005                                                                                  (850) 245-6475
elong@dos.state.fl.us

Artwork by Xavier Cortada
on Display in the Capitol’s 22^nd Floor Gallery

Tallahassee, FL — Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood announced today an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Miami artist Xavier Cortada.  The exhibition entitled “Mangroves” will be on display in the Capitol’s 22^nd Floor Gallery from April 4, 2005 through June 3, 2005.

“We are delighted to host an exhibition of works by Xavier Cortada,” said Secretary Hood. “His bold works are truly reflective of his Cuban-American heritage — such a significant part of our state’s heritage.”

            Xavier Cortada’s Cuban roots are immediately evident in his tropical palette and expressive style.  Like many other Florida artists, Cortada was drawn to the beauty of South Florida’s nature ever since he was a young child.  He says, “Nature can transport us, not just to another place, but to another time.  It reminds us of what was here before all the concrete was poured.  As generations and growth transform Miami, we as a people are grounded by nature, the one constant in this ever changing and wonderful city.” The mangrove, and its tangled roots which appear to walk on water, is one of Cortada’s favorite subject matters.  He uses the mangrove, a vitally important coastal plant, as a metaphor in his work for the growth and evolution of the state of Florida.

             Well-known for his collaborative public artwork, Xavier Cortada has previously completed commissions for the White House, the World Bank, and numerous other organizations. Working directly with diverse groups across the world, Cortada has produced numerous large-scale murals and community art projects. In February 2000, invited by the Holy See, Cortada traveled to the Vatican to participate in the Jubilee Day for Artists and meet Pope John Paul II.  Cortada holds three degrees from the University of Miami – a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctor.

This exhibition is part of the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs’ Capitol Complex Exhibition Program. For more information contact Erin Long at 850/245-6475 or visit: http://www.florida-arts.org.

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Capitol Gallery:

Located on the 22nd Floor of the State Capitol Building, hours are Mondays through Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Contact:

Erin Long
Florida Department of State
Division of Cultural Affairs
Art and History Services
The Old Capitol, Suite B-11
400 S. Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 245-6475