17
Seventeen

Last year, Miami artist Xavier Cortada created a mile-long installation consisting of 360 flags running from the entrance of Biscayne National Park to the water’s edge: 360 participants each painted a flag depicting an endangered animal representing one of Earth’s 360 degrees. This year, Cortada worked with Vince Herrera who invited fellow Miami artists to each create a work depicting one of the 17 threatened and endangered species that call Biscayne National Park home.

The seventeen invitees are: Vince Herrera, Ernesto Kunde, Alex Yanes, Kazilla, Sean Ritchwood, Diana Contreras, Eleazar Delgado, BMD, Anthony Burks, TMNK, Kid, Courtney Rutter, Clay Frye, Yoko Sigiura, Monique Lassooij, Sri Prabha, and Alexandra Seda. These 17 works will be exhibited at the gallery adjacent to Cortada’s Miami studio.

Cortada created the 17 drawings on carbon paper, as a metaphor for the impact (or “carbon footprint”) that humans have had on these species, even across the boundaries of protected nature preserves.

Titled for Biscayne Bay’s longitude, Cortada’s “80.15 W” features the 17 threatened and endangered species that call Biscayne National Park home.

The gallery will also display some drawings of Cortada’s “Endangered World.” Cortada has created “Endangered World” installations at the South Pole (2007), North Pole (2008), Holland (2009) and Biscayne National Park (2010), as well as online participatory art projects (http://www.endangeredworld.org/ site no longer available), to engage community members in addressing the large-scale loss of our planet’s biodiversity.