FROST ART MUSEUM ACQUIRES
CORTADA’S SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART
Cortada’s Flor500 and Four Elements are in the permanent collection of the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum.
Joining the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum‘s permanent collection is Xavier Cortada‘s participatory art project Flor500. This acquisition is comprised of a complete documentation of the project, including illustrations, essays, and the research that went into Flor500’s formation. The museum’s education department hopes to use this acquisition to continue teaching about Florida’s history and ecosystem, conservation awareness, and more.
Beginning in 2013, Cortada began Flor500 in honor of Florida’s quincentennial. Working with historians, artists, and public-school systems to formulate various activities throughout Florida to commemorate the history of the state of Florida and raise awareness about wildlife conservation.
Cortada identified 500 indigenous flowers and invited 500 artists to produce illustrations. Then, he partnered with Florida universities and local school systems to create 500 indigenous flower gardens that were dedicated to 500 important figures in Florida’s history.
Xavier Cortada stands before the 240′ mural created at Sweetwater Elementary in 2018 in partnership with the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, FIU’s Office of Engagement and Honors College, and 300 local volunteers, depicting 500 Florida native wildflowers.
Xavier Cortada, “FLOR500: Tiled Drawing,” charcoal on paper with wildflower seeds attached, 2012
Cortada created tiled drawings across eight Florida regions, inviting participants to take a tile with wildflower seeds, plant a garden at home, and dedicate them to a Floridian who has inspired them, such as a historic figure, family member or friend. Click here to see tile drawings and their video documentation.
DIATOMS AT EARTHLY OBSERVATORY
AT THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO GALLERIES
Cortada’s one-hundred diatom works on tile (each 6″ x 6″), 2017.
Cortada’s “Diatoms” is featured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SIAC) Galleries‘ “Earthly Observatory,” a multidisciplinary exhibition that explores the ways we sense, portray, and engage our planetary enmeshment. This Anthropocenic era of pervasive, global change calls for new ways to engage mediums and histories long kept separate. The themes of “organisms,” “energies,” and “geographies” will frame the constellation of practices being brought together.
ART AT THE U
AT THE MIAMI HERBERT BUSINESS SCHOOL
On August 19th, for a third consecutive year, Cortada provided an official welcome to the University of Miami family to incoming Global Executive MBA students at his alma mater, the University of Miami, and presented his signed artwork depicting “The U” to all incoming and current students.
Xavier Cortada, “Welcoming U to the Miami Business School: Your first step in a life-long journey,”
5″ x 7″, archival ink on metal, 2018.
Xavier Cortada’s “The Four Seasons” at the University of Miami’s Miami Herbert Business School (1m 15s)
