Cortada creates landmark public art piece in Jacksonville Beach
CORTADA FIRST TO CREATE PUBLIC SCULPTURE CELEBRATING NEWLY DISCOVERED BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOT OFF U.S. COAST
The City of Jacksonville Beach unanimously selected Xavier Cortada in a national competition to create a new public art installation that serves as the gateway into Jacksonville Beach.
‘Water Columns’ features seven sculptures that represent biodiversity from shore to sea, specifically highlighting the Blake Plateau — an ecological hotspot recently discovered off the U.S. coast. This is the first public art piece ever created to depict this vital marine habitat. Furthermore, Cortada collaborated with the Natural Resources Defense Council to develop educational content around its importance.
“The installation will help raise environmental awareness, and serve as a reminder of the vital importance of preserving and protecting the natural resources unique to Jacksonville Beach,” said Cortada.
POST REVIEWS CORTADA'S SOLO ART SHOW
Washington Post art critic Mark Jenkins recently reviewed the “Xavier Cortada: Climate Science Art” solo exhibition at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.:
“The artist sees a direct link between thawing ice caps and Miami’s likely fate. His paintings of elevation numbers, which can be large enough to fill the intersection of a major thoroughfare, depict the digits as partly submerged. The number sculptures, made of environmentally sustainable concrete, incorporate organic details that suggest coral reefs. As beautiful as they are foreboding, the concrete numerals mimic aquatic forms in anticipation of an underwater future.”
Inspiring UM Miller School of Medicine's Incoming Class
On August 14th, Xavier Cortada delivered a one hour lecture to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s largest incoming class. He urged future doctors to lead with creativity, courage, and compassion in tackling the climate crisis.
Cortada showcased his collaborative art projects created in medical settings and highlighted the intersection of planetary health and human health.
Welcoming UM Global Executive MBA Students
On August 22nd, Cortada gave a speech at the University of Miami’s Global Executive MBA reception, joining the dean in welcoming a new cohort of seasoned entrepreneurs and senior leaders.
Cortada shared his vision of Miami as “a city that is not just positioned on the map but positioned for the future,” emphasizing its ability to work at the intersection of culture, trade, and technology to find climate solutions.
15 years ago
Xavier Cortada, “Genetic Markers: Ancestral Journeys across the Asian Continent / Haplogroup R, Varanasi,” Val David, Quebec, 2009.
GENETIC MARKERS
Using a Quebec forest’s trees as geographic markers of present-day nations, in the summer of 2009 Miami artist Xavier Cortada installed 20 flags depicting the route the first wave of humans took out of Africa across the Asian coastline to Australia and beyond.
Inspired by the field work of FIU geneticist Dr. Rene Herrera, who uses DNA testing to research early human migration, Cortada color-coded the flags to depict the genetic Haplogroup in the majority of each country’s population.