CLIMA features new environmental works by Xavier Cortada, as well as a broad range of earlier works by the artist–including paintings, drawings, videos, digital art and his polar installations.

The solo show will run from November 30th, 2015 through January 29th, 2016 at the Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment  4800 Palm Avenue, Hialeah, FL.  Hialeah, Florida’s fifth largest municipality, is one of the state’s most vulnerable cities:  A four-foot rise in sea level will flood 70% of the population.  During the first twelve days of the exhibit (which coincide with the Paris Talks), Cortada will convene a series of daily participatory performances and panel discussions addressing sea level rise, global climate change and biodiversity loss.

The CLIMA exhibit is presented by the City of Hialeah in partnership with Florida International University Sea Level Solutions Center (SLSC), Florida International University College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS), the Florida International University College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA), and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy –with special acknowledgement of the support from the Rauschenberg Residency/Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

CLIMA will feature the following works by Cortada, who serves as Artist-in-Residence for Florida International University‘s College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS) and FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA):

Rising Seas:
Videos, silk screens and digital prints created during the artist’s participation in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency Rising Seas Confab 2015

Performances | Panels:
During November 30th -December 11th (to coincide the COP21 Paris Talks), Cortada will convene 12 panel discussions and  accompanying performance art works, each addressing an important theme related to global climate change.

Solar Panels:
Cortada will create progressive paintings on two solar panels onsite.  The background will depict diatoms (the original solar panels) used by FIU scientists to research sea level rise. Inspired by CLIMA’s daily panel discussions, Cortada will paint additional images to the solar panels every day.

Digital Works:
Small scale replicas of Cortada’s recent environmentally-themed commissions for the Florida Turnpike, Port Everglades Terminal 2 and Terminal 4,  Honoring the Future and the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.

Paintings:
Littoral Creatures, works created in 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve and protect the sea grasses.

Polar Installations:
Selected works from the artist’s environmental installations at the South Pole in 2007 and at the North Pole in 2008.

Honoring the Future is also presenting an ancillary exhibit at the site, Climate Art & Action,  The touring exhibit features works by ten American artists motivated by concern over climate change.  It was last on exhibit during August-September at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional headquarters in Philadelphia.  One of the works featured is a detail of Ichthys, a digital artwork created by Miami artist Xavier Cortada to welcome the Pope’s climate change message and U.S. visit. Honoring the Future used Cortada’s image as part of an effort welcoming Pope Francis on the eve of his visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.

EVENTS

CLIMA will open with a reception at 7pm on November 30th, at the conclusion of a “Sea Level Rise in Hialeah” panel discussion.  During the reception, attendees will be invited to see the screening of Cortada’s 5 Actions to Stop Sea Level Rise (created during the artist’s participation in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency Rising Seas Confab 2015).

During the first twelve days of the exhibit, Cortada will convene a series of participatory performances and panel discussions with scientists and community leaders on sea level rise and global climate change.  This will coincide with the COP21 Paris Talks, a crucial UN conference seeking to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.  .