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Scenes from Living in Art: Alfredo Guzman
loves his job; Don and Mera Rubell exude a passion for
art. Stills courtesy of Dot Fiftyone |
Dot Fiftyone Gallery’s Isaac Perelman is
the producer of a new homegrown reality television show. “The
idea is to always show that living with art improves your
quality of life,” he explains. Living in Art is a
13-episode series that follows Perelman’s codirector in Dot
Fiftyone, Alfredo Guzman, as he conducts business for the
gallery, interacting with others from Miami’s art community.
Donald
and Mera Rubell, influential collectors, invite the crew to see
their home and collection; their excitement is infectious as
they converse candidly about their beginnings as collectors. The
Rubells are very accessible, and Alfredo is quite telegenic. As
Mera likens the first works they collected to their “first
kids,” you throw up your hands and give in to the irrepressible
joy of the whole thing. Fans can hardly object that yet another
reality TV show is foisted upon us when it is so unabashedly
enthusiastic.
Dot
Fiftyone, located at 51 NW 36th St., occupies a
capacious warehouse at the intersection of Wynwood and the
Design District. In addition to representing the works of
artists from the United States, Europe, Latin America and
Israel, Dot Fiftyone has hosted events promoting music and
fashion in its all-purpose space. Both men are from Argentina,
and they confess to being drawn to art by temperament, even
though they were educated in other fields — Perelman in TV
production and advertising, Guzman as an architect. Their aim
for Living in Art is to encourage individuals to become
collectors of original art and to demystify the process of
acquiring it. A sneak preview of an episode revealed very tidy
production, with an emphasis on showing the art, and providing
clear visuals and background information on the work and the
artist in “capsule” segments.
“It’s
entertainment, of course…,” says Perelman, “…and educational,”
adds Guzman, completing his sentence. It’s a coup for the team,
and no small testament to their charm, that many gallery dealers
and art world personalities agreed to participate. Kevin Bruk,
Silvana Facchini, Bernice Steinbaum, artist Lynne Golob Gelfman
and Miami Art Museum Director Terence Riley all appear.
Living in Art is a
roving eye behind the scenes, sharing with a neophyte audience
how the art world does business. Real-world situations prompt
the action in each episode. For example, a collector is looking
for a specific work, and Guzman, after showing some of Dot
Fiftyone’s inventory, takes the collector to visit another
gallery where a sale is eventually made. Another episode invites
us into the home of a collector seeking advice on how to hang
what where. Guzman is the agreeable star of the series, driving
the Audi graciously offered by that sponsor to his various
appointments. Another remarkable sponsor is Apple Computer, who
rarely sponsors anything! It’s part of Dot Fiftyone’s generous
and positive attitude that they eagerly share the limelight —
and their collectors — with other gallery dealers. “The prima
donna is not us,” says Guzman. Dot Fiftyone is more like a
laboratory, a place for happenings, events, anything to do with
culture. “We opened without a ton of money behind us, and so we
had to be creative with marketing,” explains Perelman. “We make
a commitment to building the gallery and to our artists
through liaisons that bring new energy. We live in the
community. We share. Everything in the show happens as it does
in real life. Now that we are functioning well as a gallery, a
new stage … will evolve.”
Lifestyle TV, which is scheduled to air the series, is marketed
as an “aspirational” network, and it is partly owned by, believe
it or not, Playboy TV. Its catalog of offerings instructs
viewers in its 25- to 45-year-old target demographic on how to
live the good life, via cooking and travel shows, most famously
the Argentine nun who cooks. It’s all very populist, not too
intellectually demanding, and perfectly contrived to appeal to
the general public, who may be completely unaware of the
machinations of the world of contemporary art. Living in Art,
a collaboration with Karina Castellano of Nativa Productions,
Inc. (which shares building space with Dot Fiftyone), is slated
for broadcast in major U.S. cities, Latin America and parts of
Europe. The gallery is planning an October launch event.
<<<
Presently on view at Dot Fiftyone is a summer exhibition titled
Meeting Point, in homage to the aesthetic alliances
discovered among the gallery’s roster of artists. Andres
Ferrandis is showing some more complex works composed of units
of abstract, transparent images. Marguerite Beaty has created
mysterious self-portraits in nature settings using a pinhole
camera. They have a long vertical format and suggest a
smoldering, dark sensuality. Leonel Matheu is represented by
several kinds of works, whimsical painted and constructed images
that rely on unexpected marriages of ordinary objects. He adapts
his folkloric sensibility to a series of traffic signs
illustrated with trees, crickets and houses in a graphic style.
These are part of a public art project and are awaiting approval
to be installed in Miami Beach. Works by a young Italian artist
named Natalie Silva are bursting with great facility; her
paintings show much potential. Also, look for a Dot Fiftyone
boxed set of print editions by its artists, begun by the gallery
director team that never sleeps. Call 305-573-9994.
Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com. Michelle Weinberg is
an artist and writer based in Miami Beach and New York. Find her
on the Web at www.michelleweinberg.com.
