Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Arrow.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the practice, why don’t you give our readers a few quick bullet points about you and your story.
Born 1962 Mineola, NY
Moved to South Florida 1973
1980s Exhibited in alternative spaces and galleries throughout Miami, traveled the US.
1980s hung out at F.I.U. Photography lab. Met William Eggleston and accompanied him on a walking photography expedition of Miami Beach, met Lee Friedlander, shared my photographs and was encouraged to continue working, worked with Nan Goldin, assisted her in presenting The Ballad of Sexual Dependency her epic and influential 1985 slide show comprised of over (700) 35mm slides.
1990s Moved to Miami Beach and was the Director of the Española Way Art Center for 6 years.
Worked in various Miami Beach live music venues and nightclubs by incorporating 35mm slide and 16mm film installations. Left the nightclub and live music scene and began working in South Florida contemporary art museums and art galleries providing media services.
Have worked in museums and galleries since 1998. Assisted numerous artists realize their exhibitions including Frank Stella, Ed Ruscha, Helen Frankenthaler, Richard Artschwager, Yoko Ono, Dara Friedman, Raymond Pettibon and others.
Founded Obsolete Media Miami (O.M.M.), which ran from 2015-2018 as an alternative media archive, social art project and experiment. In 2019, initiated a new project called Media + Archival Studies, Miami (M.A.S.)
M.A.S. advances from O.M.M. an artist run media archive focused on connecting artists and the general public to Miami’s unique archives as a source of information and inspiration. Located in the Bakehouse Art Complex, M.A.S. is open as a media resource, research center and art, photography and film reading room. Open by appointment.
Day job: Exhibitions and Project Manager at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami where I spend my time coordinating the coming, going and installation of large and small scale art exhibitions.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a Miami based multimedia artist whose work is informed by archives, history, fractured narratives, and surprise. My work takes on various forms including, drawing, painting, 35mm slide presentations and audio/video based projects, merging my interest in obsolete media, archival tendencies, the ephemeral object and humor. I’m continually seeking to find the sublime within the mundane, and the mundane within the sublime experience, in addition to investigating interchangeability of both. I collect orphaned 35mm slides and have amassed over 100,000 images. I use this collection to make my work which take the form of 35mm slide presentations, light boxes and self published ‘zines.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
Yes, everything changes, including the role of artists. My practice has been slowly unfolding for 30+ years independent of national and international events. I work while Miami and the world changes around me. Many artists focus their work exclusively on current politics and the popular causes of the moment. I tend to draw inspiration from the past, present and the future.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The Beatles Mandala (Amor=Love) 2014 commemorates the 40th anniversary of the arrival of The Beatles to Miami Beach in 1964. It is specifically a two hundred square foot ground level glass tile mosaic located at the Bandshell Park on 73rd Street and Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
Commissioned by Miami Beach Art in Public Places
Forthcoming 2019: “expanded DOME” installation to be presented at the Booker T. Washington Senior High School Planetarium in Overtown.
Commissioned by Art Center South Florida, Ellies Grant 2018
Support my work by scheduling a visit at my studio located at the Bakehouse Art Complex Unit 30, 561 NW 32nd St, Miami, FL 33127
Contact Info:
- Address: Bakehouse Art Complex Unit 30, 561 NW 32nd St, Miami, FL 33127
- Phone: 3052989981
- Email: arrowfuentes@gmail.com
- Instagram: @arrowfuentes and @m.a.s.miami
- Facebook: @KevinArrow
Image Credit:
Kevin Arrow in Studio portrait by Irina Dakhnovskaia-Lawton, 2019
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