Coral Springs Museum of Art RUSHING Down Exhibition
Boca Raton, FL – From May 3-June 18, 2022, the Coral Springs Museum of Art will be presenting “RUSHING down” a show that combines the works of contemporary artists Hermes Berrio and Carmen Smith. Berrio and Smith capture the significance of everyday life, relating to the grand scope that emphasizes both the mundane and the extraordinary. They simultaneously explore how the built environment affects emotional and psychological states surrounding them and their environments.
Smith’s current series Night Swimming emphasizes the nocturnal urban South Florida landscape, imaging it as a magical, otherworldly playground of glowing pools and colorful buildings. Her compositions are kept simple, while her use of color is exaggerated to elicit an emotional response.
Berrio’s urban paintings are personal snapshots of his people, the city, and a sublimely laid out perspective that feels universal and unpretentious; his pieces are documentary-like in nature. His paintings present a monumental vision of urban life.
Both artists capture inspiration from their memory, familiar settings, and urban landscapes then morph those visions into dynamic and colorful works through use of materials, vision or technique. The nuances of the works show how personal landscape provides new ways to interrupt one’s visual truth using experience, memory, and identity as the roots of the vision. The artists’ shared love of their personal surroundings and use of color complement each other while providing the viewer a vision of RUSHING down through the daily hustle and the nightly wind down.
Visitors will be able to ask the artists questions at the Opening Reception, and during an artist talk and other events to be held at the Museum. Dates for additional programming in conjunction with this exhibition will be forthcoming on our website and social media channels.
EXHIBITION DATES
May 3 – June 18, 2022
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 19 | 5:30 – 8:30pm
Ask the Artist | 6:30pm
WHERE
Coral Springs Museum of Art – Inside the Center for the Arts
2855A Coral Springs Drive
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Registration for the event is not required and Masks are encouraged but optional.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Hermes Berrio (b. 1980, Colombia), currently living and working in Miami. He received his BFA from New York, University (2005). In recent years, he has participated in group and solo exhibitions around the world for galleries and institutions in the U.S. and Colombia, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Australia, and Canada. He’s also completed a number of murals, with the most recent installations throughout the city of Miami. In 2018 he was awarded a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and in 2019 from the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation. He has been a Fountainhead Studio artist resident since May 2019. He continues to evolve his practice, investigating new processes and mediums, while challenging contemporary expectations with his prodigious compositions.
Carmen Smith is a visual artist based in South Florida. She is an Associate Artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami. Originally from St. Augustine, FL, she moved to Miami in 2008 after she studied fine art and design in Virginia. She holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Richmond, VA, where she was awarded the Academic and Creative Excellence Award. She has participated in more than 15 juried shows and fairs, including the 8th Annual All-Media Juried Biennial (Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, 2017) and Spectrum Art Fair (Miami 2017). She has been part of several group exhibitions including The Portfolio Review Series, Coral Gables Museum (Miami, 2019) and Everything Old Is New Again, Superfine! NYC Art Fair Curated Gallery (New York, 2017). In 2021, she held a solo exhibition, “Night Swimming”, at Second Street Gallery (Charlottesville, VA). She is best known for her intensely colorful paintings of tropical urban architectural scenes.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
What began late in 1996 as a City project to build a comprehensive recreation and community center, soon turned into The Coral Springs Center for the Arts – a performance theater and art museum. Housed in the impressive 30,000 square foot center for the arts building is the equally impressive Coral Springs Museum of Art which was incorporated in January of 1997.
MISSION
To engage and connect our diverse communities with dynamic exhibits, exceptional art education, stimulating specialty programs and inspired events to ignite cultural enrichment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please visit coralspringsmuseum.org
