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Introducing...JAS - João Alexandrino
Our first interview with newly joined CAMP artist João Alexandrino
As the year comes to a close, we here at the gallery want to unveil our newly arriving additions to the CAMPers roster! The first spotlight we're featuring is Portugeuse multimedia artist João Alexandrino, also know as JAS, as we get to sit down and delve into his mind for the ideas behind his work and methodolgy. -
As the exhibition This is Not a Doll's House continues in our North Miami space, we wanted to give the oppurtunity to shed some light on the finer details you might have missed out on with each artists work. Their inspirations, the analysis of the original Ibsen play, and their reactions to an ever-changing modern society norm all have major influences on their art, and that gives us great reasoning to prod their minds for the real reasons behind the Doll's House.This is part three of our interview series, if you'd like to go back to read the answers some of the artists gave in part one, CLICK HERE. -
Artist of the Month: Sonya Revell
"It is important to be curious, to explore, to go down rabbit holes, to day dream, but also to be gentle with yourself."
Miami-based photographer, Sonya Revell, is The CAMP’s Artist of the Month for August 2023. Her Award winning series, Queef Latina Stars in Cabana Fever shown as part of our SCOPE 2021 booth features a fanciful drag fairytale starring the iconic local Drag Queen, Queef Latina. This series highlights the joy and fantasy consistent throughout Revell’s work, displayed boldly in scenes of dazzling glamour and colorful extravagance, and this oppurtunity gives us a moment to question and reflect on some of her thoughts on the artistic process as a photographer.Is there an artist that you feel inspired you to become an artist?Tim Burton’s movies made a huge impact on me as a child and as a latch-key kid in the 1990s, I was heavily influenced by pop culture, MTV, and music videos. Later, in college, I discovered and was inspired by photographers like David LaChapelle, Philippe Halsman, Floria Sigismondi, and Rodney Smith.
Pictured above; Queef Latina in Baby Velvet, 2019When did you know that you were an artist?I don’t think there was a definitive moment, I just always knew I enjoyed the creative process and using my imagination. As an only child (until the age of 18) with two working parents, I often had to entertain myself and used creativity as a form of escapism.Do you have a routine when creating art? What does your process look like?To generate new ideas, I have to allow myself to day dream and let my mind wander. This is an important part of my process. Once I have a concept and I’ve let it simmer a bit, I try to pinpoint the best location, type of lighting, subject, hair/ makeup, and props that would help bring the idea to life. During the actual image-making process I try not to box myself in, but rather allow myself to experiment and play.What are your biggest takeaways from your process?Allow your mind to wander. Boredom can actually be a good thing. Be curious. Find topics that interest you and go down rabbit holes. Explore and go on adventures. All of these help breed interesting ideas.
Pictured above; Queef Latina in Morning Glory, 2019What is the most important thing you have learned about being an artist?It is important to be curious, to explore, to go down rabbit holes, to day dream, but also to be gentle with yourself. For me, creativity can be quite cyclical. I don’t always feel creative and that’s ok. I don’t do my best work when I try to force it. But if I’m feeling inspired it’s almost like a compulsion to create. I have to get it out.Which is your favorite museum/art space and why?The City Museum in St. Louis, MO (where I went to college) is by far my favorite art space. Sometimes museums can feel too sterile and the art feels unapproachable. What I love about the City Museum is how interactive the space is and that it demonstrates that anything can be made into art.
What do you want the viewer to gain when encountering your work?
Generally I want the viewer to walk away from my work feeling curious, dazzled, inspired, and maybe just a little lighter on their feet.
To see Sonya's full catalog of works, click here to view the entire selection on Artsy
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Jac Lahav Is A Great American
"I want to show that it's possible to both celebrate and question America."
Detail from “The Lion of Anacostia (Frederick Douglass),” 2022. Oil On Canvas. 80 x 32 x 2 in."The Great Americans” is a visually compelling and thought-provoking group of monumental paintings by artist Jac Lahav that examine the notion of "greatness" within American culture. Through a unique juxtaposition of iconic and lesser-known figures, Lahav challenges viewers to interrogate their understanding of what constitutes a "great" American.Lahav's work challenges the viewer to move beyond recognizable faces and surface-level narratives, encouraging a deep and nuanced exploration of our culture and ourselves. This approach to art, the intellectual and emotional depth, sets "The Great Americans Series" apart, positioning it as an enduring contribution to contemporary American art. It is on view at The Slater Memorial Art Museum until September 2023. -
Artist of the Month: Ziesook You
A sit-down discussion and look at works by May's artist of the month, Ziesook You
The CAMP is pleased to present and feature for our May artist of the month, Korean artist Ziesook You, a more recent arrival into our collective roster. We wanted to be able to get a more in depth look at the inspiration and creation process that Ziesook takes into her transformative floral arrangements, taking a spin on traditional portraiture and the reasoning behind the multi-faceted and layered photographs shes made her own. -
In Conversation with Julie Peppito
The CAMP Gallery's final Artist of the Month in 2022
This month, The CAMP Gallery is spotlighting Julie Peppito, an artist based in Brooklyn, NY whose body of work is vast in media, scale, color, and purpose. Her assemblages can be interpreted as childlike curiosity with a punk twist, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with her paintings, installations, sculptures, and activist work to interrogate the world around us meaningfully.Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie's decades-long career has seen her work at venues such as The Long Island Children's Museum, Kentler International Drawing Space, Art in General, and PS122. She's a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, has made art for four New York City Park's Department playgrounds, and has been featured in The New York Times and ArtNews as of late. She's also been featured in The CAMP's most recent booths at SPRING/BREAK Art Show NY and SCOPE Art Show Miami Beach.Read below for an exclusive interview with the artist and CAMP founder Melanie Prapopoulos. -
CAMP Takes VOLTA
A group interview with Idris Habib, Evelyn Politzer, Silvana Soriano, and Franck de las Mercedes.
The CAMP’s participation in VOLTA is particularly meaningful considering the way the fair’s ethos aligns with ours—an intentional and accessible relationship with art. Keep reading for a deep dive into Booth 215 with artists Idris Habib, Evelyn Politzer, Silvana Soriano, and Franck de las Mercedes.
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Who is Joseph Ginsberg to Joseph Ginsberg? An Interview
"The work is the energy. I am solely the tool to make it happen."
CAMPER Amy Clarke, was fortunate enough to sit down and talk with a man who embodies the truth of what it is to be a creative—native New Yorker, artist, and designer Joseph Ginsberg. Gifted with what seems to be an innate artistic vision, the artist has been dreaming and drawing since he was a child. Fast forward to the present day, and the artist has gathered over 40 years of professional experience the industry from painting or blowing glass in his studio, to designing hotel lobbies from top to bottom. With such a variety of outlets, Amy wanted to talk with Ginsberg himself to find out how which speaks more to him. Who is Joseph Ginsberg to Joseph Ginsberg?
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Como la cigarra: An Interview with Clara Fialho
Fialho discusses Jungian constructs, the power of cicadas, and how not having a babysitter was life-changing.
Clara Fialho in her studio" Clara Fialho ©"I like it when people come up to me and tell me that that my work has brought them joy, or that it’s given them goosebumps. It means I must be doing something right, but then again, it is beyond my control. I can only hope that they will take something away from it."
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Moving Parts: An Interview with Laetitia Adam-Rabel
"While I do pray to God, I am a little burnt on what male leadership has brought us to. So I feel it’s time to revere the female and the male alike."
Laetitia Adam-Rabel. Courtesy of the artist. -
In Conversation with the Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse
Laetitia Adam-Rabel, Viviana Romero, Sandra Onetti, Maria Lino, Leslie McKinley, Laura Marsh, and Nancy Billings reflect on fiber artistry and their purpose as creatives.
As we continue our third-annual collaboration with Fiber Artists Miami Association, the exhibition, Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, continues to reveal just how layered the original premise is at its core. If there's anything we've learned over the years, it's that fiber's adaptable quality extends beyond its material capabilites. The idea that textile art holds a dual nature in its capacity to be equally tender and jarring brings about necessary, albeit poignant, questions of its role within the context of "fine" art, as well as just how much validity our societies are willing to afford to the feminine experience.
This year's edition, which features 100 pieces displayed as massive quilt, can be explored from perspectives totaling to the same, whether they're present subconsciously or explicitly. What is certain and unquestionable is that the democratization of the fine art industry allows us, the audience, to interrogate ourselves better, and more deeply, than a run-of-the mill homogeneity allows. Whether one feels uncomfortable, affrimed, or like they've learned something they weren't expecting to, what unites both the artists and the audience is the idea that self-expression isn't something personal, and instead something that is more often than not done in the same of unity.
In typical CAMP fashion, we're interested in what the artists have to say—about their relationship with textiles, whether fiber art and fine art are as mutually exclusive as we've been lead to believe, and about their nature as artists. Read on to get to know Laetitia Adam-Rabel, Natalia Schonowski, Viviana Romero, Sandra Onetti, Maria Lino, Leslie McKinley, Laura Marsh, and Nancy Billings.