SCAD AT MIAMI presents two exhibitions at Miami Art Week 2016

MIAMI, Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) presents SCAD AT MIAMI during Miami Art Week, showcasing the work of international artists as well as SCAD students and alumni.

Theater of Self, a SCAD-curated exhibition featuring ensembles styled by London-based artist and designer Daniel Lismore and photography by SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography), will be on view Dec. 1–13 at 1601 N. Miami Ave., Miami, Florida. In partnership with the Rolls-Royce Art Programme, SCAD also presents Roots, a site-specific installation by SCAD painting alumnus José Parlá, on display Nov. 29­­–Dec. 15 at The Jewel Box of the National YoungArts Foundation, 2100 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, Florida.

"Creativity has become an essential currency in the world today, and Miami is one of the world's great exchanges, where contemporary masters and fearless upstarts share their grand visions," said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. "I'm proud to see SCAD artists represented here every year."

About the exhibitions:

Theater of Self
Dec. 1-13
11–5 p.m. daily

SCAD AT MIAMI
1601 N. Miami Ave.
Miami, Florida

An exploration of constructed identity through fantasy and materiality, Theater of Self is a joint exhibition of fashion and photography by London-based artist, stylist and designer Daniel Lismore and SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography).

Lismore, who was named "London's Most Outrageous Dresser" by Vogue for his outré style and wildly imaginative wardrobe, transforms everyday objects into living art. He juxtaposes the luxurious and unusual — charity-shop finds, vintage custom fabrics, discarded theatrical props and more — to express his unique sartorial vision. These life-size sculptural ensembles, each worn by the artist at one time, are reflections of his own multidimensional identity and are a tapestry of his journey to his true self. Theater of Self features more than 20 of Lismore's most avant-garde, theatrically designed creations fashioned from his collection of couture and ephemera.

Complementing Lismore's work are the cinematically styled self-portraits of Bin Feng, a SCAD graduate student and Shanghai-born artist living in the U.S. Staging himself in dramatic scenes, Feng captures the ethos of the elusive "American dream." His carefully constructed tableaus make powerful statements about class, race and gender in Western society from an Eastern male perspective.

Theater of Self is co-curated by Rafael Gomes, SCAD director of fashion exhibitions, and Ben Tollefson, assistant curator of SCAD exhibitions.

Theater of Self is free and open to the public Dec. 1­­­–13. More information on the exhibition can be found at scadatmiami.com.

Copies of Daniel Lismore: Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken (ISBN: 978-0-8478-5963-4), published by Skira Rizzoli in collaboration with SCAD, will also be available for purchase in limited quantities at the exhibition.  

José Parlá: Roots
Opening reception: Nov. 29, 5–9 p.m.
Nov. 30–Dec. 15
10–6 p.m. daily

National YoungArts Foundation
The Jewel Box
2100 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, Florida

Roots, commissioned as part of the Rolls-Royce Art Programme in partnership with SCAD and presented at the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), features works by Cuban American artist, SCAD painting alumnus and YoungArts Master Teacher José Parlá during the Miami Art Fair Week this December. An immersive and site-specific installation, Roots brings the renowned and internationally known Miami-native home, where Parlá spent his formative years in the underground art scene. The artist has received critical acclaim for his works that lie between abstraction and calligraphy, and document urban life.

For this site-specific exhibition Parlá transformed Ignacio Carrera-Justiz's Jewel Box building, at the National YoungArts Foundation, through the construction of walls with select cut out windows that conceal and reveal the thick hammered stained glass of the canopy of this tree-like structure. As light shines through the windows which the artist refers to as "aerial roots" new paintings and sculptures created by Parlá are illuminated, invoking a poetic dialogue between the contemporary artwork, the historic space and allusions to growth. The exhibition offers a contemplative space to consider connections between history, one's past, present and the future through the juxtaposition of Parlá's contemporary work, family background and historical framework of the building. It is equally rooted in the past and in the present.

Roots is curated by Laurie Ann Farrell. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

SCAD AT MIAMI artist conversations:

SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace in conversation with artist José Parlá 
Thursday, Dec. 1
11:30 a.m.

National YoungArts Foundation
The Jewel Box
2100 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, Florida

SCAD presents university President and Founder Paula Wallace in conversation with internationally renowned artist and SCAD painting alumnus José Parlá. Wallace and Parlá will explore themes related to Parlá's latest exhibition, Roots, presented by SCAD in partnership with the Rolls-Royce Art Programme during Art Basel in Miami.

To attend this event, RSVP to Ellie McNevin at [email protected].

SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace in conversation with artist and designer Daniel Lismore
Followed by a book signing
Friday, Dec. 2
2 p.m.

Design Miami
790 19th St.
Miami Beach, Florida

SCAD presents an in-depth conversation between university President and Founder Paula Wallace and London-based artist, stylist and designer Daniel Lismore as part of Design Miami's Design Talks program.

They will discuss Theater of Self, Lismore's joint fashion and photography exhibition with SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography), and the release of Lismore's first major publication, Daniel Lismore: Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken. This electrifying monograph, published by Skira Rizzoli in collaboration with SCAD, features 32 of Lismore's most avant-garde creations, fashioned from his personal collection of nearly 4,000 unique curiosities. With more than 150 arresting photographs captured by SCAD alumnus Colin Douglas Gray (B.F.A., photography, 2004), Daniel Lismore: Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken evinces the elegance, complexity and meticulous detail of Lismore's multidimensional ensembles. The book is slated for international release in February 2017.

To attend this event, RSVP to Ellie McNevin at [email protected].

About the artists:

Daniel Lismore

Artist, stylist and designer Daniel Lismore, named "London's Most Outrageous Dresser" by Vogue for his outré style, uniquely juxtaposes haute couture garments with found objects to create wildly imaginative ensembles rich with social, historical and cultural themes. His newly released monograph, Daniel Lismore: Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken, features 32 of Lismore's most avant-garde creations fashioned from his personal collection of nearly 4,000 unique curiosities, each worn by the artist. 

At the core of Lismore's artistry is sustainable fashion, earning him a position as the face of H&M's 2015 Close the Loop print and video campaign. In 2016, Lismore was named one of OUT magazine's OUT100, a list of the year's most compelling LGBTQ people, selected by the publication's editors. A prominent feature of the London fashion circuit, Lismore's personal style has also been exhibited at the prestigious Tate Modern in 2013 and Tate Britain in 2014.

Lismore studied photography and fashion design before starting a modeling career, appearing in Vogue UK, i-D magazine and L'Uomo Vogue. He progressed from modeling into editorial work and has also been featured in numerous fashion shows and music videos of Boy George, George Michael and Alexandra Burke.

Since 2012 Lismore has been the creative director of Sorapol, a luxury womenswear label worn by fashion influencers such as Naomi Campbell, Kylie Minogue and Nicki Minaj. In recent years he has supported organizations such as Vivienne Westwood's Climate Revolution and New World International Kenya, and he also supports the LGBT community, human rights issues and free speech movements. Lismore lives and works in East London.

Bin Feng

SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography) is a photographer and multimedia artist. Born in 1989 in Shanghai, China, Feng received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art in 2012 before attending SCAD.

As a result of the language barrier he faces in the U.S., Feng views himself as an outsider. He takes advantage of this position to create artwork that spans cultural differences. Drawing on his feelings of alienation, Feng's photographs illustrate his experiences and bicultural shock.

Feng lives and works in Savannah, Georgia, where he also creates video installations, sculptures and large-scale oil paintings.

José Parlá

Miami-born José Parlá is a SCAD painting alumnus and New York-based artist whose paintings, architectural collaborations, sculptures and photography have earned him international acclaim. Blurring the line between abstraction and calligraphy, Parlá works at various scales within different mediums, but he is best known for his permanent, large-scale painting installations. Using the backdrop of world cities, he remakes what can appear to be photorealist fragments of what he sees in the chaos and rush of the metropolis. His paintings reflect the accumulated memories and experiences, the walls that show a place that was, but no longer is — built over, renewed in some other configuration

Parlá was recently commissioned by One World Trade Center to create the monumental mural, ONE: Union of the Senses, the largest painting of its kind in New York City, in the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. In 2012, Parlá presented Performing Painting, an exhibition with artist Wendy White at the university's Gutstein Gallery in Savannah, Georgia.  

His work can also be seen in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and in the North Carolina State University James B. Hunt Library by Snøhetta in Raleigh, among other locations in the U.S. and worldwide.

Join the conversation with #SCADATMIAMI. 

For more information about SCAD AT MIAMI and other participating SCAD student and alumni artists, visit scadatmiami.com.

SCAD (#SCAD): Instagram, Twitter (@SCADdotedu) and Facebook (SCAD – The University of Creative Careers)

SCAD Museum of Art (#SCADMOA): Instagram, Twitter (@scadmoa) and Facebook (SCAD Museum of Art)

SCAD FASH (#SCADFASH): Instagram, Twitter (@scadfash) and Facebook (SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film)

SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace: Instagram, Twitter and YouTube (@PaulaSWallace)

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited university offering more than 100 academic degree programs in 43 majors across its locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Hong Kong; Lacoste, France; and online via SCAD eLearning. SCAD enrolls nearly 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 100 countries. The innovative SCAD curriculum is enhanced by advanced professional-level technology, equipment and learning resources, as well as opportunities for internships, professional certifications and collaborative projects with corporate partners.

In 2015, the prestigious Red Dot Design Rankings placed SCAD in the top four universities in the Americas and Europe. Career preparation is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni placement rate. In a study of Spring 2015 SCAD graduates, 98 percent were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 10 months of graduation. For more information, visit scad.edu.

About the Rolls-Royce Art Programme

Art and creative endeavour are at the heart of Rolls-Royce and its motor cars are commissioned for their aesthetic power. They are created out of the finest materials at the hands of skilled artisans who, in turn, produce rare, unique and ultimately beautiful automobiles. By creating an Art Programme, Rolls-Royce has formally acknowledged this unique shared ethos with the world of art.

The Art Programme comprises new works commissioned in situ, partnerships with leading organisations, art talks with emerging and established artists, art drives, art walks and art receptions around the world. It fosters creativity and enables artists to realise new projects and to explore new areas of their practice.

To date, Rolls-Royce has worked with leading international artists and key figures from the contemporary art world including: Isaac Julien, Ana Maria Tavares, Morgan Wong, Carlos Rolón/Dzine, Angela Bulloch, Ugo Rondinone, Michael Zavros, Regina Silveira and Will Cotton. Rolls-Royce has recently announced collaborations with Mohammed Kazem, Sudarshan Shetty, and Yang Fudong.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161118/441332

SOURCE Savannah College of Art and Design