PAST PROJECT

Tom Schmitt

Born in 1929 in Columbus, OH, Tom Schmitt has lived and worked all over the United States until settling in Miami where he currently lives and works. Of his recent work, Schmitt says, "The reductive color field paintings I make are computer generated.  Made of colored light. The computer is used as  painting medium and support.

Similar to my 1960s and 70s color field work the form is created from the first mark made on the computer screen. What follows is a dialog between myself as artist and the computer.  This dialog and its capacity to stimulate my imagination results in visual thinking not possible with conventional painting. The potential for change in form and color are unlimited. The mark of the maker will still be in the work of art since we assign the boundaries and choose the constants and variables we are willing to accept. The final outcome will only exist if we deem that it is fit. In 1981 and the beginnings of my working with the computer my images were created by the rational structure of programming, following algorithms I created.  It was then that the creative potential of the computer was opened for me. Now with advances in technology the creative possibilities are ever expanding."

Odalis Valdivieso Born in Caracas, Venezuela, lives and works in Miami. She is the recipient of several Miami-Dade Community Grants and the South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant. Her work has been part of New Work Miami 2013 and 2010, Miami Art Museum; Paper Folding, Dimensions Variable and Alejandra von Hartz Gallery, Miami; Object Implied, Emerson Dorsch, Miami; Practices Remain, Regina Rex, New York; SET, Bridge Red Studios/Project Space, North Miami; 5.2011, Cloître Des Billettes, Paris; Urban Interventions, Contemporary Art Museum, Rosario; Intrude: Art & Life 366, Zendai Moma, Shanghai; and Talking Heads, Girls Club, Fort Lauderdale; to name a few. She has also been part of the community engaged projects 'Talking Head Transmitters' and 'The Nightclub.'

www.ovalstudio.com

Kerry Ware

Kerry Ware was born in Southern California and received an MFA in painting from the University of Miami. Ware has exhibited paintings frequently in group and solo exhibitions. He is primarily interested in color and texture/surface/object-hood. Ware says, "At heart, I am conservative and traditional because I simply want my work to be beautiful. My work, like the work of a Modernist, is driven by my interest in the material and what it looks like. I do not deliberately attempt to make my work look like something, although nature is an obvious inspiration. For over 25 years my paintings have been on plaster panels. This surface allows me to set up certain situations that I do not have complete control over. My paintings have evolved naturally into large scale wall pieces with the inclusion of wooden pegs. Along with visual art and the recent developments in technology, I have also been increasingly interested in sound as a medium as well."