For Immediate Release Contact: Sara Lopez 305 -571-1415
Darby Bannard: The Miami Years
Internationally Acclaimed Miami Master Celebrates 20 Years of Abstract Painting
March 23, 2010 – May 29, 2010
The Center for Visual Communication celebrates Darby Bannard’s 20th anniversary in Miami with a retrospective exhibition of the bold, color saturated paintings he has made since his appointment as chair of the University of Miami’s Art Department. Bannard was called one of the six best living artists by Clement Greenberg, the influential New York art critic who ushered in the modern art aesthetic and put Abstract Expressionism on the map.
The exhibition continues the Center’s Miami Masters series honoring contributions to the South Florida community by the most important and widely recognized artists working in our midst. This will be the first major survey of Bannard’s work made in Miami and includes over 25 large scale canvases, most of which will be shown for the first time. The show is being presented at the Center’s newly renovated ten thousand square foot space located in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood Art District.
Bannard is a revered educator and widely published art critic and theorist in addition to being one of the most respected painters working today. He along with his friend Frank Stella were among the first Minimalists, and his celebrated and expansive early paintings put him in the company of the most important color field artists including Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler and Jules Olitski.
Bannard received a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship in 1968 and has exhibited widely in prominent museums and galleries for over 40 years. He was recruited from Princeton by University of Miami in 1989 to reinvigorate its Art program and bring a new focus on painting and art theory to the school. His articles and art reviews have appeared in over 200 publications and his paintings are in the permanent collections of Boston Museum of Fine Arts, MA, Guggenheim Museum, NY, Museum of Modern Art, NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, National Museum of American Art, Washington DC, and Whitney Museum, NY as well as most other major US museums.
The exhibition focuses on Bannard’s new series’ of works which come from his ongoing reinvention of the painter’s working methods and innovative use of new acrylic mediums. The paintings are exuberant, saturated with color and palpable to the touch with rich textures that bring them a sculptural quality. Known for challenging convention and provoking creative responses from his colleagues and the art world, Bannard continues to explore new directions in his art and writings.
Bannard’s prolific work as an innovator, painter, writer and educator has had a considerable impact on the next generation of painters, and he continues to nurture the painting careers of younger artists who are pushing the boundaries of painting in new directions.
The exhibition, which is accompanied by a color catalog has been organized to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach and will continue on display through April 29, 2010. The Center for Visual Communication is grateful to the artist for making his archives available to present the exhibition.
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays Noon to 5:00 p.m.