Classes have started again and I’m back to getting up early. 9am to 9 pm is not what I call a favorable schedule, especially for the students of my last class of the day. Anyway, that’s it.

I thought a sore throat was coming on after my flight to Alabama but, only after returning home has it turned into coughing and a runny nose. It could be worse.

And, getting up early may not be early enough since I must eat breakfast. I cannot go hours upon hours without eating. That’s the part of the schedule that I don’t like. Anyway, time to go eat and shower right now.

Extended Absence

There has been an extended time away and that I need to explain a bit for better understanding. First of all, Miamiartexchange.com has been in need of a makeover for a very long time and while it has been worked on, parts of the site have suffered even more over time from several years ago when our server was hacked.

So, before that needed transition had been completed my computer crashed. I was out of town for the holidays and unable to get the needed repairs done. Upon returning, having needed computer hardware installed, there has been a huge backlog of issues that required prioritized attention which has yet not been completed. However, we are in a better position to bring you some art reporting than last week and, will continue our previous publishing agenda as of this week.

We are also wishing you all a belated New Year Greeting!

The current exhibition at CIFO is titled: The Prisoner’s Dilemma: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection. The show is curated by Leanne Mella, a contemporary art curator, specializing in American artist’s work in film, video, performance, photography and new media. The works in this exhibition comment upon, confront and challenge strategies of totalizing power and social control. Among the works on display are Stan Douglas’ Mess Hall, Isla de Pinos (2005), Alexandre Arrechea’s El Espacio Alterado (2004), and Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (We are the Objects of Your Suave Entrapments), 1984.

Miami Art Exchange founder and editor Onajidé Shabaka spoke with Leanne Mella about the exhibition at the occasion of the Opening Brunch at CIFO, Miami / Florida, on December 5, 2008.
PS: Interview with CIFO chief curator Cecilia Fajardo-Hill on VernissageTV.

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.

> Click this link to watch Quicktime video in new movie window.

I’ve been working on adding ads to Miamiartexchange.com over the past few days. I was contacted by Culture Pundits (friends of Nayland they said) and asked if I wanted to join their network. It makes sense to have ads targeted to an art audience that are appropriate. It took me a while to get working but, a lot of the ads come from artists themselves promoting their own work. I have mentioned to many local artists that doing something like that makes a lot of sense and have offered to publish local ads. So far, no local artist has asked about a slot. The galleries, a natural advertiser in my eyes, have failed to take any ads with the exception of two or three. I haven’t asked any galleries to renew the ads in two years and have gone on offering other services (web development) to non-art clients. I’ll be offering more artist development services in 2009, helping artists with social media applications and marketing their work on my relaunched site, Artlab33.com.

Interview with Onajidé Shabaka, Miami Art Exchange / part 2/2

December 11, 2008

Onajidé Shabaka is the founder and editor of Miami Art Exchange. In this interview, he talks about the art scene in Miami and his projects.

Interview with Onajidé Shabaka, Miami / Florida. November 29, 2008. Part 2/2.
PS: Onajidé Shabaka in conversation with Leanne Mella, the curator of the current show at CIFO coming soon.

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.
> Click this link to watch Quicktime video in new movie window.