DREAMING WITH LIONS

Miami, FL – November 29, 2020. Today, Faena Art unveiled a monumental site-specific artwork on Miami Beach as part of Miami Art Week 2020.

The monumental site-specific installation entitled ‘Dreaming with Lions’ by Miami-based Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea is located on the beach directly in front of Faena Hotel and is free and open to view until Sunday, 6 December 2020. This new work within the Faena District provides a safe environment for the local community to explore and interact with public art.

The installation, one of the largest public art works displayed during Miami Art Week 2020, is a symbol of Faena’s commitment to keeping Miami’s progressive art scene alive in an otherwise challenging year.

“From the first moment we arrived in Miami Beach, we have supported artists and talent from around the world, bringing their work to the community, and this year should be no exception,” said Alan Faena this week. “We have been confronted with many obstacles this year, and I am proud of this new work from Alexandre since it exemplifies our fighting spirit and that of the city of Miami.”

‘Dreaming with Lions’ is the product of a year-long reflection by Arrechea inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s seminal literary work, The Old Man and the Sea. The monolithic work serves as a living monument to the sheer force of the human spirit. The artwork in itself tries to reconstruct the symbols: hope, faith and strength of the human spirit that in the face of the moral challenges we are confronted with today, still prevail.

Constructed as a 62’ diameter rotunda resembling an enormous, forum-style library, Arrechea incorporates folded beach towels, illustrated with phrases “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is,” and “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated,” taken directly from Hemingway’s text.

“We are facing one of the biggest challenges ever experienced in our lifetime,” explains Arrechea. “I wanted to reflect on this and inspire, reminding the viewer of humankind’s resilience and strength of spirit in these troubling times.”

Aptly, this new commission embodies our ability to withstand relentless and enormous challenges and persist, even in the face of defeat. Relying on the architectural potential of a forum-style structure to reinforce these ideological messages, the installation is a continuation of Arrechea’s investigation of public spaces and their philosophical legacy as interpretative centers of power, hierarchy and social progress.

 Since 2004 in Buenos Aires and 2012 in Miami, Faena Art has been consistently dedicated to showcasing artwork inspired by and for those communities. The significance of this year’s commission, particularly in a moment where outdoor public art is critical to inspire audiences while maintaining a safe social distance, honors the continued contributions of Miami’s thriving artistic community, and celebrates the impact art can make in the city.

This year’s program for Faena Art at Miami Art Week 2020 is being generously supported by Alfa Romeo and Perrier.

FAENA ART x MIAMI ART WEEK 2020

Private Preview

November 29, 2020

12:30pm – 2:30pm

By invitation only

Public View

November 30 – December 6, 2020

10am – 6pm

Website: www.faenaart.com

Instagram: @faenaart

ABOUT FAENA ART

FAENA ART is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that houses and produces post- disciplinary and time-based experiences. A catalyst for innovative, site-specific, and immersive creative practices, FAENA ART is a transformative bridge across the Americas, between the south and the north, the popular and the experimental, activism and research. FAENA ART fosters new models for performative social interaction that transcend the traditional boundaries of art, science, philosophy, and social practice.

In July 2020, FAENA ART launched the Artist in Residence Program, with the Faena Forum serving as a studio and exhibition space for local Miami artists including Jamilah Sabur, Suzi Analogue, Paperwater and Amanda Bradley. The artist in residence program aims to support and aid artists who are in need of studio space, providing a place to bring their visions to life and is in keeping with Faena Art’s commitment to celebrating and supporting culture and the artistic community.

ABOUT ALEXANDRE ARRECHEA

Alexandre Arrechea (b. 1970, Trinidad, Cuba) is a Cuban artist whose work involves concepts of power and its network of hierarchies, surveillance, control, prohibitions, and subjection. For twelve years he was a member of the art collective Los Carpinteros, until he left the group in July 2003 to continue his career as a solo artist. He graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana in 1994. Arrechea’s work is remarkable in its interdisciplinary and inclusive nature, often creating pieces such as large installation works in museums or commissions for public spaces that invite the viewer to participate and physically engage with the works. The interdisciplinary quality of Arrechea’s work reveals a profound interest in the exploration of both public and domestic spaces. This quest has led him to produce 10 monumental sculptures of iconic New York buildings to emerge along the Park Avenue Malls (2013) and most recently a four building-like forms reposing within massive canary- yellow chairs, installed at the Coachella Valley (2016).