Spanish artists to be focus of US art fair

The contribution of Spanish artists will be the central element of the 2013 ArteAmerica fair.

Miami: The contribution of Spanish artists to the culture of the US will be the central element of the 2013 ArteAmerica fair, which will coincide with the quincentenary of the founding of Florida, organisers said.

Although this year`s fair is devoted to Mexico and it is expected that the 2012 fair will focus on Brazil, ArteAmerica organisers have already begun to design the 2013 edition of the event. "The year 2013, without any doubt, in Florida will be the year of Spain and ArteAmerica cannot fail to take advantage of an opportunity like this to show the importance of the contribution of Spanish artists to the history of North American culture," ArteAmerica president Leslie Pantin told EFE. Besides displaying modern art at the 2013 fair, Pantin and ArteAmerica director Dora Valdes-Fauli are working with the Spain-Florida Foundation 500 Years and the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, or FIU, to organise a big travelling exhibition that same year that will cycle through several Florida museums. Carol Damian, the director of FIU`s Frost Museum, is the curator of the exposition that bears the preliminary title of "Spain in the Americas - 500 Years of Art". Damian has already reserved space in the Frost Museum for the inauguration of the exposition in late 2012 so that, from that point forward, it can be shifted to other museums in Florida and elsewhere in the US, possibly Washington and Boston. The ambitious exposition will also include the contributions of Ibero-American artists to show the richness and the breadth of the artistic diversity with Latino roots and the scope of the Hispanic cultural legacy in the US, as Pantin noted. Damian said that the "Spain in the Americas - 500 Years of Art" exhibit will focus on showing the scope of the contribution and influence of Spanish artists on the US. The exhibit will include paintings, sculptures, photography and other contributions that have a significant artistic or historical value. On the Spanish side, that country`s culture ministry, the Museo de America, Spain`s general consulate in Miami and the Spain-Florida 500 Years Foundation are all participating in the design and execution of the exposition. The latter foundation, a private and non-profit institution, was created two years ago with the aim of taking advantage of Florida`s 500th anniversary to emphasise the Spanish contribution to the history of the state and the importance of the Hispanic legacy in the US in general. In all, more than 50 Mexican artists will display their work at the fair, which also includes Mexico`s prestigious Arvil gallery. Mexico was the first country invited to the fair within the framework of the initiative focusing on promoting the art of different nations in the region. IANS