Drummer Beatriz Monteavaro of sledge-metal duo Holly Hunt has been tearing up South Florida's music scene for some time now. Those who know the edgy brunet's musical identity might not know she's a formally trained artist who has prolifically shown her work since 2000, locally and in galleries around New York, Chicago, Milan, and Paris. When asked what she dabbled in first — music or art — she couldn't pinpoint one over the other. It seems as though she simultaneously picked up both creative outlets as a small child.
So it's no surprise that the tattooed Miamian joined Priyadarsini Ray, of experimental outfit Kreamy 'Lectric Santa, to co-curate a group art show in which local musicians with visual-arts talent would display their works. The result, "Echos Myron," will open Friday and feature about 50 pieces created by 39 artists — video animations, concert posters, show fliers, site-specific installations, drawings, paintings — where art and music intersect at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. A playlist of Holly Hunt's music and that of the other bands — all of the artists are musicians — will loop at the opening reception, and an afterparty will take place at Churchill's Pub in Miami's Little Haiti.
"I saw this experience more like booking a music fest than curating an art show," Monteavaro says of her first time curating. She's showing her sculpture Castle Churchills: Fortress of Mystery and Power, which her artist statement says incorporates elements of both. Made of kitty litter boxes, junk mail, bills, drawings, fliers, white glue, and black ink, it portrays He-man and Skeletor "creating a vortex of sound through sorcery and a drum."
The show's name comes from legendary indie band Guided by Voices.
"I've had a long history of naming exhibitions and art pieces using titles of songs that I like," she explains. "The title of the songs themselves or the lyrics ring true to some theme of the show or art piece. Just from the title, 'Echos' suggests sound, repeated mirrored sound. Myron was a Greek bronze sculptor who depicted gods, heroes, and especially athletes."
Many of the lyrics of "Echos Myron" ring true for this exhibition as well, most notably the last line:
"And he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
"And we're finally here
"And shit yeah, it's cool
"And shouldn't it be
"Or something like that"
"Many of the musician/artists in this exhibition have never shown their work before, so there's a celebratory feeling," Monteavaro says.
Maitejosune Urrechaga, of husband-and-wife duo Pocket of Lollipops, says the first time she gave a musical performance was at the Art and Culture Center back in 2009. "That's why being a part of 'Echos Myron' is kind of cool," she says. "I was only planning to play music that one night, and then it evolved into Pocket of Lollipops. We haven't stopped playing since that performance." The singer/bass player is showing mixed-media drawings of females channeling nobility.
Autumn Casey, a member of Snakehole, is presenting Timeless Viscosity, a sculptural collage consisting of her dad's old guitar case filled with gummy-worm candy, set to a wall backdrop with postings of a Life magazine cover of Elvis Presley, a Bacardi advertisement, English punk rocker Sid Vicious, and a black-and-white image of her mother in a bathing suit.
Artists Christina Felisgrau and Ronnie Rivera of bleedingpalm.com will show a looped animation series they captured from the 2014 International Noise Conference held at Miami's musical dive Churchill's Pub. Titled INC_2014.mov, this experimental footage displays in a digital frame, about ten inches high by 12 inches wide, and is sure to elicit a few questions on creative musical boundaries.
Rat Bastard, AKA Frank Falestra, who runs the annual International Noise Conference, will join co-curator Priyadarsini Ray, who plays violin with her husband in their experimental band Bank of Christ, at Friday night's gallery reception. Snakehole will also perform.
In addition, Ray will show a series of photography. The resident of Asheville, North Carolina, says Miami is "where my creative roots started and where I grew as a musician and artist." In 1999, she had a car accident, resulting in a spinal injury that has left her paralyzed in her lower extremities.
Accompanying "Echos Myron" are two solo shows, one featuring Monica Uszerowicz and the other Sri Prabha.
Prabha will show a site-specific installation, Outpost, which he describes as "exploratory in nature with the use of multimedia video played across campsite tents, mixed-media sculpture with video, and assemblages all evoking a sense of travel to uncharted regions... An aura of positivity and inquiry are rooted in my approach to this installation as my Hindu roots form a spiritual connection to the natural world."
Monica Uszerowicz, a former New Times contributor, examines her own sensitivity in a documentary-style photographic series. "I feel very connected to my environment and the people around me in a way that feels heightened, like a natural sort of high that comes solely from being connected to people and our space — the colors, the sounds, the way everyone feels and talks," she says. "I care a lot about them and about my surrounding environment and feel quite affected by it. It usually feels really good, and feeling like that about the people around me can make me emotional."
