One night last April, a couple of thousand people roamed throughout the 43-room historic boutique hotel in West Palm Beach. For that night, more than 20 artists had taken over the rooms including the swimming pool at the Biba and transformed those spaces into site-specific art. Organized by independent curator Kara Walker-Tomé for the past eight years, the event turns each hotel room into a different conceptual art environment. All media is used: installation, sculpture, video, sound, and performance art. Its hard not to credit Showtel as West Palm Beachs most fleeting and innovative art event. All previous years have lasted only one night but this year, the art show will be open 5 to 10 p.m. both Friday and Saturday (theres a preview on Thursday). The art is not for sale; Showtel is a platform for emerging contemporary artists to show their work. Some artists for this years show include Joey Bargsten and Meme from Experimental Media Ensemble, Katherine Barnes, Leah Brown, Martin Eduardo Casuso, Brent Cole, Sue Stevens, Peter Symons, Gregg Tome, Jackie Tufford, and Jordi Williams. Admission is $15 at the door or $10 online. Visit showtel.org.
Fri., April 9, 5 p.m.; Sat., April 10, 5 p.m., 2010