Media Contact: Emmett Young
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Who Are We? Who Are They? FrostArt Presents Two New Exhibitions Focusing on Identity

Ebony Patterson, Brella Krew (detail), 2012-2013, From the Fambily series, (Detail of 3 panel triptych), Image courtesy the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery

MIAMI, FL (May 28, 2013)- FrostArt (The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU) introduces two new exhibitions, both of which feature art as a tool to establish identity: How we see ourselves and how we perceive others, now and in the past. The two exhibitions, Six Degrees of Separate Nations: Ebony G. Patterson and Peterson Kamwathi, and Borders of Paradise: In the Eyes of Explorers, will have an opening reception on Saturday, June 8, 2013, at the Frost Art Museum, from 6pm-8pm. The wine and hors d’oeuvres reception is open to the public and free of charge

The featured artists in the Six Degrees of Separate Nations, Ebony G. Patterson and Peterson Kamwathi, are from vastly different parts of the world, Jamaica and Kenya, respectively. Despite the geographical distance between them, they ironically share much in common. The influence of colonialism and the repercussions of colonial history have impacted how these artists perceive themselves today, as well as how they place themselves in proximity to the “other.” A significant theme underlying both artists’ work—and thus the exhibition—is the examination of social behavior, specifically that of performance and theatricality. Ebony’s documentation, staging and appropriation of contemporary fashion, its insignia and pattern, explore the implicit link of dress code to social and political expression. Peterson Kamwathi, on the other hand, depicts theatrical social performance without appropriating its modes; rather taking on the role of an observer, he extracts modes of behavior, staging scenarios that express the farcical nature of masquerade inherent to social conventions, and imposed political norms that are both inherited from colonial rule, and re-appropriated.

Peterson Kamwathi, Mask II, 2013, Charcoal on paper, Image courtesy the artist

The exhibition, curated by Claire Breukel, will feature a collaborative installation where the artists will meet for the first time and respond to each other’s work. The Six Degrees of Separate Nations exhibition will run through September 8, 2013. The opening reception will be preceded by a panel discussion with the artists, the curator and guest speaker, University of Miami Professor Patricia Saunders, at 4pm, also at the Frost Art Museum. Like the reception, the panel discussion is open to the public and free of charge.

John Ogilby, Spanish Village in Florida, 1671 Image courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL

John Ogilby, Pagus Hispanorum in Florida (Spanish Village in Florida), 1671, Hand-colored engraving, Image courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL

The second exhibition opening on June 8, Borders of Paradise: In the Eyes of Explorers, focuses on historical identity. Imagined and exaggerated depictions of the new continent and its offerings persisted through the nineteenth century, satisfying the appetites of curious Europeans hungry for tales of mysterious lost paradises and evolving primitive worlds. This exhibition, curated by Cynthia Duval of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, features maps, etchings and engravings, many of which appeared in literary works, which helped to reinforce and shape the Old World’s skewed perception of life in the New World. The Borders of Paradise exhibition will run through August 25, 2013.

In addition to these new exhibits, the following current exhibitions will be on display at the Museum on June 8:

• José Manuel Ballester: Concealed Spaces
• Spanish Colonial Art: The Beauty of Two Traditions
• Deep Blue by Javier Velasco

About the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University
The Frost Art Museum opened its current 46,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building in November 2008. Admission to the Museum is always free. The Frost is an American Association of Museums accredited museum and Smithsonian affiliate and is located at 10975 SW 17thStreet, across from the Blue garage and adjacent to the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and most legal holidays. For more information, please visit http://thefrost.fiu.edu or call 305-348-2890. Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

About FIU
Florida International University is one of the 25 largest universities in the nation, with nearly 50,000 students. Nearly 110,000 FIU alumni live and work in South Florida. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations and law. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission, with research expenditures of more than $100 million per year. For more information about FIU, visit FIU Online.