Federico Uribe Studio Visit

Uribe looking over his newest sculpture Jardin de Rosas

Seeing Uribe’s work in pics and videos from the Houston Fine Art Fair, I thought back to this past January when we visited his studio.

this pic has been reposted from a Glasstire facebook post

tsrapp1700 posted this on YouTube.  Uribe's work is pictured here, and more of his works are at 3:25 minutes through 3:51 minutes.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity for an impromptu studio visit with Federico Uribe.  His studio is in Miami next door to Carolina Sardi’s studio.  Janda Wetherington said that we must see his studio.  Sardi phoned Uribe and asked if she could bring us over.  Once inside, I realized that we had been seeing Uribe’s work at art fairs for a number of years.  Here are some pics of his work we captured in 2006 at Scope Art Fair Miami.

 left top: I'm Helping You (yellow), 2006, colored pencils, 48" x 14"

left bottom: I'm Helping You (green), 2006, colored pencils, 48" x 14"

 detail of I'm HelpingYou (yellow)

 Alone, 2006, colored pencils, 72" x 48"

Janda had been telling us about a solo installation that Uribe had created for one of the 2010 art fairs.  She said that it was a recreation of the rain forests of Uribe’s native Columbia that he had sculpted using books.

Cedar of Lebanon, 2010, books, 114" x 66" x 73"

 

Uribe utilizes found materials to create his sculptures. Some of the sculptures such as those seen at the Houston Fine Art Fair are abstract objects, while many of the sculptures we saw in his studio were more representational.  Uribe uses objects such as screws, garden tools, Puma shoes, shoe laces, pencils, and books to create these unique works of art.

 Gladiator, 2008, shoe laces and pins, 84" x 60"

Everybody Gets Screwed, 2001/2002, screws, metal mesh, nails, each 29" x 18" x 12"

 more than five sculptures in this section of his studio, plus his car, Carolina Sardi pictured with me in the yellow shirt far right

 Gladiator, 2010, books, 34" x 34" x 70"

 information not available

information not available

After the studio visit, I walked up the block from PanAmerican ArtProjects to visit NOW Contemporary Art gallery who represents Uribe’s work in Miami.  NOW Contemporary Art published a hardback catalog of Uribe’s work and I purchased it on the spot.  394 pages of glossy photos, essay, bio and descriptions of the work – it weighs 4.4 lbs, but we carried it home in our carry-on bag so that we could marvel at the sculptures as we flew home.

33 Bond Gallery @ SCOPE Miami 2007 "Unscrew and View"

This has always been one of my favorite photos that Rusty has taken at an art fair.  I enjoy the odd relationship created by one of the Kate Clark sculptures staring directly into Rusty's camera while the male gallery director of 33 Bond Gallery is also staring directly at Rusty.  The other two, the other sculpture and the other gallery director, are focused on other things.  It was an odd experience to be roaming around the art fair tent while the galleries are all just setting up their booths in preparation for the next day's grand opening.  On the one hand, I got the most fabulous experience of being able to see much of the art just as it is being un-crated. On the other hand, I felt rather in the way. But it was all necessary preparation for the next day's business.   Now, I love being able to examine these moments in time and research from this source.  Notice the collage on the wall between the two gallerists.  That is a piece by artist Jason Roskey who was born in Ft Worth and earned his art degree at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.  I didn't find a website for him, so the link goes to a recent interview he had with NYArts.  I enjoyed reading Jason's summation of the Dallas art scene.

Yong Ho Ji

This Korean born artist is also represented by 33 Bond Gallery.  I've liked all of his sculptures that I have seen over the years.