Mark di Suvero Sculpture Exhibition Set for Art Basel Opening

Nov. 12, 2008 - PRLog -- Miami - Renowned artist Mark di Suvero’s enormous steel sculptures will soon rise over Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s world famous flowering trees and vines, lush rainforest and bustling butterfly garden. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden will open Mark di Suvero at Fairchild, an outdoor exhibition of five massive sculptures including the never before exhibited Olompali, during the famed international art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach. The exhibition will be on view at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, the world’s leading tropical botanic garden, beginning December 6, 2008 for Art Basel and will remain on view through May 31, 2009 at 10901 Old Cutler Road in Coral Gables, Fla. The sculptures in the exhibition are on loan from the Mark di Suvero Collection.

The five pieces being displayed among Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s landscapes are: Olompali (2006), a 30-foot sculpture making its international debut at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden during Art Basel before being shipped to China where it will be permanently located at the US Embassy in Beijing; Gnarly (2008), a 27-foot sculpture of twisting, turning steel; the bright red Rust Angel (1995), made from a single plate of steel; Open Gate (2005), 26 feet high; and She (1977-78), an interactive piece measuring 52 feet wide. With its wooden swinging bed, She is an example of Mark di Suvero’s desire to make touchable and accessible art with which people can interact. His sculptures were created with diverse spaces to engage the observer with changing dimensions as they approach it and move through it.
“We are thrilled to open Mark di Suvero at Fairchild to an international audience of art enthusiasts at Art Basel,” said Bruce Greer, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s board of trustees’ president. “Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s unique landscape will provide the perfect backdrop to truly reveal these massive structures’ complexity and scale.”
Mark di Suvero was the first living artist to have his work shown in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris in 1975, and the first artist to have three major exhibitions at the Storm King Art Center in New York. His distinct, bold pieces can now be found all over the world. Mark di Suvero is a past recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center, and he received the 2005 Heinz Award for the Arts & Humanities for his commitment to aspiring artists.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s annual exhibition series launches each Art Basel season, and supports the garden’s conservation work and educational outreach programs.  Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden houses the largest palm collection in the USA and internationally important collections of rare tropical fruit and cycads. The garden maintains an international conservation program, which works with more than 20 countries around the world to preserve some of the world's rarest species and tropical habitats.  Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s major events have included exhibitions by world-renowned artists such as Fernando Botero, Roy Lichtenstein and Dale Chihuly.

“Historically, art and nature have always been linked, and people who enjoy one generally enjoy the other,” said Greer. “Our goal is to provide visitors with a complete cultural experience in which they enjoy world-class art and one of the world’s greatest living collections of tropical plants, while learning about the importance of plant conservation.”

For more information about Mark di Suvero at Fairchild, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, or Fairchild’s Art Basel event schedule, please visit http://www.fairchildgarden.org or call 305-667-1651.

About Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is dedicated to exploring, explaining and conserving the world of tropical plants. It is one of the premier conservation and education-based gardens in the world and a recognized international leader in both Florida and international conservation. Currently Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has field programs in over 20 countries including support to protected areas in Madagascar and Africa and botanic garden development and renovation projects in South and Central America, the Caribbean and Middle East. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden houses the National Palm Collection as recognized by the American Public Gardens Association (APGA), has the world’s greatest living collection of palms and cycads; an education program reaching more than 30,000 school children per year; hosts popular events like the International Chocolate Festival, International Mango Festival and International Orchid Festival, the Ramble, concerts, affiliated plant society shows and sales and more; and, is a not-for-profit organization relying on the support of its 40,000 members and benefactors. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden launches major exhibitions every Art Basel, including Botero, Lichtenstein and Chihuly at Fairchild last year and Chihuly at Fairchild in 2005 and 2006. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is located at 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables (Miami), Florida 33156. Day admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for children 6-17 and free to children 5 and under and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden members. For more information, please visit us at http://www.fairchildgarden.org and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fairchild-Tropical-Botanic-....