|
Naomi Fisher, Jim Drain, and a horse. |
 |
Kevin Arrow’s Music and Truth, from his 2006 show at the Bas Fisher. |
 |
Alvaro Ilizarbe’s Ropeadope, which will appear in the final show at
Bas Fisher.
|
By Victor Barrenechea
BT Contributor
The art may be coming down at one of Miami’s leading artist-run alternative gallery spaces. Since 2004 the Bas Fisher Invitational has hosted experimental and cutting-edge exhibitions from a studio in the Design District’s Buena Vista Building. But Craig Robins, noted art collector and head of Dacra Development who had been donating use of the space, now plans to lease it out. The arrival of a paying tenant would mark the end of the gallery’s free ride in that location, and possibly the end of an era for Miami art.
Local artists Naomi Fisher and Jim Drain had just returned from a fourth-month artists’ residency in Germany in early April when they learned they might lose their studio. “We just sort of found out about it, and we don’t have a plan B,” says 31-year-old Fisher.
To make matters worse, the gallery also doubled as a work studio for the couple. They are now scrambling to find a new one, but there’s no guarantee their new location will allow them to continue curating shows. “We would love to keep it going,” Fisher says. “We’re trying to figure out what the options are and how to make the best of the situation.”
Fisher opened the gallery with local art star Hernan Bas in 2004. The two New World School of the Arts alums first shared a workspace together at 25th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, long before high-rise condo developments took root. Later they moved into the back room of M-80, a short-lived clothing boutique in the Design District. At the time, the city’s landscape was rapidly shifting, Fisher recalls: “We kept having to move our studio due to gentrification issues.”
Both artists’ careers were on the rise and they didn’t want to leave the city’s then-developing cultural hub, so they approached Dacra about space in the Buena Vista Building, which at the time housed the studios of numerous other local artists. Dacra agreed and exceeded their expectations, granting them a space far bigger than either of them anticipated. “It was more than we needed as artists,” Fisher says. As a result, they decided to use half the space to host shows of their peers’ work. “We had all these talented friends,” Fisher recalls. “We believed, if given the potential to show all they were capable of, they would do something incredible.”
The first exhibitions mostly presented local artists, with an emphasis on solo shows, Fisher explains. “When a young artist does a show in a commercial gallery, there’s a different kind of pressure,” she says. At Bas Fisher, she suggests, artists are not judged by monetary success but by the art itself. By 2005 they were showing more out-of-towners. The gallery began to take off.
In early 2006, Rhode Island artist Jim Drain moved to Miami and began sharing the humungous Bas Fisher studio. Meanwhile Bas moved to a studio closer to his apartment, which facilitated his bike commute (he did not own a car). Bas bowed out of the gallery and Drain took his place as co-curator with Fisher.
Fisher and Drain say they make no money from the gallery shows. If collectors express interest, the two put them in touch with the artist. It also takes very little money to run Bas Fisher. “Our intent isn’t to become a space that needs money to operate,” Fisher says. “We’d rather do what we do with nothing. We’re able to pass on the generosity Dacra gave to us. It was an opportunity for Craig [Robins] to be supportive of artists. All of us wouldn’t be able to do what we do without this support.”
The Bas Fisher space has, in turn, done much to foster culture locally. A major show there turned a lot of heads for the construction-paper sculptures of Jen Stark. Curator Scott Murray organized a show for New York artist Justin Worsdale at Bas Fisher long before he opened his own gallery, Twenty Twenty Projects, in Wynwood. Kevin Arrow is another local artist who’s been on the Miami scene for decades and who, Fisher says, “doesn’t fit in a traditional gallery situation.” To this day he is still not represented by any local galleries, but his 2006 solo show at Bas Fisher generated favorable reviews in the national art press.
Indeed the art world does pay attention to this humble gallery. Take L.A.-based Francine Spiegel’s 2007 show at Bas Fisher. The gallery’s laissez-faire attitude enabled her to exhibit large-scale paintings, which Fisher says sparked a lot of collector interest and was a major catalyst for Spiegel’s career. It was an opportunity she would not have had at a commercial venue, where money is often a concern. “It’s rare to see [an artist’s] full vision,” Fisher notes. “Commercial galleries are not always so cool with that.”
“It’s hard for galleries to take risks,” 32-year-old Drain agrees, repeating that it’s no problem at their space.
Though the end may be near, Drain and Fisher aren’t doing anything radically different for their final exhibition. They are offering the space to local artist Alvaro Ilizarbe for his first solo exhibition. “I’m really glad that it’s at their space,” Ilizarbe says of the show, “because I really respect them as artists.” Known mostly for his “Free Gums” T-shirt company, Ilizarbe says he plans to depart from the usually dreary gallery fare and inject a party atmosphere into his event. “Since this is the last show,” he says, “people should enjoy themselves even more so.”
But according to Tiffany Chestler, manager and curator of Craig Robins’s art collection, things may not look so bleak. “We want them here and we have a place in mind,” she says, adding that plans are in the works to find a new space in the area for the artists. It is still unclear if that will be feasible. “It’s always a sort of tricky balancing act we’re doing,” she continues, “being a real-estate development company and also bringing cultural programming into the neighborhood.”
The transformation from a building once populated with artists’ studios to a place that now houses furniture showrooms is hard to ignore. “There just comes a point where you’re looking at the bigger picture in business,” Chestler says. “It’s just time to focus on bringing in some revenue.”
For their part, Drain and Fisher’s first priority is finding a new studio for themselves, donated or not. Then, depending on what they find, its size, and their budgets, they will decide if they can continue Bas Fisher from a new location. “I have a feeling some reincarnation of it will reappear,” Chestler hints. “They might even end up in a spot that’s
more visible.”
Others are equally optimistic. “It was fun while it lasted,” Ilizarbe says, “and there are more good times to come.”
Bas Fisher Invitational is located at 180 NE 39th St., #210, Miami. The final show will be Alvaro Ilizarbe’s “Museum Quality,” which runs from May 10 to June 14. A reception is planned for opening night from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m
Feedback: letters@BiscayneTimes.com |
