Oolite Arts’ new exhibition presents an expansive view of landscapes — ranging from literal to the imagined and alternative realities created with artificial intelligence. Through their differing mediums and viewpoints, each of the 15 resident artists featured in “Landscape of Realities” explores how surroundings leave an imprint on people’s lives.

“Our geographies shape our identity,” said exhibition Curator Jennifer Inacio, who is the associate curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami. “In a city where so many people come from somewhere else, this exhibition is a moment to consider how we as a community are influenced by our current and past landscapes, and how we are in turn influencing them.”

Several of the pieces are realistic in nature, including Matt Forehand’s painting of a sports field surrounded by lush vegetation and Reginald O’Neal’s portrait of an Overtown apartment complex near his childhood home. Diana Eusebio, meanwhile, draws from the South Florida landscape to create her art, turning seeds into natural dyes for clothing that will be displayed in the gallery. In addition, the Love the Everglades Movement is creating an installation titled “Archeology of a Prayer,” which offers a glimpse of how the organization came about by using ceremonies to advocate for the importance of caring for water sources.

AdrienneRose Gionta uses artificial intelligence technologies to create an entirely new, digital landscape. Gionta’s work analyzes cultural assumptions around beauty standards and employs avatars to create inclusive, digital worlds for “fat-bodied” women. For this exhibition, Gionta fed prompts into artificial intelligence technologies to create a series of a woman in a cave, exploring how AI portrays overweight women.

The artists in the exhibition include Gionta, Alberto Checa, Alejandra Moros, Carolina Cueva, Eusebio, Ema Ri, Friday, Liene Bosquê, Love the Everglades Movement: Rev. Houston R. Cypress and Jean Sarmiento, Forehand, Onajide Shabaka, Rose Marie Cromwell, O’Neal and Yucef Merhi.

The exhibition opens April 19 with a 6 p.m. press preview, and a reception beginning at 7 p.m. at 924 Lincoln Road. It will be on display through June 25. Also on view will be Oolite Art’s Student Art Showcase, highlighting the work from the organization’s weekly art classes.

Oolite Arts is one of Florida’s largest support organizations for artists. On the same day the exhibition opens, Oolite will begin accepting applications for The Ellies, Miami’s Visual Arts Awards, which fuels creative projects that elevate artists and art teachers’ careers. To apply, visit TheEllies.org.

About Oolite Arts
Oolite Arts strives to empower South Florida-based artists and enrich communities. Established in 1984, Oolite’s mission is to support artists and advance the knowledge and practice of contemporary visual arts. Oolite Arts creates opportunities for experimentation and innovation and encourages the exchange of ideas across diverse cultures through residencies, exhibitions, public programs, education and outreach.

Exhibitions and programs at Oolite Arts are made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation at the Miami Foundation; the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation; and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
For more information, visit oolitearts.org. Follow @oolitearts on social media.

About the Curator:
Jennifer Inacio is associate curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami. She recently curated Marcela Cantuária’s first US solo exhibition, The South American Dream (2023). Selected curated exhibitions include Simone Leigh: Trophallaxis (2022); Felipe Mujica: The Swaying Motions on the Bank of the River Falls (2021); MY BODY, MY RULES (2020); Barbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca: Estás vendo coisas (2019); Pedro Neves Marques: A Mordida (2018); the museum’s first Augmented Reality exhibition Felice Grodin: Invasive Species (2017–2022); and Sid Grossman: Photography, Politics, and the Ethical Image (2018). In addition, as an ambassador of The55Project—an organization with the mission to promote Brazilian visual artists and cultural projects in the United States—she has curated Gustavo Prado: The Undercurrent (2020); Nádia Taquary—Oríkì: Bowing to the Head (2019); and What I really want to tell you… (2019). Inacio holds a Master’s in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London (2014).