Endangered World: Biscayne National Park and 80.15W

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Xavier Cortada “Endangered World: Biscayne National Park and 80.15W |  Hawksbill Sea Turtle,” archival ink on paper (generated from drawings created on 11” x 8.5” carbon paper) signed, numbered, limited edition (edition of 5), 16” x 12” 2010.

“80.15 W”

an exhibition by

Xavier Cortada

at

Hibiscus Gallery
Pinecrest Gardens
11000 S. Red Road
Pinecrest, FL 33156

Opening Reception

August 12, 2018

12 to 2 p.m.

Endangered World: Biscayne National Park and 80.15W

Titled for Biscayne Bay’s longitude, “80.15 W” features the 17 threatened and endangered species that call Biscayne National Park (in Miami, FL) home. In 2010, Cortada created the drawings on carbon paper, a metaphor for the impact (or “carbon footprint”) that humans have had on that animal, even across the boundaries of protected nature preserve. The carbon paper originals were premiered at the national park’s gallery and are in the permanent collection of NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

About the Artist

Xavier Cortada’s art-science practice is oriented toward social engagement and the environment. He has created art installations in the Earth’s poles to generate awareness about global climate change: In 2007, an NSF Antarctic Artist and Writer’s Program Fellow, the artist used the moving ice sheet beneath the South Pole as an instrument to mark time; the art piece will be completed in 150,000 years.  In 2008, he planted a green flag at the North Pole to reclaim it for nature and launch a reforestation eco-art effort.

Cortada often collaborates with scientists in his art-making:

At CERN, Cortada worked with a physicist to develop a site-specific art installation capturing the five search strategies which the CMS experiment has used to discover a new Higgs-like particle.  The five giant banners hang at the location (100m below the ground) where the particle was discovered.

He has also worked with a population geneticist on a project exploring our ancestral journeys out of Africa 60,000 years ago, with a molecular biologist to synthesize an actual DNA strand made from a sequence randomly generated by participants visiting his museum exhibit, and with botanists in participatory eco-art projects to reforest mangroves, native trees and wildflowers.
Cortada is currently working with scientists at Hubbard Brook LTER on a water cycle visualization project driven by real-time data collected at a watershed in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

At Florida International University, Cortada collaborated with Florida Coastal Everglades LTER scientists in using the diatoms they study to address sea level rise and environmental degradation. From 2011-18, Cortada based his engaged art-science practice at Florida International University. He served as Artist-in-Residence at FIU School of Environment, Arts and Society, the FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education, and the FIU College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts.