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June 23 – October 3, 2021MIA GalleriesMiami International AirportThe Eye Has to Travel GalleryConcourse D 2nd Level near Gate D29 post-securityi#ArtsatMIA
Art can be a perfect form of escapism a means to go to fantastic places limitedonly by the extent of one’s imagination.- Brian ReedyMIA Galleries is pleased to present Key West and Other Unusual Places,an exhibition of printed works by two prolific Miami-based visual artistsand printmakers, Brian Reedy and Tom Virgin. The exhibition is basedon Reedy’s rich, otherworldly imagination and Virgin’s travels to artistresidencies across the United States.Brian Reedy is best known for his whimsical block prints. Block printing isa form of printmaking that involves the carving of linoleum or woodblocksand printing the resultant images on paper, cloth, or other material. Reedyuses one of the oldest techniques of making prints from a relief surfacein a process he finds cathartic and fun. The bold and graphic qualitiesinherent in block printing best convey mood and feel in the mysteriousand intriguing images he creates.Reedy grew up in a small town and often used art as a means of escapism,creating images from his imagination for self-entertainment and creativeoutlet. He still maintains this approach to artmaking, and his block printsincorporate the same elements of fantasy narrative. Reedy’s art is aplayful and nebulous form of storytelling. He creates strange and unusualplaces by combining fantastic imagery that could be either arbitrary orsymbolic and can be taken as social commentary or interpreted as theviewer fancies.The linocuts in Key West and Other Unusual Places stem from Reedy’slifelong fascination with dinosaurs, the paranormal, and the supernatural.His travels and admiration of the architecture of India, Japan, and Thailandhave also had a profound influence on his image-making. Reedy hopesthat his block prints can take passengers and airport staff to a place a bitdetached where one can take things less seriously.The exhibition’s theme “escapism” was conceived by Brian Reedyand Tom Virgin – two Miami artists demonstrating the enthusiasm,commitment, and sensibility of printmaking and its fascinating qualities.Viewers are invited to let their imagination take flight around the real orescape to an imagined world.
Brian Reedy is a Miami-based artist specializing in block printing, a form ofprintmaking involving the carving and printing of linoleum or woodblockson paper. His work is best described as whimsical, often with popculture themes, influenced by traditional Ukiyo-e Japanese and EuropeanMedieval block prints. Reedy operates a successful online Esty shopcalled WoodcutEmporium. Reedy’s work can be found at Outre Gallery inMelbourne, Australia; Galerie F in Chicago, IL; and Bottleneck Gallery inNew York City, NY. Reedy’s artwork is used on apparel in Hot Topic storesnationwide and at Uniqlo stores in Orlando, FL; San Francisco, CA; andNYC. He has produced licensed artwork for Marvel, DC, Warner Brothers,Disney, and Fortnite. Brian is also an art teacher at Miami Arts Studio 6-12@ Zelda Glazer.Instagram.com/brianreedy
Brian Reedy, UFO over Bombay, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, T-Rex Saucer, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, Reptilian Hideout, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, First Arrival, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, Dinosaurs, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, Inner Earth, 2020, linocut, 9 x 12 in.
Brian Reedy, Dino Ark, 2020, linocut, 12 x 15 in.
Brian Reedy, Moon Palace, 2018, linocut, 20 x 26 in.
It is my intent to offer travelers a jumpstart at the beginning of their journey,or one last hurrah upon their return.- Tom VirginMIA Galleries is pleased to present Key West and Other Unusual Places,an exhibition of printed works by two prolific Miami-based visual artistsand printmakers, Brian Reedy and Tom Virgin. The exhibition is basedon Reedy’s rich, otherworldly imagination and Virgin’s travels to artistresidencies across the United States.Tom Virgin is an artist, printmaker, and letterpress printer that works at theintersection of image, prose, and design; his work spans various mediafrom prints and book arts to sculpture, public works, and installation.Virgin’s visual art practice included printing, painting, drawing, and bookarts before his entry and lifelong passion for letterpress - the traditionalbut not obsolete practice of setting movable type and printing by hand.The setting of Virgin’s work is rooted in shared experiences andrelationships formed during collaborations in interdisciplinary projects withother visual artists, poets, and writers. Virgin uses contemporary printingtechnologies and the traditional “hands-on process” of printmaking toproduce compelling textures and surfaces that carry the active hand ofthe artist.Key West and Other Unusual Places features a selection of Virgin’s workson paper, woodcut prints, metal drawings, artist books, and otherephemera, such as vintage maps, posters, and postcards. Communitiesand geographies represented here come from his travels to Key West,Florida; to national parks at Glen Arbor, Michigan; Chesterton, Indiana;and artist residencies in Portland, Oregon and Red Wing, Minnesota.Follow this compelling visual storyteller to the Midwest and other locationsacross the U.S.The exhibition’s theme “escapism” was conceived by Brian Reedy andTom Virgin – two Miami artists demonstrating the enthusiasm, commitment,and sensibility of printmaking and its fascinating qualities. Viewers areinvited to let their imagination take flight around the real or escape to animagined world.
Tom Virgin is a Miami-based artist, proprietor ofExtra Virgin Press, and for twenty-five years, a Title I PublicSchool Art teacher. Virgin received his BFA in Printmakingand Painting from Florida Atlantic University in 1989 andhis MFA in Printmaking at the University of Miami in 1994.Since then, he has studied printmaking, book arts, andletterpress in over forty post-graduate classes around the United Statesand teaches workshops in those subjects.Born and raised in Detroit, on jazz, blues, Motown, and rock & roll, Virginhas spent twice as much time in Florida than in his native Michigan.Residencies around the U.S. in artists’ communities and national parkshave also informed his practice. His collaborations, prints, book arts, andpublic art often depict shared civic resources such as public schools,National Parks, and his home states (Michigan and Florida).Extra Virgin Press began creating community around letterpresses in2015, winning a Knight Arts Challenge Grant from the John L. and JamesS. Knight Foundation. Other significant support has come from twoOolite Arts, Ellies Creator Awards; a Wavemaker/Long Haul Grant; andsupport from Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs; the Miami Foundation;and many other community partners. His artist books are included inthe collections at the University of Miami’s Special Collections, MiamiDade Public Library’s Permanent Art Collection, The Bienes Museum ofthe Modern Book, the Jaffee Center for Book Art, and the Museum ofContemporary Art in North Miami (MOCA), and others.extravirginpress.com
Tom Virgin, Big Lobster (from escape* restrictions apply, first book of the Escape series),2004/2020, hand colored letter press print, 11 x 14 in.
Tom Virgin, Half Bubbles & Big Pine(from artists book Escape 2 from Escape series), 2004, inkjet print, 22 x 15 in.
Tom Virgin, Custom House Museum(pop-up from artists book Escape 3: SDR2 from Escape series), 2008, 15 x 22 in.
Tom Virgin, 13 Views of Mt. Hood: with Fisherman, 2010, woodcut print, 20 x 16 in.
Tom Virgin, Vintage Michigan map with letterpress additions, 2021, 30 x 29 in.
Tom Virgin, Red Wing: World’s Largest Boot, 2012, woodcut print, 20 x 16 in.
Tom Virgin, Time (text from LaRose by Louise Erdrich), 2015, letterpress broadsheet, 15 x 12 in.
escape Part of Speech: noun Definition: breakingaway; getaway, the act or an instance of escaping, as from confinement or difficulty; a meansof avoiding. Freedom from worry, care, or unpleasantness. Synonyms: abdication, avoidance,AWOL, beat, bolt, break, breakout, bypassing,circumvention, decampment, deliverance, departure, desertion, disappearance, dodging, duckn escape to the Florida Keys would not be complete without a trip toing, elopement, elusion, elusiveness, eschewal,its Southernmost Point, Key West. To be specific, without partakingevasion, evasiveness, extrication, fadeout, flight,in the “Duval Crawl,” you will not have experienced Key West. The “crawl”forgetfulness, freedom, getaway, hegira, lam,is a pointed reference to the generous placement of watering holes alongleave, liberation, out, outbreak, powder, release,the pedestrian route, and their effect on ambulatory travel. It is a memorescue, retreat, runaround, shunning, sidesteprable event, provided one is not too frisky with the libations. Key West isping, slip, spring, withdrawal Part of Speech:not like the rest of Florida, the United States, or at times it seems, the restverb Definition: avoid, break away from, to breakof the Earth.loose and leave suddenly, as from confinementThese images come from more than five years of visits to “Key Weird,” asor from a difficult or threatening situation, to failit is sometimes affectionately labeled; and they pass along my impressionsto be fixed by the mind, memory, or senses Synof various cultural institutions such as: Hemmingway Days, Bahama Fesonyms: abscond, avoid, bail out*, break out, bolt,tival, nights out escaping more rural locations to the east, and of course.burst out, burke, bypass, circumvent, cut andFantasy Fest. It is a tourist town not unlike many, perhaps with a slightlyrun, cut loose*, decamp, depart, desert, disapmore tawdry edge to it. They seem to enjoy it that way. The rest of us arepear, diversion, dodge, double, duck, duck out,welcome to find an escape there, provided we can find our way back.elope, elude, emerge, eschew, evade, flee, fly, flythe coop, get around, getaway, get away with,get off*, go scot-free, lam, leak, leave, make getaway, make off*, make oneself scarce, miss, outflow, outlet, pass, play hooky, rescue, run, runaway, run off, run out on, shake, shun, sidestepping, skip, slip, slip away, spill, steal away, takea powder, take flight, take on the lam, tone, vamoose, vanish, vent, work out of, wriggle outA2Introductory text from Tom Virgin’s Escape 3: SDR2 from Escape series, 2008, 15 x 12 in.
Virgin’s visual art practice included printing, painting, drawing, and book arts before his entry and lifelong passion for letterpress - the traditional . invited to let their imagination take flight around the real or escape to an imagined world. I . n escape to the Florida Keys wou
