[Presenter] "Art Loft" is brought to you by the# Friends of South Florida PBS.

"Art Loft," it's the pulse of what's happening on the South Florida art# scene.

In this episode, "Territory and Place," we head to Allapattah for "A World Far Away, Nearby# and Invisible" with the Jorge Perez collection.

I think art makes me think in a totally# different way than the day-to-day business.

[Presenter] At the Norton, resident artist Shara# Hughes on the place she's in with her practice.

[Shara] This painting, I think# you can see not as much rendered, and then you see some parts that are# more clearly rendered.

So I think I'm kinda playing with this idea of how much do# I want to give away to the viewer, and how much do I wanna keep to myself?

How abstract# do I wanna be, and how clear do I wanna be?

[Presenter] Then Commissioner and artist Lauren# Shapiro take us to a place beneath the sea.

Ceramics is an archive, an ancient tool that's# touched every single continent.

Human beings have had such a long relationship with the material.

I# think it's fascinating that it's still used today, and I am interested in using that material to# tell these different stories of nature spaces, of architectural spaces and human history.

[Presenter] Philanthropist and collector Jorge# Perez says his love of art was instilled by his mother.

It's a passion that runs deep.# He's amassed two of the world's largest collections of Latin art and African art.

He's# sharing both with the public at El Espacio 23.

You keep on looking at art, and the more you# study it, the more you comprehend it.

I think it's not just the beauty of the art, but the# significance of the art.

I keep on, you know, learning, and I'm always learning, and I'm# always, you know, I think I drive people crazy that are around me because I discover new ways,# new areas that fascinate me.

My name is Jorge Perez.

I think of myself as a philanthropist and# an art collector and a real estate developer.

My mother used to take me to movies and to# the theater.

She was very, very visual, and to museums.

And I developed this love,# not only for this art that you see around you, but a passion for movies.

And it's a passion# that I think has changed my life.

I think art makes me think in a totally different way than the# day-to-day business.

I've always wanted my art to become public.

I think art that you just put in# your house and nobody sees, it's nice for you, but the people don't get to enjoy it.

And I've# always thought that I'm just a depository for art.

This inspired the title for the exhibition.

So# that particular piece is an embroidered portrait, and it's a portrait of Maria Sabina.

And Maria# Sabina was a Mazatec Mexican community healer, shaman, very active in her community, particularly# in the '60s, '70s.

And so the title of the show, "A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible,"# is actually a line from one of her poems.

[Jorge] And then the masterpiece is Leonora# Carrington, who also was talking about, you know, curandera said they go into, many# times, trances and things like that.

And this piece and Leonora is very surreal.

And I# think they talk to each other, you know.

There's a great energy.

And if you# notice there's this particular section, the hands are very important.

The eyes are# very important, almost as windows to the soul, but also, you know, what we see in nature,# the energy that we emit from our bodies, but how we receive that from nature, how we# give that to the natural world as well.

We wanted to create that interesting dialogue# between all these artists that are different generations and different contexts, yet# they all have a beautiful relationship.

The show started with me meeting# the curators and discussing what our next show is gonna be.

And they said, "We# really should do something about landscape, about Earth, about territory."

It's a wonderful# collaboration.

So this is a product of a lot of thought.

And most of the thinking, you know, I# have to be honest, it's done by the curators, our curatorial team.

You know, these# three people that have been working very hard in this are the ones that really# have put it together, and I just love it.

"A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible"# is an exhibition that tries to analyze the very complex and broad and expanded concept# of territory.

It starts from the idea of a territory as a very tangible, material, grounded# element to a very much invisible where forces of spirituality can come in.

My name is Claudia# Segura.

I'm the guest curator here at El Espacio 23 for the exhibition of this year called "A# World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible," And I'm the head of collections at the Museum# of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Spain.

I'm Patricia Hanna, and I'm the director of# El Espacio 23 and the Jorge Perez Collection.

It's so nice when we invite curators# from abroad or from outside, and we have such interesting dialogues# where they bring a fresh perspective to something maybe we've been seeing# for a long time and vice versa.

The process of selection, it's really# a dialogue between the creators of the El Espacio 23 who are the ones who# actually know the collection.

And they previously select some works that they think# that kind of suits with the theme, territory.

They started the selection from the 9,000 works# that composed the collection.

And then from that, we started to kind of dig in on the# dialogues that we wanted to establish.

These are my acquisitions of African art.

I really got involved with African art because I# saw many similarities with Latin America in the way the countries were conquered# and taken over by the European powers.

This chapter is called "Shelter Among the Scars,"# and it's where artists are exploring the concept of the Earth as a shelter, as a place of comfort# and as a place of refuge, kind of exploring this push and pull that we humans have with the Earth,# extractivism and climate change and ecological crises, yet we always return to the land, and it# always becomes a shelter.

So that's why we call it "A Shelter Among the Scar."

And for instance,# Teresita Fernandez is a perfect example of the regenerative power of nature.

So she's exploring,# obviously, these beautiful night landscapes, the golden stars and the skies.

But if you notice,# the bottom part of the piece is all burnt wood.

This particular piece, when I see it here,# it's a totally different work.

And I love it more here because it has so much more room# to breathe.

And you find that in art a lot, depending on where you put it, the# art talks to you in a different way.

These two pieces are from Sandra Vasquez de# la Horra.

She's a Chilean artist, and they are included in the chapter called "Whispers from# the Land."

This chapter, these sections wants to explore practices that actually talk about# these invisible forces that appear in nature and in territory.

And you see these two figures,# beautiful figures that talk to each other, that have this power that kind of are expanded through# the hands.

When we displayed the works in the space, we suddenly found that we had hands talking# to other hands, eyes looking into other eyes.

Suddenly, the works started to talk to us, and# they decided to do these dialogues and references.

This is a piece by Nohemi Perez, who's an artist# from Columbia, and she's an artist that we've collected in depth in the collection, and we love# this piece.

It's a beautiful yet strong piece at the same time.

And this is graphite on canvas.

It# appears like a beautiful landscape.

But then she embeds kind of within the landscape these almost# like a secret language of images from her past.

And we did a beautiful interview with her for# the exhibition catalog where she says that this whole process is very cathartic for her.

Anna# Gonzalez, which this piece here, she's also from Colombia.

It's also a landscape.

It's a faded# landscape.

It's very beautiful, almost nostalgic, poetic.

But again, it talks about ecologies and# how we are damaging, you know, our ecosystems.

And then it's next to two literal, you know,# pieces where Minerva Cuevas, you see this very academic image of the ocean, of the wave, and# it's calling you, but it's tainted somehow by this black, you know, dripping oil.

We placed# it particularly 'cause if you're in the gallery, you hear the sound of the ocean calling# you into the Graciela Sacco installation.

So to me, when we saw this# and we saw this together, it wasn't just the art, the artistry,# you know, the technique of the art, but I felt that it was threatening in the way# that I felt like I was in the middle of the storm.

So as you're hearing the ocean calling# you, the pieces, so every exit can also be an enclosure.

In the context of the show, we# want it to be a rite of passage.

It's something that like a literal and figurative bridge# that you have to cross between sections.

It's a bridge, and then there's water, right?# But it isn't.

That's created by mirrors everywhere by the artist.

And again, nature,# you know, the ocean as beauty at the bridge, but also the feel that at any moment,# something bad could happen because of the precarious position that you're in as you're# crossing.

This is really interesting artist.

We love this particularly not only because we really# like the artist, but he was one of our residents.

We have three artists a month all year# long.

So it's quite a number of artists, and they live, and they work here.

So, you# know, they become part of the El Espacio 23 family.

And so Vinicius was very eager.# He's young, and it was the first time outside Brazil.

So we were very excited# to include this piece in the exhibition.

And similarly, from Haiti, to me, well, the# first time you go and see it and say, "Wow, that's beautiful."

You look at it,# and it's really impactful, you know, and I think we move to this one, and this is a# master, Chris Ofili, also from the Caribbean, but it's just a beautiful piece.

And you see,# you know, the animals and the nature in a totally different form of expression.# This is a great masterpiece for me.

We're very lucky to be surrounded by# all these artists from all these places, all these shared experiences.

And then# what's even more beautiful is putting, connecting the dots and understanding that one# person can be from South Africa, one person can be from Brazil, yet the experiences# are so connected and universal.

I think, for us to make the world a better place, I think# there needs to be a lot more understanding.

There needs to be a lot more compassion.

And what# better way than to use the visual arts to do that.

When people were saying, "You have# an art passion," I said, "No, no, I think passion has long passed.

I sort# of inject art in my veins, I think, but, yes, I'm very passionate about it.

"# And when I see something that I love, I get goosebumps all over the# body, and it's a great feeling.

[Presenter] Painter and sculptor share Shara Hughes# re.. Norton Museum in West Palm Beach.

Here,# she shares the results of that work.

An important aspect of Shara Hughes's practice# is that she minds her own emotional and personal experiences for content within the works.# There is something for everyone inside of Shara Hughes's imagined worlds.

I'm Arden Sherman,# the Glenn W. and Cornelia T. Bailey senior curator of Contemporary Art.

And this is artist Shara# Hughes, and we are inside of her exhibition, "Shara Hughes: Inside Outside."

The exhibition is# a survey style exhibition covering almost 20 years of the artist's practice, and is presented in two# sections.

Quite literally, inside and outside.

The portal is a central theme to the# exhibition experience and acts as a frame where the viewer can come into her# work from the past, present, and future.

So I use a lot of motifs such as frameworks# that give you sort of a vantage point that you're looking through something.

Might# be a window.

You might be looking around a bush or something that gives you an idea# of stepping through into another world.

[Arden] The inside section is the earlier works# from Shara's practice that are depicting scenes of interiors and highly symbolic works.

I like# to say that these works are internal reflections of external hardships and experiences.

You# see a lot of domesticity, home life, a lot of self-reflection in the work, gestures to being# a painter, gestures to a career as an artist.

I started the interiors in a series thinking about# like what does my home look like, what does my space look like?

So, you can see myself kind of# working through ideas of feeling trapped.

Maybe there's a duality in some places where there's# a ship in a bottle with two sails or a loveseat with two sides, two plants in between.

So there's# something that I'm either struggling with that I'm like leaving myself behind, and who am I to come?# So there's this transitional period in my life that I'm kind of struggling with and reflecting in# these interiors, kind of making it my own space.

This is probably the most surreal# work in the room.

And one thing that Shara does so successfully is she# always has an entry point in the work, and she guides the viewer through the# painting and out of the painting as well.

This painting is from 2011, and I think this is# at a point when I was trying to figure out what does my life look like and who's gonna be in# my life.

So in this painting, you'll see the dark outside framework.

And in these two spaces,# you'll see a male figure in this totemic form and then a female.

This one has the vessel, the bowl# of fruit, the flower.

And this one has the tree stump, the bust, the cactus.

In this way, I think# I was trying to figure out who was gonna be my partner in life.

I quite literally was thinking# that I really wanted a boyfriend, and how could I manifest that, but also what does that look# like?

So you'll see certain symbols here like the hammer, the ruler, the step stool, the planks of# wood.

These are all sort of tools to kind of build something.

So in this way, I'm sort of suggesting# that I'm trying to build this life and build this partner that I wanna go through life with.

You'll# all see a metronome that's suggesting ticktock, ticktock, the timing, although up top it# says plenty of time.

I'm reminding myself that there is plenty of time for this, but# I really wanna kinda keep moving forward.

This painting, "Let's Grow Up Together," is one# of the very few works in the artist's practice that depicts figures.

This painting was made in# 2013, the year after the artist met her husband, hence the name "Let's Grow Up Together."

We see a# lot of heavy symbolism in the work.

There are two figures.

We see them coming into kind of a union,# and there's an offering of fruit.

There's a tree limb kind of representing growth and unity.

We# see a bird that might be kind of watching and absorbing the two.

It is no coincidence that the# artist's husband does paint birds and fruit.

In King Gallery, we have the works in the outside# section.

This is the phase of Shara's practice where she is looking at landscapes.

There's a# lot of motifs that you'll see in this section like water, flowers, trees, mountains, the# moon or the sun, framing, and art history.

This is one of the first landscapes I've made,# and this was painted in 2016.

It's called "In the Clear."

I think, at this point, I was# trying to figure out how to leave from this more narrative-based practice, like the# interiors, into what am I gonna do next?

So I'm looking for clarity.

I'm trying to# figure out what type of paintings really feel like me.

So I kind of expanded into the# outdoors, hence the outside.

This painting, I think you can see not as much rendered and then# you see some parts that are more clearly rendered.

So I think I'm kind of playing with this idea of# how much do I want to give away to the viewer, and how much do I wanna keep to myself?

How abstract# do I wanna be, and how clear do I wanna be?

[Arden] This is the newest work in the show# painted in the summer of 2025.

It's titled "Pearly Gates," and it is a painting made in response to# Hughes's contemplation, grappling with the idea of death.

And something to note about this work# is it's a departure from her typical technicolor, bright palette, and we see more softer# tones, a lot more white in this painting.

The motif of the gate appears here, and I# like to think that this kind of references one of the earliest works in this exhibition,# "Trapped."

So we see kind of like a boundary or a barrier or a portal into another world,# another realm, to a heaven, to the other side.

So in the exhibition experience,# we've covered the past, the present, and these ceramic works here discuss the# future.

These 14 new ceramic works were made just a few months ago here in West Palm# Beach at the Armory Art Center.

And this is a new medium for Shara where she's exploring sort# of the unpredictability of the medium itself.

Over the past couple of months, I was# coming back and forth from New York to West Palm Beach and living here, walking from# the residency program right behind the museum, over to the Armory Arts Center.

It's about a# 15, 20minute walk.

And on my walks every day, I was really excited to look at all the different# types of flowers and flora and fauna that I was walking through and all the amazing plant life# in Florida.

So that really kind of informed and inspired me to make these ceramics.

This is the# end result of my eight-week residency, and I really had to trust myself through the process.# I did a lot of experimenting and a lot of play.

There's something about ceramics that feel so# unpredictable.

I have to use a machine, a kiln, something that kind of takes my own personal touch# out of it in certain ways.

So there are phases to this that I have to sort of let go, and that's# something that I feel like informs the paintings.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these# progress in association with the paintings.

[Arden] Shara Hughes's practice# is highly personal.

But yet, what's so special about the work is that# they resonate with audiences universally.

Thanks for coming.

Thanks for coming.

[Presenter] Commissioner, the nonprofit bringing# those new to collecting together with artists, brings us Lauren Shapiro's take on# ceramics and the fragility of place.

Ceramics is an archive, an ancient tool that's# touched every single continent.

Human beings have had such a long relationship with the material.

I# think it's fascinating that it's still used today, and I'm interested in using that material to# tell these different stories of nature spaces, of architectural spaces and human history.

I am# a Miami-based ceramic sculptor.

I'm an explorer.

I'm a mold maker and a huge archive nerd.

The role# of research in my practice is an obsession.

In my work, I get completely fixated on maybe a color# or a technique or a shape, and then I repeat it over and over and over again until it starts# to unravel into a story.

Ceramics is really tender.

It captures detail.

It has memory.

After# practicing ceramics for 15, 20 years, I started to use that vocabulary on different types of issues# or stories that I wanted to tell, specifically to do with the South Florida landscape.

I wanted# to talk about the environment.

I wanted to talk about our human history and how the two exist# sometimes with tension and sometimes in harmony.

My relationship with the natural world began as# a young girl.

I spent a lot of time in nature camping, exploring.

So I kind of took that# with me into my art practice where I explore these different types of spaces.

Sometimes# they're out in nature in the Everglades, where I'm going through different types of# plants and ecological systems, but I also enjoy going into spaces like the Wolfsonian# on Miami Beach and doing a different type of exploration of human and cultural archiving.# My studio practice is almost like a laboratory, and I like to use these different types of# materials to tell stories that might exist in the margins.

Now I'm really interested# in understanding human fragility.

You know, we think of nature as this fragile thing that# needs to be protected and conserved when nature is fierce.

Nature is all-encompassing, and we# are the ones here on borrowed time.

But nature is also giving and gorgeous, and there's just so much# for an artist to really explore and unpack there.

[Presenter] "Art Loft" is on Instagram# @artloftsfl.

Tag us on your arts adventures.

Find full episodes, segments# and more at artloftsfl.org and on YouTube at South Florida PBS.

"Art Loft" is brought# to you by the Friends of South Florida PBS.