LAUNCH F18 is delighted to partner with the curatorial collective, Good To Know in Miami, Florida for the immersive exhibition, We Buy Gold. We will be featuring work by Didi Rojas and Julie K. Gray. The exhibition will be on view during Art Basel Miami Beach and opens on Thursday, December 5th and will remain on view through January 7th.
The curatorial collective, Good To Know present their third annual large-scale and site responsive exhibition for Miami Art Week titled We Buy Gold. We Buy Gold is an exploratory activation of an 80s' retro-mall in Downtown Miami’s jewelry district. The exhibition highlights the neighborhood's culture, history and local businesses focusing on the gold-trade and the nostalgic mall experience. Participating artists further consider the implications of the Jewelry districts neon storefronts in relation to their own sentiments with the seemingly ubiquitous mineral.
Gold as a theme is explored by many of the artists in this exhibition, focusing on gold as a natural element, a luxury good, a trading commodity and the many contradictions of gold as resource. Stephen Somple examines the conflicts and problematics of gold sourcing- the vanity behind the exploitation can be expressed in his gold gilded wall mounted sculptures. Matt McCormick’s oil paintings present the necessary relationship of fire to gold in its process of purification. Sara Mejia Kriendler’s concrete bowls filled with terracotta hands allude to rituals of spirituality referencing pre-Columbian totemic objects. Ivan Sikic presents a site-specific participatory work name LOOT, where a solid 42-gram piece of 24k gold (valued at approximately $2,000 USD) is buried within bags of dirt. Sikic invites the public to dig through the dirt filled bags in order to recover the gold nugget. Through this action, the work addresses society’s greed at the expense of our habitat and natural resources.
We Buy Gold responds to the mall as a site, exploring the commercial aspects and its culture of it by recreating vehicles of economy in a central place. Colombian duo Villamil &Villamil will sell fortune cookies filled with slogans implemented by large multinationals, which use empowerment and self- improvement messages as advertising tactics. The experimental space MALL showcases ‘art-wearables’ by Adriana Martinez, Bleshüe, Debora Delmar, Emilio Bianchic, Hector Madera, Ignacio Gatica, Juan Obando, Juan Sebastian Pelaez, Juni Figueroa, Lulo Demarco, Mario Llanos, speaking to the mall as a place for performance, art, fashion, and story-telling.
Due to the decline of family owned businesses GTK activates a curated retail general store featuring unique ceramic designer accessories by Didi Rojas, oversized unique garment works by James Viscardi and color saturated jacket oil paintings by Caroline Larsen. Paloma Izquierdo’s sculpture advertising “zapatos” via house blinds brings humor to the multiculturalism of malls and Downtown. The General store will exhibit many more unique works and partnerships including Editorial Mag, and Launch F18.
Within every great mall is a movie theatre. At the GTK mall, a screening room will feature the debut of a new video work by Antonia Wright and works by artists Kalup Linzy and the internet sensation, Bread Face.
Good To Know acknowledges the urgency of climate change and for a second year present the local organization, The Center of Subtropical of Affairs. The Center features small works by artists Bhakti Baxter, Brian Degraw, Brookhart Jonquil, Franky Cruz, Kira Tippenhauer, Philip Lique and Sarah Sanford, alongside mushroom tinctures and information on sustainable eco-systems. Continued Good to Know artists working within an eco-centric dialogue are Jon Knox and Josh Olley with photographs and Biorama globes encapsulated with sea water and refuse from New York City and Miami. As well as artist Richard Zimmerman of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in his sound installation that recreates native bird calls of South Florida using studio instruments.
Furthermore We Buy Gold will activate and cultivate the Downtown Miami landscape. Sharing the scene with ANDREW Downtown, Mana Contemporary and HVW8 Gallery.
Good To Know
48 East Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33131
Events and Discussions
Saturday December 7th
Panel Discussion: The role of art in the transitioning Downtown: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Mediated by Ann Binlot
Sunday December 8th
Mariachi Street Performance guided by Mariana Smith: 6:00 - 7:00 PM
777 East Flagler Street and travels to 48 East Flagler Street
Sunday Sundown Session: Closing DJ Set: 7- 9:00 pm
48 East Flagler Street
About to Good to Know:
Good to Know is curatorial collective providing platforms for artists creating site-responsive work in non- traditional spaces. Good to Know and by acronym, GTK was founded by Alex Valls and Julianna Vezzetti in 2017 and joined by Juliana Steiner in 2018. GTK continues their reach by working with fellow curators, organizations and galleries to execute multi-experiential exhibitions.