“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is,” is a passage easily applicable to today’s time. Cuban-born artist Alexandre Arrechea took it directly from the text of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. The novel is the literary inspiration for his latest installation Dreaming with Lions. Faena Art will present it on the beach until December 6.
The colossal installation was assembled in front of the Faena Hotel on Miami Beach during Miami Art Week. It is an existential work with many symbols. Measuring a 62’ diameter, the work resembles a giant forum-style library. Arrechea also incorporated beach towels with illustrated phrases, like the one above, from the novel.
Through the artwork, the artist seeks to express the sheer force of the human spirit during these perilous times. He reconstructs the ideals of hope, faith and strength of the human spirit prevail in the face of the moral challenges. The library style of the work further enhances the ideological constructs.
“Dreaming with Lions” proposes action and reflection. That we reflect upon coherence and respect of oneself and others, and that we continue to invent ways to confront our destiny while maintaining integrity and grandeur,” expressed the artist.
Arrechea was born in Trinidad, Cuba in 1970, and he currently lives in Miami, FL. He graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) of Havana in 1994.
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