‘Young Fresh Different Miami’ At Zilberman Gallery Showcases 15 Artists Under 35

 “For Oscar,” an installation by Addison Wolff, is one of the works that will be exhibited at the Zilberman gallery as part of “Young Fresh Different Miami” opening Friday, June 28 through Friday, Aug. 23 (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Earlier this year, Zilberman gallery in the Miami Design District teamed up with arts organization Fountainhead to launch “Young Fresh Different Miami,” an open call for artists under the age of 35 based in Florida.

According to the gallery, 100 applications were received and 15 were selected, most of them with works featuring topics of identity or exploring conversations around it. The work of those artists will be exhibited at the gallery from Friday, June 28 to Friday, Aug. 23.

Artists from Miami to West Palm Beach were selected and include Addison Wolff, Alberto Alejandro Rodríguez, Amanda Linares, Anna Miorelli, Chantae Elaine Wright, Chloe Sailor, Ernesto Gutíerrez Moya, Katelyn Kopenhaver, Liz Beltran, Luna Palazzolo-Daboul, Marianna Angel, Marilyn Loddi, Smita Sen, Susana Kim Alvarez, and Zoe Schweiger.

Still of “Ashes” by Marianna Angel. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Their trajectories and backgrounds reflect Florida’s rich diversity and multiculturalism, exploring themes of personal and collective identity, cultural heritage, and self-exploration. The exhibit, representing those topics, features a variety of media, including painting, installation, video art, sculpture, and conceptual art, showcasing a wide range of artistic approaches within the region’s emerging art scene.

“This year was the first time that the initiative expanded not only to Miami, but also to Berlin, where the gallery has also a non-profit space and a gallery space as well, plus our residency. So it shows as well the expansion of Zilberman to the different communities that it is impacting through the presence of this institution in Istanbul, Berlin, and Miami,” says Gladys Garrote, one of the gallerists at Zilberman Miami.

Addison Wolff, who lives and creates his work in Fort Lauderdale, is one of the artists selected to participate in YFD (Photo courtesy of Oriol Tarridas)

“Young Fresh Different” (YFD) is an initiative that was created to provide a platform for highlighting the work of young artists; encouraging artistic exchange and dialogue between creatives and the gallery. Initially launched in 2009 to connect with young artists in Turkey, the location of Zilberman’s first gallery, YFD has grown into an annual group exhibition curated by an independent jury.

For the first Miami edition, the selection committee was made up of Omar Lopez-Chahoud, independent curator and the artistic director of Untitled Art Fair, artist Omar Barquet, Teresa Enriquez, collector and Fountainhead’s board vice president, and Ziberman gallerist Nazli Yayla and Garrote.

The artists selected receive a $300 honorarium for their participation and will have the opportunity to sell their artworks during the exhibition.

On that note, Garrote comments, “I think that it’s interesting to think about Zilberman as more than a commercial gallery. It’s becoming an art institution that has, of course, the main element of the gallery being a commercial gallery that represents a diverse array of artists, but it’s also an institution that is interested in impacting the communities that it’s part of. This initiative here in Miami has also allowed Zilberman to explore what is happening in the city with emerging artists. Where are their interests, where they’re going to, and (what they are) looking for? It’s been an interesting exploration in that sense, too.”

Detail of Addison Wolff’s installation “For Oscar.” (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Wolff’s work, “For Oscar,” pays homage to Oscar Wilde. “Violets, pansies, green carnations, have been used throughout queer history and culture to talk about desire. Oscar Wilde used green carnations, with his cohorts, in the opening premiere of his play ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan,’ he and his gay friends wore green carnations to signal their sexual preference, or that they were part of a group. And so, I took that idea of color and, specifically the green carnation, and utilized it in my piece to color my sculpture,” says the artist, who was born in Winter Park, Fla., and now works and lives in Fort Lauderdale.

Wolff’s piece integrates elements of queer history and personal identity, using ceramics and textures to connect past and present.

“The contemporary take on that blue and white pottery . . .There’s a quote from Wilde,” and then Wolff apologizes saying, ‘This is not gonna be the perfect quote, but basically he said, ‘I’ll never be able to live up to blue and white pottery.’ Talking about beauty and standards.”

“A Barrier Falls Between the World and Me,” an installation by Luna Palazzolo-Daboul (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Palazzolo-Daboul created an installation composed of a painting, and a sculpture titled “A Barrier Falls Between the World and Me,” consisting of an oversized chair sculpture and a painting of a cloud. “There was a particular thing that Gertrude Stein said about liking a good view but liking to sit with her back facing it. This idea of duality, of having the options to do something and still not choosing to do so,” explains the artist, who was born in Mar del Plata,  Buenos Aires, Argentina,  and now lives and works in Miami.

Elaborating on their use of materials, Palazzolo-Daboul says, “The work surrounds this idea of freedom of choice, but also difficulties to come across the situation. And simultaneously it is placed off of the materiality that is always running my work.”

It is only the second work that Palazzolo-Daboul has welded on a rebar, they explain.

Originally from Buenos Aires and now living and working in Miami, Luna Palazzolo-Daboul is one of the artists selected to participate in YFD. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

“All my work is previously mostly in cement, and if you strip down buildings, you’ll come to the rebar at the end. I wanted to keep the conceptual idea of construction and destruction and also hierarchies in which these materials are positioned.”

The artist says that their participation in the exhibition underscores the importance of providing opportunities for local artists. “Doing an open call is a great way to equalize the opportunity channels and to see what’s out there that you as a gallerist or curator might not know about. And I do think that there needs to be more (of that).”

WHAT: Young Fresh Different Miami 2024

WHERE: Zilberman Miami, 25 NE 39th St., Miami

WHEN: Friday, June 28 through Friday, Aug. 23

COST: Free

INFORMATION: (305) 603-7763 or zilbermangallery.com

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