Art Palm Beach is internationally recognized as the premier mid-winter contemporary art fair in The Palm Beaches, along Florida’s coastline, celebrated by art critics and enthusiasts alike. Prior to being acquired by the Palm Beach Show Group, which also manages the LA Art Show, this fair was organized by IFAE founders Lee Ann & David Lester, who originally established Art Miami and Art Asia Hong Kong. It is the longest-running fair in Palm Beach County dedicated to showcasing contemporary, emerging, and modern masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries.
This year, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas was honored to be a cultural partner of the fair. Museum leadership engaged with representatives from various Ibero-American museums, paying special attention to the "Museum AI" exhibit by artists Ana Marcos and Alfonso Villanueva, curated by Nestor Prieto and presented by La Neomudejar Museum from Madrid, Spain.
"Museum AI" is an artistic research project that employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reimagine and recreate lost pieces of art. This project focused on the recreation of 57 lost paintings from the Palencia Museum collection, which had disappeared, been largely forgotten, and condemned to oblivion until now. "Museum AI" aims to deepen our understanding of our origins and foster appreciation and respect for art by highlighting the importance of knowledge in recognizing our cultural memory and heritage. By proposing an exhibition on lost works of art, "Museum AI" seeks to recover the story of a forgotten heritage and explores what it would be like if machine intelligence re-mastered these paintings through learning processes after a thorough historical analysis of the available data.
"Museum AI" represents a new collection born with the aim of modernizing, making visible, exchanging, and, if possible, transcending the artistic event with a 21st-century perspective. This project envisions a continuous learning sequence, akin to a computer, and emerges as a collective and innovative endeavor that places an AI-generated images collection at the intersection of history and contemporary times. These images, informed by heterogeneous intelligences and multidisciplinary learning, reflect the 21st century's approach to culture. It acknowledges that culture is increasingly a shared action by millions, seeking to connect with their past to construct the future through diverse expressions. Culture is the treasure of people defending their identity and memory, striving to reinvent themselves in a globalized, multicultural, and diverse world.
Another project visited by the board members of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas was "Mythstories," which showcased the fantastic tapestries of Colombian artist Carlos Castro Arias, curated by Gustavo Adolfo Ortiz Serrano and presented by MAC (Museum of Contemporary Art) of Bogotá, Colombia. The curation posits that myths are constructed to express realities beyond logical understanding and to aid in comprehending concepts that are difficult to articulate with ordinary language. Carlos Castro's work reflects a moment where contemporary society is shown a mirror yet hesitates to open its eyes. Utilizing the ancient medieval technique of tapestry and an iconography that bridges the ancient with the contemporary, Castro intricately weaves a new comprehension of our recent history within the framework of a hyper-communicated, transcultural, hybrid, and meaning-seeking society. In the complexity of modern life, turning to myth becomes necessary to approach our existence in a symbolic and cohesive manner, employing a medium that enriches the imagination and emotion needed to assimilate the succession of moments that eventually become history.
Each tapestry by Castro represents a journey through time, not just chronologically, but also through the transposition of characters, places, representation forms, canons, and values. This creates a spiral that allows us to visually and conceptually navigate between a past-present, a future-past, and a continuous, indeterminate present, all seasoned with the necessary irony for digestion. His work invites the creation or recreation of our own myths—the kind that enable us to transcend experience and redefine the culture and social significance inherent within.
Lastly, but no less significant, was the project "Be Water" by Cuban artist Antuan, curated by Marisa Caichiolo and presented by the AAL Museum of Santiago de Chile. "Be Water" is an immersive installation that presents a visual narrative exploring the multifaceted dimensions of water in nature and human life. Through the creation of the Human Net, a geometric human structure visible in each sculptural piece, Antuan symbolizes the symmetry of the universe, elemental purity, and omnipresent wisdom. The characters within the installation underscore the unity of humanity in confronting the urgent global water crisis, emphasizing the essential collaboration between humanity and AI to forge a new network of human consciousness. This interconnectedness is vital in collectively addressing the water crisis challenges and establishing a new planetary order.
The installation particularly highlights the intrinsic memory of water and examines how AI can effectively communicate the significance of this vital element to humanity. This exploration is a seamless integration of art, science, space, metaphysics, energy, and compassionate stewardship of our planet. By engaging audiences, "Be Water" seeks to provoke a reevaluation of our relationship with water, illuminating its potential to heal and sustain us through its memory. This installation marks a significant advancement in the ongoing art-science research spearheaded by the distinguished contemporary artist, Antuan. Building on the success of the acclaimed project "The Other Dimension," exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, FL, in 2017, "Be Water" continues to expand the boundaries of artistic expression and scientific inquiry.
