Artist: assume vivid astro focus
Title: Adora Vanessa Athena Fantasia
Temporary Public Art Installation, Española Way (between Washington Avenue and Collins Court)
December 5, 2023 – February 29, 2024
Opening: Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 1 p.m. (Washington Avenue and Española Way)
The City Miami of Miami Beach is pleased to present adora vanessa athena fantasia, a newly-commissioned installation by Brazilian artist Eli Sudbrack of collective assume vivid astro focus (avaf). Adora Vanessa Athena Fantasia is the third installment of Elevate Española, a public art program launched by the city in 2022 that biannually commissions visual artists to create installations suspended in midair over the East Corridor of Española Way, located between Washington and Collins avenues.
With Adora Vanessa Athena Fantasia, avaf draws inspiration from the Miami Beach drag scene, drawing details from local drag artists and honoring their existence and work. Above Española Way, Adora Vanessa Athena Fantasia will feature a series of suspended large-scale aluminum portraits, printed on both sides in avaf’s distinctively vibrant style paying tribute to Miami Beach area drag icons. Some of the drag artists who inspired the project include Adora, Athena Dion, Carla Croqueta, Fantasia Royale, Juice Love Dion, Lady Paraiso, Persephone Von Lips, Power Infiniti, The Regina Black, Tiffany Fantasia and TP Lords.
assume vivid astro focus is comprised of Eli Sudbrack (b. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1968) and Christophe Hamaide-Pierson (b. Paris, France, 1973). The two artists work independently under the avaf alias but also join forces occasionally. Sometimes they morph into a collective as well, depending on the different projects they are involved in. Sudbrack lives and works between São Paulo and New York. Hamaide-Pierson lives and works in Paris. Along the years they have worked worldwide with a wide variety of artists (musicians, architects, performers, fashion designers, graffiti artists, etc). The idea of working under a pseudonym is a fundamental part of their process of working “collectively”: everybody becomes one under the alias “avaf”, including the public. Being inclusive is a foundational core belief.
avaf has been the subject of major exhibitions and public art projects around the world. These include MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna), São Paulo, Brazil (2022); Thailand Biennale, Korat, Thailand (2021); Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, USA (2021); Lanterna Mágica, São Paulo, Brasil (2021); MUBE (Museu Brasileiro de Escultura e Ecologia), São Paulo, Brasil (2020); CCCSP (Centro Cultural São Paulo), São Paulo, Brasil (2019); Storage by Hyundai Card, Seoul, South Korea (2019); Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark (2019); Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, USA (2019); Kunstverein Harburger Banhoff, Hamburg, Germany (2019); MATE, Lima, Peru (2017); The Faena Art Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2014) and Miami (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Santa Barbara, USA (2016); Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany (2016); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA (2015); The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway (2009); São Paulo Bienal, São Paulo, Brazil (2008); Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA (2008); Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo, Japan (2007); 1st Athens Biennale, Athens, Greece (2007); The Geffen Contemporary (MoCA), Los Angeles, USA (2005); The Whitney Biennial, New York, USA (2004); among others.