In His Element. Gino Tozzi Opens Cultural Megaplex in Wynwood

Artist Gino Tozzi at his new artpace in Wynwood art District, Miami. All images are courtesy of LMNT.

By Bianca Decker

As a boy growing up in Rome, Gino Tozzi was often dragged away from the playground to visit the Musei Capitolini or the Villa Borghese, where he discovered the works of old masters such as Raphael, Rubens, Caravaggio, and Titian.

“Sometimes my dad would pull me out of neighborhood soccer games to drive all the way to the Uffizi in Florence, stopping at all the cathedrals and historic sites along the road,” Tozzi fondly recalls of his weekend outings with Gino, Sr. “Those experiences made me want to become an artist but my father urged me to study business instead.”

The art and history lessons became deeply rooted in youngster’s insatiable imagination, however, and soon after earning a college degree in business and marketing, Tozzi returned to his first love, art, to pursue a lifelong dream.

Tozzi is launching LMNT, a sprawling, 15,000 square foot arts megaplex in the heart of the Wynwood Art District during the 2010 edition of Art Basel. The complex boasts two contemporary art galleries, six artists-in-residency studios, a recording studio, and a video and photography studio. The space will also feature an outdoor monumental sculpture garden and an alfresco Mediterranean bistro and lounge.

During a recent tour of his capacious, multi-use compound, Tozzi observed that his father’s inspiration weighs mightily on his mind. “He was a self-made man who rose from poverty to become successful in many facets of his life against the backdrop of World War II and daunting odds. I wanted to honor him with this venture somehow.”

Liset Castillo, Telling her Secrets (detail), 2010. Flex print on non-glare plexi+anodized aluminium, 48" x 60"

Tozzi says he named his space LMNT to acknowledge his heritage. “When you pronounce the letters phonetically they sound out the word elementi, which means elements in Italian. I want this project to become a unique breeding ground from the outset, where contemporary themes in art will be explored in conceptual terms using a multi-media approach,” he adds. His venture marks one of the most ambitious privately-funded cultural undertakings in the region.
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Tozzi leads visitors to an interior wall of one of his two gallery spaces. He is preserving a vast, soaring sign that rises floor-to-ceiling, advertising “Mrs. Natt’s Bakery,” a business that was housed in the building way back in the 1930s.  The bakery’s phone number, 3-3082, is emblazoned on the wall next to the motto: “Buy with confidence, serve with pride.”

“This neighborhood has changed very quickly and is becoming more and more gentrified,” Tozzi observes. “My father taught me to value history. I am keeping the sign up to maintain part of the area’s original character and in tribute to the pioneer work ethic of the building’s earlier tenants,” he says.

Tozzi explains that LMNT’s principal mission will be to function as an incubator uniting South Florida talent and visiting artists of diverse backgrounds, aesthetics, and perspectives in a dialogue over contemporary arts.

“We want to serve as a laboratory for the convergence of different media and audiences and become a place where people can discover contemporary art and culture under the same roof in what we hope will be a constantly evolving multi-disciplinary compound.”

Tozzi is inaugurating his space with the work of New York-based Cuban artist Liset Castillo, who is exhibiting 18 arresting large-format photographs and a sculpture in “Human Studies,” her first solo exhibit in three years.

Castillo created life-size sand sculptures of models typically found in high gloss fashion magazines, photographed the striking figures, and later destroyed them as a commentary on the ephemeral nature of beauty, America’s obsession with youth culture, and the spectacle in decay.

“Her work is stunning and evocative of the fleeting nature of time or fading history,” Tozzi says. “It reminds me of some of the things I learned from my father and is an auspicious show to embark our concept and space upon.”

LMNT is located at 55 NW 36 Street, Miami, Florida, 33127. Liset Castillo’s exhibition “Human Studies” is on view from November 30, 2010, through March 30, 2011. Hours: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm. www.L-M-N-T.com.