Inside TUB Gallery

TUB Gallery is the newest addition to Miami’s Wynwood Art District. Founded by architect Miguel Fernández, TUB gathers a group of artists of different nationalities whose works engage in a particular dialogue with physical space. In this interview, Fernández shares with us how he became involved in the art business, the strategies he is planning to promote the careers of TUB’s artists, and the exhibitions he is organizing for the coming months.

By Raisa Clavijo

Raisa Clavijo - I know that you are a well-established architect. Tell me a bit about your professional background. How did your interest in being part of the art-market machinery arise?

Miguel Fernández - Art has always been in my life. I used the tools of drawing and painting as a child to understand my world like a writer uses his pen to understand his. I remember drawing in my basement in Philadelphia with my friends and later selling them. At that time, I was already in the ‘market machinery’ without knowing it. As a grown-up, I transferred that insightful aspiration to architecture, and now I am returning more to that child in me. This time, however, I project those sentiments by receiving the admiration and the complements of those who surround me when I can provide an artist that moves and greases the machinery-not only at a marketable level, but also when the energy is captured in his or her work.

R.C. - Do you collect art?

M.F. - Collecting art is a must in order to carry the myth of storytelling and to pass it on to others. Art is an open book. The most profound work is delivered when there is a story to tell with that particular work. How can we not as a society tell stories? My collection consists of artists like Duvier del Dago, Peter Zimmerman, Pierre Soulages and more. My collection is a reflection of who I am, two cultures that are minimal, and conceptual criticism through contemporary means.

R.C. - Why did you choose Miami to open TUB?

M.F. - I chose Miami, and in particular the area of Wynwood, because it is a hub between the north and the south continents, and in particular a district which is now coming to terms with the art world.

TUB Gallery director Miguel Fernández. Photo: Leo Di Tomaso.

R.C. - What is your gallery’s focus? Which artists do you represent?

M.F. - TUB will focus on contemporary art mainly, but it will create other platforms to raise the awareness of the artists and/or the exhibits. Presently we represent Cristina Barroso, Lisa C. Soto, Andres Ferrandis, Gian Garofalo, Gregory Johnston, Erik Sommer and Duvier del Dago. Our ‘platforms’ include a participation with in-house artist residences like the Fountainhead Residency founded by Kathryn and Dan Mikesell. This type of environment allows our positioned artist to commune with other artists in a studio for one month with a final exhibition produced in our gallery space. Another way we intend to materialize this platform is through a question-and-answer event. This could be with artists, community leaders, curators, fashion designers and collectors. Our first dialogue on this matter will occur on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, at 4 p.m. with Sandra Ramos to review her most recent work. Through the concept of ‘platforms,’ TUB intends to go beyond the classical notion of gallery space. We want to offer a tank similar to a container where ideas, pros and cons, will grow and hopefully materialize into the object or some form of execution. I named the gallery ‘Tub’ after my favorite painting The Death of Marat. From his container, his ‘tub,’ Marat wrote the most revolutionary ideas that would go on to serve the French Revolution. I hope to do the same for the art world with the support of those who understand where we are at this moment and where we are going.

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R.C. - Is it part of the strategy of TUB to position your artists on the international art circuit, to help place their works in important museums and private collections?

M.F. - We will be participating in the Hamptons fair, as well as MACO fair in Mexico this year. Some of our artists, like Cristina Barroso, Lisa C. Soto, Sandra Ramos and Duvier del Dago, have been collected not only by private collectors but also by museums like the PAMM, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

TUB is a bridge between two cultures, which is the makeup of its owner. I am proud to be a Cuban American, and as such I introduce the artists from the West Coast and the Northeast part of the U.S. to markets like Mexico, Spain, Chile and Brazil. The same occurs with the artists that come from outside of the U.S.-they are introduced to the U.S., not just Miami. This bridge is a rewarding platform to the artist as well as the gallery, because it opens our market. We would rather have collectors supporting our artists whether they are local or not.

R.C. - What are your goals with TUB? How do you envision the gallery in five years?

M.F. - To be here. To be respected for our collective work and collaborative effort with the art community and to patiently position our artists in the art world. Timing is a puzzle; we concentrate on one piece at a time.

R.C. - I am aware that you have ambitious plans for the upcoming Art Basel Miami Beach week. Can you tell us about the exhibitions you are planning?

M.F. - This is our first Art Basel exhibition, which will consists of two gallery spaces inside TUB. The South gallery space will present a solo exhibition of Cuban artist Sandra Ramos’ latest work, “Transitory Identities.” This work consists of a large light-box sculpture installation work with several mixed techniques of collage completed during the artist’s three-month residence in Miami. The work refers to contemporary displacement on time and space and how this affects the individual. In this series, she continuously works with documents and photographs of cities that are restructured through a personal vision and modern thoughtful concepts. The North Gallery space will present a group exhibition entitled “Beyond the Linear Expression.”

This collective exhibit is organized around our represented artists already mentioned. The work presented produces a tension and conflict of a relationship through linear expressions that plays on the superficiality of the space that is understood as a place of projection. Some, like Gian Garofalo and Andres Ferrandis, reaffirm the search for color by renewing the chromatic perception of the audience. Then there is Gregory Johnston, whose work is steeped in Color Field, through the process of automotive construction technology. The colors and lines evoke a Zen-like quality, handmade to resemble machine-made perfection. Then there is Erik Sommer, whose peeling and adding of materials on the finished surface traces our linear projection of a particular moment. As much as this group exhibit revolves around aspects of images that are vivid, reflective, seductive and the precariousness of the materials, the complicated tension is maintained in the collective nature of the feeling presented rather than the concept.

We opened TUB with a series of group exhibitions. For the year 2014, we will promote more solo exhibitions. One particular solo exhibition being scheduled is with the curator Roc Laseca and the philanthropist Mario Cader. Walterio Iraheta, the artist, is from Salvador. Walterio’s work is interesting to me because he plays with some part of our society, our lives and what appear to be threatening situations that affect us.

TUB Gallery is located at 171 NW 23 St., Wynwood Art District, Miami, Florida 33127 / Phone: 305 573 0610 / Tubgallery@Tubgallerymiami.com / www.Tubgallerymiami.com