Art Beyond the Fairs at the Bakehouse Art Complex - Bakehouse Artists Await!

✧  Miami Art Week is upon us! ✧ 🔍  Looking for something to do beyond the art fairs? ✨  Don't miss these Bakehouse artists showing around town: Amanda Linares, Christine Cortes, and Maria Theresa Barbist in the group show What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women Reading Room at the MDPLS Main Library branch 📚 Installations by Adler Guerrier, GeoVanna Gonzalez, and Philip Lique for No Vacancy Miami Beach (various locations) Cici McMonigle's solo exhibition Creatures for the Divine at NSU Art Museum 💫 GeoVanna Gonzalez's public installation Flowing Pathways at Museum of Art and Design Lauren Shapiro's site-specific commission Pastiche at Vizcaya Nicole Salcedo's public installation Earth Gate and Smita Sen's solo exhibition Embodied at MoCA-NoMi 🌿 Woosler Delisfort solo show SANCTUARY: Our Sacred Place at HistoryMiami ...and more! Can't get to them during Miami Art Week? Don't fret! Most of these amazing shows are on-view through 2025 ✨ LEARN MORE

 

This summer, as guests walk into the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami's Wynwood Art District, they will be greeted by a newly-commissioned installation by Bakehouse artist Alain Castoriano, Tropical Storm, on view in the atrium.

Tropical Storm explores the power of natural events, particularly, their ability to transform the places through which they pass in the span of a few short moments. Through Alain's dynamic use of color and composition, he has worked to expand the visual vocabulary of his practice beyond the limits of a canvas, creating a conversation between different surfaces and the larger space. 

When asked about the making of Tropical Storm, Alain commented, "When I was asked to exhibit some of my works in the atrium of Bakehouse, I immediately considered the very beautiful overhead light of this space. I realized that, given its size, I wanted to occupy the space in a dynamic way, rather than simply hanging a few paintings on the wall."

Escape the summer heat! Come by to see Alain's installation and visit the Bakehouse artists in their studios, Bakehouse Art Complex is located at 561 NW 32nd Street in Miami, Florida 33127.

Bakehouse Art Complex Artist Highlight: Ian Fichman

 

Artist Ian Fichman. Photo by Pedro Wazzan. 

Ian Fichman is a Bakehouse artist whose practice is mainly comprised of metalwork and illustration. In seeking to defy the familiar, each sculpture he creates is uniquely assembled in an effort to bring new characters to life. Ultimately, Fichman's stylized skeletal figures aim to chronicle his own experiences, in a way that anyone may identify with.

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Can you tell us about your artistic practice?

My artistic practice is quite grueling. Each piece begins with a simple pose for which I am the model. My choices are based mainly on movement and aesthetics and creating a straightforward narrative. Each work requires a lot of physical labor, fire, and electricity to create—not to mention blood, sweat and tears. Steel is limited in its range of motion, so it takes a particular amount of skill and patience to make it do what I want.

I put my works together much like a Lego set. I typically start with the torso shape and then build outward. The hands tend to be the pivotal point in the work. I end up taking an exorbitant amount of time creating them. I put as much personality and motion into them as possible, as it is evident that once added, they really bring the entire sculpture to life. The hands, in my view, become the face of the figure. The figures remain faceless because they are about all of us, not just one particular character.

Then, I work back through and add all the other elements to bulk up the mass, correct proportions, and add counterweights onto areas like the legs and ankles. On average they take about 3 to 6 months to complete.

Each sculpture is given a fitting cliché as a title, but also a “codename” of sorts. The title is what the piece is called, but not what people tend to call it. They tend to call it a one-word phrase, which ends up being the “codename,” or what the piece is commonly referred to as.

Tell us about a personal artistic project or body of work that you are currently excited about.

I’m very excited about my new series entitled HOLLOWS. They are very simplistic compared to my other work, with a retro-futuristic boxy aesthetic. There are quadrupeds that simply consist of a piece of medium sized square tube for a body and then I fabricate their robotic legs.

I feel like they’re a fun departure from my normal stuff. They’re more easily engaged with by the general public. Generally, I just think they’re really cute.

Tell us about how you have developed as an artist since you began working at Bakehouse

I consider myself extremely lucky to be a resident at the Bakehouse Art Complex. It’s hard to name all the ways in which this facility has helped me grow as an artist. From being able to create friendships with my peers, being part of an amazing group of people with the common goal to continue creating art every day, to our community’s easy access to various and numerous opportunities to display artwork and study all sorts of different mediums. This is not to mention all the art shows, sales, and inquiries.

In my humble opinion, Bakehouse Art Complex is one of the most valuable institutions that we have in Miami-Dade County.

Visit Ian Fichman in Studio #1 at Bakehouse Art Complex, located at 561 NW 32nd Street in Miami, Florida 33127.

The Incredible Miami Sculptor & Illustrator Ian Fichman

Miami-based sculptor and illustrator Ian Fichman is known for his amusing metal sculptures, creating an army of steel, rustic figures – each with a unique vibe and story – at the Bakehouse Art Complex in the Wynwood Arts District.

“My artwork is a sardonic narrative of human existence. Each one-of-a-kind sculpture is uniquely assembled piece by piece, bringing its character to life. Their bodies are built around stylized skeletal structures, focusing on the framework of our being. The figures are mutually faceless, symbolizing our kinship as human beings through the shared struggles of our endeavors. My sculptures chronicle life experiences, each driven by different desires but similarly seeking a correct modus operandi to fulfill their own aspirations, if there even is one.”

Ian Fichman was born in Miami, Florida in 1978. With an outlook that defies the familiar, Ian renounces the regularly scheduled program. He has always been a weirdo. During his years at Florida State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Studio Art in 2002, he was introduced to metalwork. Given the freedom to explore the possibilities of the medium, Ian found fulfillment working with his hands.

In 2010, after a brief venture into the digital arts, he returned to sculpture. Joining the program at San Diego State University, Ian gained unlimited access to the sculpture lab where he worked as a technician. It was there that he began to fine-tune the style and techniques that have made his work what it is today. Returning to his hometown, Ian set up shop at Studio #1 in the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood. Committed to creating, he works full time in his practice to expand his portfolio, while searching for opportunities to increase the reach of his work.

You can find Fichman and his series of uniquely assembled, one-of-a-kind art pieces at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Studios #1 & #12 located in the Wynwood Arts District at 561 NW 32nd Street in Miami, Florida 33127. www.ianfichman.com

Bakehouse Complex 2nd Friday Open Studios

Join us on Friday, May 12th from 7-10pm when Second Friday Open Studios returns to the Bakehouse Art Complex. Experience the opening reception of The Multiple Shapes of Air in the Swenson Gallery and the Annual Countywide Student Art Show in the Audrey Love Gallery. 

The summer is just heating up as the academic year draws to a close and summer plans take shape, BAC’s Portfolio Development program is an excellent opportunity to enrich art education and artistic practice for Middle and High School students seeking admission to arts charter schools. 

Bakehouse also announces The Rocking Chair Sessions, a podcast initiative conceived and produced by Maria-Therese Barbist ans Elysa Batysta, the BABA Collective, in Studio 9U at the Bakehouse. And don’t miss The Miami Plein Air Society, who are often painting on the beautiful Vizcaya premises and other inspiring locations in our Magic City.

The Bakehouse Art Complex is open to the public from 12-5pm, 7 days a week with free parking. Please stop by and get inspired!

See Event Listing for more details: http://www.themiamiartscene.com/event/bakehouse-complex-2nd-friday-open-studios/