Meet Kevin Arrow

Kevin Arrow is an amazing artist that is the subject of this week's interview. I find Kevin's artwork to be deliciously succulent and thought provoking.

I feel very fortunate to know Kevin personally and I think you will find his influences to be worthy of your own investigation. Some of the most magical moments I have had in a museum have been with Kevin. On more than few occasions, he has taken me for his own personal tours of exhibitions and provided the kind of commentary about the installations that sparkle with electricity. I think you too will find that his brilliance, kind-heartedness and wit shines intensely bright.

Kevin's work is now featured in the NEW WORK exhibition at the Miami Art Museum (MAM) through October 17, 2010.

Kevin Arrow, b. 1962, Mineola, New York (FYI The same town as Lenny Bruce).

He lives and works in Miami Beach, Florida.

"My work takes on various forms including, drawing, painting, and film based projects. These practices merge my interest in obsolete media, archival tendencies, the ephemeral object and humor. I’m continually seeking to find the sublime within the mundane, and the mundane within the sublime experience, in addition to investigating the interchangeability of both."

"In the projected works and drawings there is no specific meaning or narrative. The images are organized in a loose poetic manner creating an impression of visual flux that allows the viewer to free associate."

1. Have you met and engaged in performance art with Yoko Ono?

Yoko Ono had a full retrospective called YES organized by the Japan Society in New York. It traveled to MOCA, Miami where I have worked for twelve years in 2002.

Yoko arrived unannounced at the museum on the evening which we were completing the installation. There were just a few art installers and myself working late. Yoko Ono and her archivist/assistant knocked on the museum door and asked if they could enter the gallery for a sneak peak at our installation of her work. She was gracious and delighted by our attention to detail.

Yoko had her archivist take group photographs of herself with the workers and myself. In day after the opening Yoko was scheduled to give a standard artist talk, but she was so happy with our installation of her work that she gave Miami a full Yoko Ono performance; singing, talking, slides, noise, a yoga demonstration and the famous Bag Piece. Everyone was in awe!

I was asked before the event to participate along with Jon Hendricks (Fluxus scholar and Curator) in the Question & Answer performance portion of the evening. We both sat on stage with Balls of Yarn, (Me, Yellow and Jon Blue) two Jars and a pair of scissors each. I measured questions in lengths of yarn and Jon measured Answers. It was a very absurd Fluxus interpretation of events as they unfolded.The two Jars, Yarn and scissors remain as a Fluxus object in the museum's study collection.

2. Who is an artist that more people should be aware of?

Harry Smith

3. What book have you most referenced in the last three months?

GULAG a history by Ann Applebaum.
Nearly 700 pages of misery that make my daily work weeks seem like a holiday vacation paradise ice cream sundae.

4. What is it that people probably don't know about working in a museum?

We have a great deal of fun behind the scenes. Working in a contemporary art museum as an Exhibition Coordinator and Registrar is often times challenging, and beyond ridiculous.

I recently had to assist the Paris based collective artist Claire Fontaine with their rigorous, conceptual and political projects. For one specific project called Pill Spills they asked me to help import a large quantity of bootleg Viagra and Prozac from Mexico. When I learned about this project I immediately knew that it would be very, very difficult if, not impossible to make happen. Yes, the Viagra and Prozac were being made out of sugar by a legitimate candy factory in Mexico City, but the United States Food and Drug Administration is not exactly sympathetic to artist's creative endeavors.There were way too many regulations preventing this project from entering the country.

The project was aborted and was replaced by another project called Dildo Washer. An IKEA dishwasher loaded with very expensive black latex Dildos, Claire Fontaine says it's a statement about Feminism and Domesticity. I call it another day at work.

5. What is dominating or most influencing your current paradigm when you create your art?

It has always been all about the element of chance and the affinities I have for found objects.