Carlos Martiel in performance at Pinta Miami, 2015 // Image courtesy of Q. Dukes

ARTIST FEATURE & INTERVIEW WITH CARLOS MARTIEL

by Performance is Alive

This year performance art pervaded Miami Art Week 2015 (for better and for worse). Most notably at the non-traditional, multi-destination, Satellite Fair organized by Brian Wheatley and the curatorial project “Time Sensitive” curated by Jesús Fuenmayor at Pinta Miami. As you can imagine, the sheer density of events, shows and performances prohibited us (Alexandra Hammond + myself) from being able to view the full performance roster at either fair but we were determined to catch Carlos Martiel’s durational work at Pinta Miami. Martiel caught my attention last October for his durational performance, “Segregation” at Samson Projects (Boston) where he stood motionless between two layers of barbed wire. Upon entry, audience members were separated by country of origin and viewed the performance from opposing sides. Martiel notes on his website, “One of the entryways permitted the entrance of U.S. born whites and Europeans. The other, permitted the entrance of blacks, latinos, asians, and middle easterners, as well as any individual who was not European or U.S. born white. People were not allowed to mix for the duration.”

(more info here)