By Dana Kleinman and Ruth Avra
Pompano Beach Arts is proud to present the new exhibition Boil Notice by Dana Kleinman in collaboration with her sister Ruth Avra, artistically known as KX2. Informed by the environmental conditions of Southern Florida, this installation focuses on the rising water levels due to climate change, a lack of access to potable water, and industrial waste pollution.
This installation artistically reflects data related to boil water notices issued across Broward County during 2022. The artwork integrates repurposed fixtures to draw the viewer’s attention to residential and industrial pollution, and its impact on our natural water ecology. The opening reception and artist talk takes place on April 14, 2023, at 6 p.m. and the exhibition runs through July 3, 2023, at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. For more information, www.pompanobeacharts.org
“This fascinating and thought-provoking exhibition integrates repurposed fixtures to draw the viewer’s attention to residential and industrial pollution, and its impact on our natural water ecology,” said Ty Tabing, Cultural Affairs Director. “The artwork shines a light on an important, and troubling, facet of life in today’s South Florida.”
To visually document this situation, Avra and Kleinman created a wall installation of 365 recycled water spigots and taps sourced from local salvage sites and plumbers, hung in a grid arrangement. Each spigot exudes either a clear eco-resin as a representation of safe drinking water or is clogged with concrete and debris collected from neighborhood construction sites. Highly evocative, the exhibition reveals the fragile vulnerability of public infrastructure which is often taken for granted.
Enhancing the visual experience of this exhibition will be a soundscape created by Dave Rosenthal, who has been capturing sounds from flooding, storm drains, and water systems from around the county.
The exhibition also contains a large installation from the artist’s ongoing Obstruction series, which aims to raise an awareness of the dependence on the vast and hidden networks of utility pipes of our modern world. While this infrastructure is necessary for modern societies, it also comes at a significant environmental cost that can cause conflicts between neighborhoods via natural disasters and human pollution. Drainage pipes clogged with plastic bags, industrial sludge and human debris are common sites within Broward County. Environmental agencies struggle to maintain these networks and those responsible are left unaccountable.
Artwork in this exhibition is made possible with support from the Broward Cultural Division
Support has been provided by the following Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: Helen and Frank Stoykov Charitable Endowment Fund, Louise and Rudi Dill Charitable Fund, Mary, and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund
Additional thanks to Connor Plumbing, Pompano Beach American Scrap Metal, Fort Lauderdale KX2 is a collaboration combining the strengths of artists Avra and Kleinman, who create mathematically inspired sculpture, merging metal and painting. From a distance the work is bold and geometric, but up close, the viewer is engaged by textural hand-sanded metal and multi-layered paintings. In their most recent work, themes related to environmental issues are presented with the hope of raising awareness of the fragility of our natural ecosystems.
Pompano Beach Cultural Center is located at 50 West Atlantic Boulevard, Pompano Beach.
New Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Friday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Saturday: 10 a.m. 4 p.m. & Sundays: CLOSED. Open during performance. The exhibitions are free and open to the public.
About the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department
The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department is to provide cultural programming that includes visual arts, digital media, music, film, theater, dance and public art for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors to Pompano Beach, Broward County, and the greater South Florida area. The department programs and manages the City’s premiere cultural arts venues, including the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Ali Cultural Arts Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, and the Blanche Ely House Museum. The department also oversees the City’s Public Art Program and the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town grant awarded to the Pompano Beach Crossroads pl
