The Cuban Duchamp ?

"Isn't it fascinating to realize that no image, no form, not even a shade or color, 'exists' on its own; that among everything that's visually observable we can refer only to relationships and to contrasts?"
Maurits Cornelius Escher (1898-1972), Dutch graphic artist.

2001 a Space Odyssey - the monolith

In 1968 Arthur C. Clark Sci-Fi writer inspired film-maker Stanley Kubrick.
As with the film, no words are necessary.

2009 a Miami Oddity - the weeping monolith
Bert Rodriguez asks the question, for whom does the monolith cry?

It cries for we the people.

1917 R. Mutt by Marcel Duchamp turned the art-world on it's DADA.

"In my day artists wanted to be outcasts, pariahs. Now they are all integrated into society."
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French-born American.

Ebony And Ivory 2009
rice pudding, chocolate fudge in toilets by Bert and Leyden Rodriguez.
Confections Charity Exhibition at O.H.W.O.W. Gallery. benefit the Daily Bread Food Bank.

1913 the ready-made is born.
Duchamp is fixated on the spinning wheel.



Live to Ride Another Day.
2008 Bert is fixated on cycling... then some dumb-ass Florida driver does a hit-n-run.


1950 The Female Fig Leaf. Duchamp cast a butt in bronze.

2008 My Most Memorable Feature.
I cast Bert's nose to be used in vintage wax casting souvenir machine.
Currently plugged in and ready at the Bass Museum.

Go to Wet Heat Project to view their video on Bert and other local luminaries.

2007 Advertising Works. and how!
Bert created an exhibition by renting all of the existing wall space at the Snitzer Gallery to any corporation that chose to advertise.

"Why do people think artists are special? It's just another job."
Andy Warhol.

2008 In Your own Image.
Bert asked 138 people to add hilarity to his flattering mug-shot.
The entire set is on view at the Bass Museum on Miami Beach.

2009 What a Tree Feels Like.
Bert at his best, buried naked from the neck down ( in sterilized soil).
Bert Rodriguez, Pop Dada Cubanstyle.

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Shed a Tear for Cyclists

Read it and weep.

Miami may be a bike-friendly town on paper, with a long overdue official recognition, but it is another case of Too Little Too Late.

My pal Bert, pro cyclist and conceptual artist extraordinaire, ended up at Jackson Memorial with severe injuries as a result of another one of the countless completely incapable hit-n-run motorist miami is known for.


Photo not related, but just as painful.

You see them, the one on the cellphone texting, or applying make-up, or rabid with road-rage. We got plenty of meter-maids, we got robocop radars, we got speed bumps, speed limits posted that begs the question, why not just walk? We got teflon highways and buildings just for cars, we got pornographic car advertising, we got nascar petrol running through our veins but we can't seem to get anything right when it comes to common sense solutions towards a sustainable lifestyle.


Bogus Bike Friendly. Spending tax dollars of feel-good advertising.

We got no respect for the growing demands of the cycling public. FDOT is particularly whak, city and county gov'ment is whak, big-foot bone-head drivers are whak, rip-off bike shops are whak, bike thieves are whak, and what do we get? we get whaked. This sucks the big one. Can you tell I'm pissed?


I should have done the entire face.
Bert, in happier days getting his beautiful nose cast for posterity.

My sympathy goes out to the growing scores of young cyclists eager to get around on something other than the money pit that is an automobile. My concern today is for the well being of Bert Rodriguez.


Weeping Virgin.


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