Clyde Butcher photo exhibit focuses on wild mountains of Cuba

Clyde Butcher photo exhibit focuses on wild mountains of Cuba

By Candice Russell
Special Correspondent

October 18, 2005

In the presence of photographer Clyde Butcher's dramatic black-and-white
landscapes, the frequent comparisons to Ansel Adams seem apt. Fond of
exploring the Everglades and other wild corners of the world, Butcher
turns his attention to another place so near and yet so far in a current
exhibition on view through Nov. 19 at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.
"Cuba: The Natural Beauty" features images captured during his trips to
the island in 2002 and 2003. Butcher was invited to shoot in Cuba by the
United Nations Development Program, which is interested in mountain
conservation.

Visiting remote areas, he went to the waterfalls of Sierra de San Juan
and the Sierra Maestra Mountains in Cuba's eastern province of Granma,
among other places. The results are limited-edition prints of places
most Cubans have probably never seen in person.

Also on exhibit is "Steckley: From the Ground up," featuring the
hand-crafted wood furniture of Matt Steckley, who prefers to use trees
that are no longer standing due to car accidents and natural occurrences
such as lightning. Steckley will lecture about creating furniture from
found wood in South Florida and the inspirations for his designs at 3:30
p.m. on Saturday at the museum. His pieces are on display through Nov.
19. Call 954-340-5000 or visit the Web site csmart.org.

Art in Plantation: Fall is festival season, the time for outdoor art
shows under a less-than-blazing sun. The 39th annual Art in the Park,
sponsored by the Plantation Junior Woman's Club, will take place from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the city's Liberty Tree Park. This
juried art show includes 130 artists representing 11 art categories.
Unlike the Las Olas Art Festival and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in
the winter, the Plantation event is neither too big nor too crowded.
It's just right, with a heady combo of paintings, sculptures, ceramics
and mixed media works. There is also live entertainment including
performances by the Swing Blue Revue, the Plantation High School Jazz
Band, the Sunshine Chordsmen and others. Call 954-797-9762 or visit the
Web site plantationjuniorwomansclub.org.

Contemporary art: Broward's home of cutting-edge, contemporary art is
the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. In its current exhibition
"Reduced," on view through Nov. 6, three South Florida artists address
conceptual ideas. Painter Frances Trombly gives importance to things
overlooked or neglected, Tom Scicluna deals with minimalism in a
site-specific installation inspired by the Center's history and Frank
Wick, a winner of the 2003 South Florida Cultural Consortium grant, uses
bacon grease to have fun with Darwinian issues such as survival of the
fittest. Rounding out the show is John Baldessari, whose 1971 video I Am
Making Art mocks his contemporaries who used their own bodies as art
media. Call 954-921-3274 or visit artandculturecenter.org.

Candice Russell is a freelance writer in Plantation.

Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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