Artist/Designer Ernesto Oroza Re-Maps Vizcaya as part of Contemporary Arts Project

Ernesto Oroza’s Archetype Vizcaya marks the highly anticipated return of the Contemporary Arts Project to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.


The Contemporary Arts Project (CAP) is a commission program that invites artists to develop site-specific projects inspired by Vizcaya, a historic house museum and National Historic Landmark located in Miami, Florida. Archetype Vizcaya will be on view beginning March 4 at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.


Through Archetype Vizcaya, Oroza creates a visitor map that focuses on things not usually visible at Vizcaya. In so doing, the artist virtually reorganizes the objects and spaces of the Museum. This map will be provided to visitors to serve as a new tool for exploring the Main House and its collections. Oroza’s installation will further explore how the Museum is appropriated by others through his compilation of amateur videos taken at Vizcaya.

Art by Ernesto Oroza

Ernesto Oroza is an interdisciplinary artist whose work focuses on conceptual design and architecture. The notion of archetype is central to Oroza’s investigation of material culture and brings to the surface issues of cultural hybridization, adaptation and reinvention. A native of Cuba and a Miami resident, Oroza received a Cintas Fellowship in 2008 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007. His work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and cultural spaces nationally and internationally.


The Contemporary Arts Project (CAP) reinvigorates Vizcaya with the creative dialogue that characterized the estate’s foundation, engaging artists whose practice establishes a discourse or critique with the physical and cultural contexts of the place. In addition to Ernesto Oroza’s project, Vizcaya has commissioned site-specific work from Naomi Fisher, Francesco Simeti and Josiah McElheny throughout 2011 and 2012.


Built by businessman James Deering in 1916, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, a National Historic Landmark, features a Main House, 10 acres of formal gardens, a hardwood hammock, and soon-to-be-restored historic village that will provide additional venues for programs and community outreach. Located at 3251 South Miami Avenue, Vizcaya is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Tuesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.


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