By Jane Hart, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood 

The Art and Culture Center of Hollywood was excited to kick off its “Hot Topics” discussion series, with Shamim M. Momin on Saturday September 17^th. Over one hundred and fifty attendees from as far as Key West to Palm Beach County came to the Center for a meet and greet reception followed by a visual presentation and Q&A session with Momin, internationally recognized contemporary art curator and co-founder of Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). Hot Topics Discussion Series is funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge.

In her talk, Momin presented images of her 2010 project ” the island “– a special project she organized and curated on Miami’s Flagler Memorial Island that took place during the week of Art Basel Miami Beach in 2010 to much acclaim.  She invited 18 international artists including Miami’s own Adler Guerrier, Michael Genovese, Luis Guispert and Naomi Fisher as well as art luminary Jack Pierson and others to create site-specific works done in a variety of media including live performance, on the island.  Momin spoke of her desire to bring people to spaces that they might not ordinarily visit and concepts of how art merges with our day to day experiences.  Momin also discussed aspects of collaboration, logistical challenges, funding for public projects and details for some of her proposed forthcoming projects internationally.

The next “Hot Topics” talk will be a presentation by one of the preeminent critics and curators of the medium of photography– art historian Marvin Heiferman. His event will take place from 4 – 6pm on Saturday October 29^th at the Center. The first hour will be a reception to meet the speaker followed by an hour long talk and Q&A— Heiferman is visiting, to speak in conjunction with the Center’s exhibition “Artist Unknown/The Free World”, an extensive selection of vernacular photography organized by artists John D. Monteith and Oliver Wasow, all of the thousands of images in the exhibit have been culled from the internet.

The Center in collaboration with Gean Moreno’s [NAME] Publications, is producing a 260 full color, hard bound book to accompany this exhibition. With hundreds of images selected by the artists, the book will include texts by Heiferman and internationally recognized art critic Jerry Saltz as well as those written by the Center’s curator of exhibitions Jane Hart, John D. Monteith and Oliver Wasow..

Funding for “Artist Unknown/The Free World” is provided in part by a grant from Funding Arts Broward – through its FAB! Knight New Work Award. The publication of the book accompanying the exhibition is also funded in part by Lou Anne and Mike Colodny.

Marvin Heiferman develops exhibitions, web-based projects and publications that explore the power of photographic images in visual culture. He has curated major projects, including John Waters: Change of Life (New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2004), at such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Whitney Museum of American Art. He has authored numerous books, and contributed to publications such as Art in America, ARTFORUM, and BOMB.

For more information or to purchase tickets in advance please contact the Art and Culture Center at http://artandculturecenter.org/hot-topics or call 954-921-3274.