Collins Lefebvre Stoneberger

Art is not only my life’s work it has been both my passion and my fundamental interest since I was a child. I come from a family of painters. My work is inspired by literature, and particularly poetry. I am intrigued by metaphors, which expand the view of life (for example: flight and/or migration as transformation). I translate the ideas in my work into my own visual language. Because of my love of books, I document my working process in journals. These books are often shown with or become part of the work and, as such, have become part of a number of important book collections. Sometimes they are the crucible for a body of work. Being an artist in the 21st century means understanding cultural situations to produce work that is cohesive and united by a dominant conceptual system or approach. My personal interests and my investigation of means of expression are more important to me, than being bound to specific media or repeated images. My work is generally expressed in a sequence or in a series, which may include narrative, texts, themes, letters or numbers. I look to understand the static and the changing, i.e., movement and change in imagery as they imitate transformations in life. The multi-paneled paintings of various installations allow the viewer to interact and, therefore, extend the work beyond the studio. I innately understand space and scale, which has facilitated large-scale public art projects, which include texts, paintings, and sculptures. My sculpture is constructed, planar, assembled. What matters to me in art is to discover, to develop a discourse which may end up being parallel to the prevailing contemporary art dialogue. Curiosity is the generator of variety and change in my work.

PUBLIC ART: ART + ARCHITECTURE

My training as an architect has greatly influenced my approach to public art commissions. It provides me with an understanding of architectural interior and exterior space, urban scale, construction methods and processes. In an approach similar to the way I construct my books, a text may suggest the spatial structure for the whole piece. Text may also connect two- and three-dimensional painted panels with sculptural pieces. I respond to site-specific conditions – the site’s cardinal orientation, existing landscape features or views, communal local histories and motifs so that the resulting installations, either in my studio work or in the public art pieces, engage the viewer in multiple ways.

L’art est non seulement l’œuvre de ma vie, elle est à la fois ma passion et mon premier intérêt depuis que je suis une enfant. Je viens d’une famille de peintres. Mon travail s’inspire de la littérature et plus particulièrement de la poésie. Je suis intriguée par les métaphores, qui élargissent notre vision de la vie (par exemple : le vol et/ou la migration comme transformation). Je traduis les idées dans mon travail avec mon propre langage visuel. À cause de cet amour pour les livres, je documente mon processus de travail dans un journal personnel. Ces textes accompagnent souvent ou prennent part à l’œuvre et en conséquence font partie de plusieurs importantes collections de livres. Parfois ils sont le creuset qui sert à la création d’un ensemble. Être un artiste au 21ième siècle implique une compréhension des situations culturelles afin de produire un travail qui est à la fois intégrateur et uni par un thème de base. Mes intérêts personnels ainsi que mes moyens d’expressions me tiennent plus à cœur que le fait d’être lié à un style spécifique. Mon œuvre s’exprime généralement dans une séquence ou dans des séries qui peuvent inclure des narrations, des textes, des thèmes, des lettres, ou des nombres. Je cherche à comprendre le statique et le changeant, i.e. le mouvement et le changement dans l’image lorsqu’ils calquent les transformations de la vie. Les tableaux à panneaux multiples dans des environnements variés permettent au spectateur d’interagir et ainsi, d’étendre l’œuvre au-delà du studio. De façon innée, je comprends l’espace et son ordre de grandeur, ce qui a facilité des projets d’arts grand public, lesquels comprennent des textes, des tableaux et des sculptures. Ma sculpture est planifiée, construite et assemblée. En art, ce qui m’importe, c’est de développer un discours différent, parallèle au dialogue de l’art contemporain.

ART PUBLIC: ART + ARCHITECTURE

Face aux commandes d’art public, mes études en architecture ont grandement influencé ma réponse. Elles m’apportent une compréhension de l’espace architectural intérieur et extérieur, de l’échelle urbaine, des méthodes ainsi que du processus de construction. Avec une approche similaire à celle que j’utilise pour la composition de mes livres, un texte peut suggérer la structure spatiale et ce pour l’œuvre entière. Le texte peut aussi mettre en lien deux –et trois- panneaux dimensionnels peints, avec des pièces sculpturales. Je réagis à l’emplacement- conditions spécifiques – l’orientation du site, les caractéristiques ou les vues existantes du paysage, l’histoire locale et la structure de la communauté, afin que les installations résultantes, tant en studio qu’en art public, touche le spectateur à plusieurs niveau.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS / EXPOSITIONS INDIVIDUELLES

2008	Lydia Rubio, recent works. Kunsthaus Miami, Espacio de Arte Contemporaneo. Miami, FL
2003	Arco Invisible. The Americas Collection, Coral Gables, FL, USA Bass Museum of Art Lydia Harrison Café, Miami Beach, FL, USA
2002	Coral Gables Public Library, Coral Gables, FL, USA
2001	Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Project Room. Miami, FL, USA
1998	In an Image. Miami Dade Cultural Resource Center, Miami, FL, USA Fragments of the Sea. Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, FL, USA Alphabet of Invisible Islands. Bridgewater Lustberg, New York, NY, USA
1996	Written on Water. Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1995	Written on Water. Gutierrez Fine Arts, Miami Beach, FL, USA
1994	Connected Fragments. William R. Frizzel Center,Ft. Myers, FL, USA
1993	Under Paintings by the Inch. M.Gutierrez Fine Arts, Miami Beach, FL, USA
1992	Reflections on the Nuevo Mondo. INTAR Latin American Gallery, New York, NY, USA Recent Work. Corinne Timsit Gallery, San Juan, PR
1991	Personal Landscapes. Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
1989	New Paintings. Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
1987	Paintings and Drawings. Sterling Signatures Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
1985	Islands: A Still Life Series. Bronx Museum of the Arts,Bronx,NY, USA
1982	Beasts and Landscape. Harvard University, Dept. of Romance Languages, Cambridge, MA, USA
1981	Beasts and Landscape. Harvard University, Dept. of Romance Languages, Cambridge, MA, USA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS / EXPOSITIONS COLLECTIVES

2006	Unbroken Ties, Dialogues in Cuban Art, Museum of Latin America, Long Beach, CA
2003	Spatial Identity,Saladrigas Gallery, Belen School, Miami, FL No Home Show,Eugenia Vargas Studio, North Miami, FL
2002	Women at the Verge, University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL No Show, Fred Snitzer Gallery, Coral Gables, FL Alphabet Show, Miami Dade Main Library, Miami, FL
2001	Breaking Barriers,Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale;, Naples Museum of Art, FL
2000	Hidden Images : Works on Paper by Contemporary Cuban Artists, Lehigh University Art Galleries, PA Primera Bienal des Grabado Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires, Argentina Departing Perspectives (curated by Fred Snitzer), Espirito Santo Bank, Miami, FL Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, FL, City of Orlando, Terrace Gallery, Arts Center Galleries, OWCC, Okaloosa, FL, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
1999	La Isla, José Alonso Fine Arts, Miami, FL Breaking Barriers, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, IN Bound and Unbound, Baum Gallery of Fine Art, University of Central Arkansas, IN
1998	Breaking Barriers: Contemporary Cuban Collection, Tampa Museum od Art, Tampa, FL
1997	Breaking Barriers: Contemporary Cuban Collection, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, FL Shrines: The Sacred and Secular in Contemporary Southern Art, ArtWalk at Lennox Square, Atlanta, GA Latin American Artists, East Tennessee State University, TN A Big Show of Small Works, Bridgewater Lustberg Gallery, NY Seattle Art Fair, PDX Gallery, Portland, OR
1996	The Boat, Object and Metaphor, Pratt Manhattan Gallery and Schafler Gallery, NYC

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

	Bryn Mawr College Library, Bryn Mawr, PA
	City of Orlando, FL
	FIU Frost Museum of Art, Miami , FL
	Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places, FL
	Miami-Dade Main Library, Miami FL
	Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
	Miami Dade Community College, FL
	Museo Nacional del Grabado, Buenos Aires, Argentina
	Oscar B. Cintas Collection, Florida International University, FL
	Sackner Archive of Concrete Poetry, Miami, FL
	University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA
	Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, Miami Beach, Fl
	Zollner Center, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Philadelphia, PA

EDUCATION

1974	Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA. Master of Architecture
1969	Università degli Studi, Florence, Italy. Design Studies
1969	University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Bachelor of Architecture