"Beam of the sun! O thou that seest afar, what wilt thou be devising? O mother of mine eyes! O star supreme, reft from us in the daytime! Why hast thou perplexed the power of man and the way of wisdom, by rushing forth on a darksome track? Art thou bringing on us some new and strange disaster? Yet, by Zeus, I implore thee, thou swift driver divine of steeds! Do thou, O queen! Change this world-wide portent into some painless blessing for Thebes. Is it because, in thine anger at the presumptuous sons of mortals, thou art unwilling utterly to blot out the pure light of life? But art thou bringing a sign of some war, or wasting of produce, or an unspeakable violent snow-storm, or fatal faction, or again, some overflowing of the sea on the plain, or frost to blind the earth, or heat of the south-wind streaming with raging rain? Or wilt thou, by deluging the land, cause the race of men to begin anew? I in no wise lament whate’er I shall suffer with all the rest."
- Pindar, Paean 9, Greek Lyric 5th BC

M21--The Museum of 21st Century Art and The Scope Foundation proudly inaugurate their first exhibition, Helios Oceanus.  Featuring award-winning multi-channel video artworks of Janet Biggs, Andrea Juan, and Christina McPhee at the Gansevoort South, located at 2399 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. There will be complimentary valet and entrance on 24th street.  The reception will take place on Wednesday, December 6, 2006, and will be open through December 10th.

Curator Lee Wells will feature environmental video installations, which are explorations of the aesthetics of the sublime.   Through both self-analysis and scientific investigation, these artists try to understand the ever-changing physical as well as psychological terrain.  Metaphorical, psychological or physical association with the natural world not only gives insight to its secrets, but a certain familiarity negates feelings of estrangement and disconnect with such independent cycles as the tides and the rising sun.
 
For example, Biggs pairs an underwater dancer with a galloping thoroughbred on a treadmill, drawing immediate parallels between the relationship of power and control between man and animal. Scientific veracity of such connections is tangential—emotional and visual correlations underscore inherent metaphysical congruencies. The other two videos emphasize the intrinsic and fundamental connection between man and nature: Juan’s video documents the consequences of climate changes in Antarctica while McPhee's video meditates on a small California beach community overcoming the emotional trauma of a devastating mudslide.
 
Helios Oceanus comments upon the socio-environmental condition of man on Earth in the 21st century. In the ever-changing landscape and the uncontrollable consequences of nature’s raw power, our actions or lack thereof will have a lasting impact on the world around us.

Janet Biggs - Courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery
Andrea Juan - Courtesy of Praxis International
Christina McPhee - Courtesy of Sara Tecchia Gallery

Helios Oceanus has been made possible by the generous support of Prodigy International Development, Gansevoort South, The Scope Foundation, PerpetualArtMachine.com, IFAC-arts, Swank AV, Ketel One Vodka, Voss Water and Banville & Jones Wine Merchants. Special thanks to Lilaj Segal, Alexis Hubshman, Maria João Salema, A.Felix Pike, Helen Brown, Sadie Weiss and everyone else that made this project possible.

For more information contact info@m21-art.org
or call Lee Wells at 917 723 2524.