Previous: Seen With True Vision (2)
Meanwhile, in Miami
Post #1477 • December 20, 2011, 8:12 AM • 5 Comments
Photographs from Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida, where my mother conducts walking tours. (She came to my tour. It was only fair that I go on hers.) December 2, 2011.
![[Image: Fairchild Amphitheater.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/amphitheater.jpg)
Fairchild Amphitheater.
![[Image: Rainbow Eucalyptus.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/bark.jpg)
Rainbow Eucalyptus.
![[Image: Bromeliad.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/bromeliad.jpg)
Bromeliad.
![[Image: This was some delicious-smelling thing whose name I've forgotten.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/plant.jpg)
This was some delicious-smelling thing whose name I've forgotten.
![[Image: Bromeliad Garden.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/bromeliads.jpg)
Bromeliad Garden.
![[Image: Butterfly Garden.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/butterfly_garden.jpg)
Butterfly Garden.
![[Image: Customer at the Butterfly Garden.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/butterfly.jpg)
Customer at the Butterfly Garden.
![[Image: Cactus and Succulent Garden.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/cacti.jpg)
Cactus and Succulent Garden.
![[Image: Hey, this is Miami. We don't judge.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/giddyup.jpg)
Hey, this is Miami. We don't judge.
![[Image: Cycad.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/cycad1.jpg)
Cycad.
![[Image: These seed cones are about twenty inches long.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/cycad2.jpg)
These seed cones are about twenty inches long.
![[Image: Yoko Ono wishing tree.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/ono.jpg)
Yoko Ono wishing tree.
![[Image: Silver Bismark palm and bromeliads.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/palm.jpg)
Silver Bismark palm and bromeliads.
![[Image: Will Ryman sculpture.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/ryman1.jpg)
Will Ryman sculpture.
![[Image: Will Ryman, Icon, 2011, fiberglass, stainless steel, marine paint, main piece 30 x 12 feet, other elements dimensions variable, appears at Fairchild Garden courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/ryman2.jpg)
Will Ryman, Icon, 2011, fiberglass, stainless steel, marine paint, main piece 30 x 12 feet, other elements dimensions variable, appears at Fairchild Garden courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery.
![[Image: Detail.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/ryman3.jpg)
Detail.
![[Image: Detail with view of petals in pond.]](http://www.artblog.net/static/posts/2011/12/fairchild/ryman4.jpg)
Detail with view of petals in pond.
2.
December 21, 2011, 7:35 PM
This has been a huge problem for every artist I've ever seen installed at Fairchild. It was the same story with Dale Chihuly. Nature just upstages the hell out of you. The Ryman roses installed on Park Avenue earlier this year worked a lot better, in my opinion.
3.
December 21, 2011, 8:58 PM
I think Ryman's trouble here, too, is that he's not only trying to upstage nature in a great garden, he's trying to upstage flowers with his own flowers. Definitely a lost cause, unless you're in the middle of Manhattan. Maybe.
I imagine a really good sculptor could hold their own at Fairchild, but they'd have to be really good.
A good combination of nature and art can be found at Storm King Art Center. On a crisp clear day, up on the mountain, with a brisk wind, the monumental sculptures of guys like Calder look their best.
4.
January 2, 2012, 1:25 PM
Franklin, I hope you're doing well and survived all the holidays. I had heard you were in town during art week, but there was no possible way for me to have seen you unless we happened to bump into each other.
Anyway, the installing of art in a formal garden environment such as Fairchild is very difficult. Very few artists even work to create something appropriate for such an environment. I'm thinking Ian Hamilton Finley as one possible example where the artist has worked to integrate the work into the landscape.
I've been doing a self-designed residency in Anne Kolb Nature Center, but the interim director says no approvals are possible for me to work amongst the mangroves, a protected area. I did work in the mangrove estuary at Greynolds Parks, so something seems amiss.
Anyway, it would have been nice to see you. Hope to catch up again soon.
5.
January 2, 2012, 4:05 PM
The fairs are a great way to run into people, but a terrible way to meet up with them deliberately. Good luck with the residency and hope to catch up with you next time.
1.
Chris Rywalt
December 21, 2011, 6:34 PM
Will Ryman should henceforth title all his sculptures Not Nearly So Nice As Actual Plants.