Miguel Rodez

Miguel Rodez (born November 12, 1956) is a Cuban born contemporary visual artist, curator, and former attorney who has resided in the United States since 1969. Artistically, Rodez is known for his textured luminescent paintings and his Minimalist-Dadaist sculptures. Among his most displayed works are Custom-made Paradise, his round portrait of Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí from Rodez's XX Century Masters series, and the sensual kinetic giant inflatable sculpture Lucky Link from his Imagine Liberation series. He has written several published articles on art, law, and community issues and has been an Editor in Chief for law magazines and publications.

Biography

Miguel Rodez was born in 1956 in the Casablanca area of Havana, Cuba as the first of four children, with one brother and two sisters. From the age of four, Rodez showed an early inclination toward the arts and was supported by his parents as he regularly spent hours drawing and painting. On the eve of Thanksgiving Day 1969 Rodez and his family relocated to New York City under the Freedom Flights refugee program. In New York City, Rodez sought to attend an art school and pursue a career as a visual artist and architect. He was subsequently accepted and briefly attended the High School of Art and Design in close proximity to the Museum of Modern Art. In Miami, Rodez graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1975 and weighed whether to pursue art or a legal career. He ultimately settled on a legal career, as this would not prevent him from creating art. He subsequently pursued several degrees in higher education, first enrolling at Miami-Dade Community College, where he obtained an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude in 1979. He then attended the University of Miami where he majored in history, with minors in English and Philosophy and graduated with honors in 1981. In 1994, Miguel Rodez and Alberto Bustamante co-founded Herencia Magazine for the Cuban Heritage Foundation. He also served as the editor, designer, and illustrator for CABA Briefs magazine for the Cuban American Bar Association. From 1994 to 2000, Rodez served on the board of trustees for Art in Public Places at Miami Dade County, where he was elected the Board's Chairperson in 1997. That same year Rodez also held a charity exhibition of his Imagine Liberation series in the Miami Design District to support the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America non-profit. Rodez's work can be found in the permanent collection of several fine art institutions and private collections including the Favalora Museum at St. Thomas University, Florida International University’s Green Library Special Collections and Honors College Collection, and the Flores Carbonel Collection. The University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection also holds records relating to Rodez’s career in its archives due to its significance to the Cuban community. As a Trust Board Member, Rodez helped oversee the program’s operation. Broward Art Guild’s “Food for Thought exhibit” (March 6, 2015); and Carlos Albizu University’s Art Fest @ Doral (November 7, 2014 and November 15, 2013).

Rodez has curated over 35 art exhibits, including exhibitions and presentations held at museums, cultural venues and a gallery space he managed at the Bird Road Art District from 2012 to 2018. He curated two exhibits – “Eight Visual Paths” (April 20, 2019) and “Reference Cited” (September 8, 2018) – at Florida International University’s Steven & Dorothea Green Library. There Rodez hosted several exhibits and gained the notice of Frommers Travel Guide for Miami that encouraged Miami travelers to visit his space in its 2014 edition. which commented on the exhibit. Some of the shows also drew reviews and coverage from ArtDistricts Magazine, Miami Art Guide, and leading Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald.

In November 2019, Latin American Art Magazine published a bilingual article authored by Miguel Rodez regarding the role of a curator. and a cultural festival honoring renown Cuban Master Amelia Peláez.

Legal career

In 1981 Miguel Rodez enrolled the Maurer School of Law, one of the oldest law schools in the United States and located at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus. There, Rodez obtained his Doctor of Jurisprudence 1985. During the years that he worked as an attorney, Rodez represented mostly elderly and underprivileged clients regarding a wide variety of legal matters.

Early in his legal career, Rodez became involved with the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA). Rodez was later elected to its Board of Directors by a majority of its over 700 members. In 1994, Rodez served as chair of the multi-ethnic outreach committee of the Transit 2020 Coalition advocating for the Miami Metro transit system. he ultimately lost that election to Leon Firtel. Following his electoral loss, Rodez continued to work at his Civil Service post with the CIS.

During his legal career Rodez was also a member of the Florida Bar's Long Range Planning Committee and in the mid-1990s served as a co-editor for The Dade County Bar Association's newspaper, the DCBA Bulletin. After 23 years, Rodez retired from his civil service position in 2018 and returned his focus exclusively to art.

Art analysis

Miguel Rodez is a multidisciplinary autodidactic visual artist. Over the course of his career, his artwork has been covered by The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, international tourist guide Frommers, Art Districts Magazine, Art Talk, and several art critics. Rodez works in various media including drawing, monotype, painting, installation, sculpture, and fine arts photography. The most notable feature consistent through much of Miguel Rodez's work is his use of texture, which is central to his defined artistic style. Rodez frequently works in series. His Twentieth Century Masters series is a collection of monumental round portraits depicting famous visual artists of the period. This includes portraits of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and famed fellow Cuban artist Wifredo Lam. The piece has been shown multiple times with Alejandro Mendoza's collective group exhibitions Giants in the City alongside other established Miami artists such as Yovani Bauta, Jose Bedia, Tomas Esson, Miguel Fleitas, and Frank Hyder.

Rodez's Forever Dalí is a surrealist installation consisting of four large-scale images of his portrait of Salvador Dalí strategically placed in a deep hallway. The installation conceptually provides Dalí with the eternity that Dalí sought, which was spotlighted by The Dalí Museum on its social media in 2016.

Selected solo exhibitions

10/03/2019 “Arte Orgullo, Master Portraits,” Pridelines Gallery, Miami Florida. 07/05/2019 “Emerging Harmonies” Miami Lakes Town Hall, Miami Lakes, Florida. 03/09/2019 “Painting Provocateurs,” St. Thomas University’s Sardiñas Gallery, Miami, Florida. 07/21/2017 “20th Century Masters” Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida. 07/28/2016 “An Evening with Miguel Rodez,” Steven & Dorothea Green Library, Florida International University, Miami Florida. 05/16/2015 “Visual Poetry Project,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 03/21/2015 “Spring forward,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 09/20/2014 “Power Portraits,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 05/17/2014 “Unveiling Joaquin,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 03/15/2014 “Imagine Liberation” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 12/15/2012 “Primal Connection,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 11/17/2012 “Imagine Liberation,” Bird Road Art District, Miami. 02/11/2012 “Imagine Liberation,” Majestic Properties, Miami Design District, Miami Florida. 05/06/2011 “Imagine Liberation,” Domingo Padron Gallery, Coral Gables Florida.

Selected collective exhibitions

08/21/2020 “Expressions of a Pandemic,” Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida. 02/15/2020 “Jane Harris Memorial Exhibit,” Harris Art Gallery, Miami Florida. 11/09/2019 “Passage to Memory” Caballero Rivero Woodlawn, Miami Florida. 10/25/2019 “Searching for Giants,” Ft. Lauderdale and multiple Broward locations, Florida. 06/27/2019 “Open Discourse,” Favalora Museum, St. Thomas University, Miami, Florida. 06/14/2019 “Resonate: A Polyphonic Prospect,” Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida. 04/26/2019 Artfields Art Fair, (A’Blooms) Lake City, South Carolina. 04/20/2019 “Eight Visual Paths,” Steven & Dorothea Green Library, Florida International University, Miami Florida. 02/13/2019 “Inspired By,” The Coral Springs Museum, Coral Springs, Florida. 12/07/2018 “Miami Art Week Exhibit,” Hernan Gamboa Gallery, Humboldt International University, Coral Gables, Florida. 11/02/2018 “New Horizon 2,” CFA Gallery, 2000 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables Florida. 10/05/2018 “New Horizon 1,” CFA Gallery, 2000 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables Florida. 09/28/2018 “La Mano Hispana,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 09/08/2018 “Reference Cited,” Steven & Dorothea Green Library, Florida International University, Miami Florida. 08/03/2018 “Teice Memorial Exhibit,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 06/02/2018 “Art at Aragon,” Aragon Clubhouse, Hialeah, Florida. 06/01/2018 “The Grand Illusion,” CFA Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida 04/06/2018 “Journey of an Artist,” CFA Gallery, Coral Gables Florida. 03/22/2018 Art at the Icon, Icon Brickell, Miami, Florida. 03/08/2018 “And Still I Rise,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 01/26/2018 “Jose Marti Exhibit,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah. 01/25/2018 “BRADICA,” Ignatius Center for the Arts, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Miami, Florida. 12/06/2017 Miami Art Week, Spectrum, Blink Group, Wynwood, Miami FL 11/30/2017 “What’s on your Palette,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah, Florida. 11/10/2017 “Dali & I,” MAC Fine Art, Jupiter, Florida. 10/27/2017 “Blue Tulip Rescue,” Sarrazino Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida. 10/06/2017 “La Mano Hispana,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah, Florida. 06/16/2017 “High Frequencies,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah, Florida. 04/27/2017 “Hialeah Park Art Collective,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah, Florida. 01/27/2017 “Jose Marti Art Exhibit,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 11/19/2016 “Drawing Exploration, Part II,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 11/07/2016 “Nest-Gen,” FIU, School of Engineering, Miami Florida. 10/15/2016 “Drawing Exploration, Part I,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 08/05/2016 “Black & White Exhibit,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 07/21/2016 “Afterlife of Color II,” Milander Arts Center, Hialeah, Florida. 04/21/2016 “Afterlife of Color I,” Milander Arts Center, Hialeah, Florida. 02/20/2016 “Hello Dali,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 01/16/2016 “Facing Dali,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 11/11/2015 “Badges of Courage,” MANO Fine Art, Miami, FL 33155 09/19/2015 “Drawing Excellence,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 03/27/2015 “At Home with Art,” Home Show, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida. 03/04/2015 “Purim Mask Exhibit,” Jewish Museum of Florida, Miami Beach, Florida. 11/16/2014 “Nest-Gen,” Frost Art Museum's Sculpture Garden, Florida International University, Miami, Florida. 05/31/2014 “I Shall Walk for You,” Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida. 05/21/2014 “I Shall Walk for You,” Bacardi Headquarters, Coral Gables, Florida. 02/15/2014 “The Kiss,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 01/25/2014 “Artists Applause,” McCormick Historic Building, Miami, Florida. 12/07/2013 “Ocean Drive Art Blast,” Welcome Center Building, Miami Beach, Florida. 11/16/2013 “Art Fest @Doral,” Carlos Albizu University, Doral, Florida. 11/16/2013 “BLOOM BLAST II,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 10/19/2013 “BLOOM BLAST I,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 10/05/2013 “Rodez & Gross Show, Barry Gross Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 10/04/2013 “La Mano Hispana,” Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah Florida. 09/21/2013 “Drawing Exploration,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 03/16/2013 “Sexual Currents,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 02/16/2013 “Passion Red,” Bird Road Art District, 4229 SW 75 Ave, Miami, Florida. 01/19/2013 “Face 2 Face,” Bird Road Art District, Miami, Florida. 09/15/2012 “Drawn from Within,” Bird Road Art District, Miami Florida. 03/01/2012 "Hoy Arte Hoy," Arte Americas, Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida. 03/10/2012 “Open Show,” The Art Link Gallery, Wynwood, Miami, Florida. 02/11/2012 “Imagine Liberation,” Majestic Properties, Design District, Miami Florida. 01/06/2012 “Art in the Breezeway,” Coral Gables Museum Plaza, Coral Gables, Florida. 12/05/2011 “Giants in the City,” Miami Art Week, Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida. 11/07/2011 “Sleepless Nights,” Catalina Hotel, Miami Beach, FL 33139 09/01/2011 “Artist Blend,” Sunset Fine Art, South Miami, Florida. 04/01/2011 “Oriental Focus,” Sunset Fine Art, South Miami, Florida. 03/18/2011 Art-Naples Contemporary Art Fair, Naples, Florida. 12/02/2010 Miami Independent Thinkers, Miami Art Week, Wynwood, Miami, Florida. 08/31/2010 International Art Fair [FIART], Palace of Fine Arts, Dominican Republic. 08/03/2010 “Giants in the City,” Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Miami Beach, Florida. 07/08/2010 “Wynwood Art Walk,” Kavachnina Gallery, Wynwood, Miami, Florida.