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Arrhythmic Suite

Rob Goyanes

A painting on view at Valdivieso's exhibit. Courtesy of Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design.

At Miami Dade College’s Museum of Art and Design—which is housed in the iconic Freedom Tower—artist Odalis Valdivieso has a show of work titled Arrhythmic Suite. A series of about 70 paintings, photographs, and photocopies, they hang along a linear, horizontal line around the room, and on some of the 9 rectangular pillars in the middle of it.

The trope of process is present: photocopied spirals of a photo’s blundering, the paintings inked by meticulous, repetitive brush stroke. The tones are mostly dark gradients, but bright in some places, with the majority of works looking Bauhausian in shape and texture, emphasizing leftward movement and floating geometria.

Arrhythmic it is and isn’t. Upon entering the gallery, the gesture of being surrounded by art is palpable; it’s a calm grid of images in a fancy room. However, while the works first appear to be hung in a straight line and with precision, some of them slowly reveal to be slightly mis-spaced, and hung somewhat crookedly.

This purposeful action is the most significant trace of the artist’s presence, and it is disorienting, but not dizzying—it draws you in, like a slow funnel of thought, though no central theme or subject is articulated by the time you’ve whirled out.