Edouard Duval-Carrié celebrates Haiti’s artistic tradition with Miami Beach installation

Through the years, Haiti-born visual artist Edouard Duval-Carrié has found inspiration in the most unusual places.

There was the time he transformed a passing reference in a newspaper article about a sacred gourd from a calabash tree on a risky sea voyage from his native Haiti to the shores of Florida into a painting to tell the story of Haitian migration. And then there was his discovery of surviving portraits of some of Haiti’s first leaders that he used as muse for an ambitious exhibit, sculpted on mirrored plexiglass. So when the city of Miami Beach tapped Duval-Carrié to create an installation suspended on cables to help “Elevate Española Way,” and mark the opening of Miami Art Week, the artist went back in time — and to an image etched in his memory.

“It’s been 30 years,” he said, smiling in amazement even now. “But it came to my mind and I thought it would be cool if I made a silhouette on cables.” Duval-Carrié’s installation, called Trapeze Contortionists, is a tribute to the artistic culture of Haiti while also paying homage to iron cutters of Croix-des-Bouquets, once the center of Haiti’s metalwork movement. Now the hammering of the town’s metal workers has been replaced by the constant sound of automatic gunfire from dangerous gangs. “I’ve always loved this Haitian tradition,” Duval-Carrié said about metal artwork, which he emulated in his lightweight aluminum silhouettes. “I am Haitian and I have to show people what’s peculiar and what’s really interesting.” The Miami Herald is partnering with DailyChatter to connect you around the globe. On Monday, Miami Beach officials officially kicked off 20 years of Art Basel with Duval-Carrié’s installation now hanging on Española Way between 14th and 15th streets in Miami Beach. Installed on Thanksgiving Day, the artwork served as the centerpiece as city leaders touted the 30 different events they are sponsoring across the city along with various art installations. “We are extraordinarily proud to be the center of attention in the world,” City Manager Alina T. Hudak said. MIA_20221128_DUVALARTBASEL_ Artist Edouard Duval-Carrié’s installation is seen on Espanola Way in Miami Beach, Florida, on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Sydney Walsh swalsh@miamiherald.com Mayor Dan Gelber said unlike some of the other installments, Duval-Carrié’s Trapeze Contortionists has been done in partnership with private owners who allowed their newly painted buildings to be used as a canvas. “I love when extraordinary people come to our city and say, ‘I want to do something here that is evocative, that is interesting’; that people walk by and see something that they won’t see in any other place,” he said. “And the artist today has done that on Española Way here in Miami Beach.” Lissette Garcia Arrogante, director of the Miami Beach tourism and culture department, said the idea behind “Elevate Española Way” is twofold: To make the area a pedestrian walkway to and from Ocean Drive, and to bring contemporary art to one of the most visible areas of the city. The installation is expected to remain up for about three and a half months. “It’s very whimsical,” said Miami resident Richard Dyson, who was among several South Florida residents who stopped by for the unveiling that also featured a Bahamian Junkanoo band with stilt walkers. Dyson said he enjoyed the artwork so much that he wished there were more of them. “It catches the color, it looks great.” Tina Spiro, a local artist, said the fact that businesses painted both sides of the streets in yellow really helped elevate Duval-Carrié’s art. “Edouard is really among the world’s great artists,” she said. “If you know Haiti well, he really brings the whole spirit of it to Miami.” MIA_20221128_DUVALARTBASEL_ (2) Artist Edouard Duval-Carrie’s installation is seen on Espanola Way in Miami Beach, Florida on Monday, November 28, 2022. Sydney Walsh swalsh@miamiherald.com In addition to the installation on Española Way, Duval-Carrié’s work is also showing at the Coral Gables Museum, 285 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, through Jan. 29. The solo show features over 25 mixed-media engravings and one large-format sculpture by the artist that reference Haitian history and literature as well as it Vodou culture and religion. Said Duval-Carrié on Art Basel and Miami Art Week: “It’s like having all of the best galleries in the world converge in one place. Major galleries come, major collectors come, but most important major curators come.”