Sense of Place

January 11th – February 25th, 2019

Sense of Place is an Exhibition of two artists, Carmen Smith and Robert Fehre, whose work explores landscape, architecture, & nature and the attachment to these subjects. Through Photography and Painting, the body of work showcases the lines, shapes, colors, and simplicity of places. With these places highlighted, the subject can become important and trigger a sense of nostalgia, or remain anonymous.

Robert Fehre

Ever since visiting the New Jersey Shore as a child, Fehre was always intrigued by the colors and warm weather the summer had presented. This infatuation only grew as he traveled to coastlines in South Florida and Southern California. The tropical landscape and sharp architectural designs have resonated with him as a place of excitement and happiness.

Ongoing photographic series “Coastal Colors” captures this strong visual language Fehre has always been drawn to.

Robert Fehre was born in New Jersey. He studied at the Ringling School of Art & Design, from 2011-2015. He began photographing and drawing as a teenager, later developing a sharpened eye for the elegance in design and nature found in South Florida. Robert Fehre is currently the Artist in Residence at the Dreyfoos School of Arts in West Palm Beach, teaching photography and fine art courses.

Carmen Smith

Minimally executed and inspired by architectural drafting techniques, her paintings explore the emotional and intellectual attachments we make to place. She is interested in capturing how places influence our experiences, inform our memories, and can even become part of our identity. Central to her practice is engagement with the urban landscape and observation of the architecture, colors, light, nature, history and community in her own neighborhood and home area of South Florida.

Carmen Smith is an emerging artist based in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. Originally from St. Augustine, FL, Carmen studied Fine Art and Design at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Richmond, VA.  Before earning a BFA magna cum laude from VCU School of the Arts in 2005, Smith obtained a BA in Russian Studies and Biology from Randolph College (1999). She studied Russian Language and Culture at St. Petersburg State University in Russia (1998). She moved to Miami in 2008 and now lives in Hollywood, FL.

Carmen is currently an Associate Artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood (Miami). She has shown her work in numerous group shows across the US including Los Angeles, CA, Charlottesville, VA, Richmond, VA, and NYC. She presented 22 paintings from her series “High Noon” at Spectrum Miami in 2016 during Art Basel/Miami Art Week as an Emerging Artist, and in early 2017 exhibited one of the pieces from the same series in the Art and Culture Center/Hollywood’s 8th All-Media Juried Biennial. Carmen has exhibited in NYC during 2017 and 2018 Frieze Week with Superfine Art Fair, and is looking forward to future shows with the Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA, as well as the Willow Street Gallery in Washington, DC.

READ BOCA MAGAZINE’S FEATURED ARTICLE ON SENSE OF PLACE