I’ve just returned from a delightful trip to the Nader Museum, which is tucked away in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District. The museum is currently showcasing its multimedia Botero Immersed exhibit. The sensational show is a visual and engaging passage into the work of artist Fernando Botero with music composed by Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan.

Gary Nader who is curator and director of the museum, defines the exhibit as “a remarkable cultural event and multimedia experience, and features Botero’s iconic body of work from the 1960s to the present day through 360-degree interactive digital projections, lights, music and sounds.”

What I personally love about Botero is that he’s Salvador Dali, Georgia O’Keefe, and Peter Paul Rubens rolled into a playful package. Even better, he’s still alive, and approves of this message. According to his granddaughter, who works at the museum, the 92-year-old Botero enjoys watching the technology demonstrating his work is a new way. He’s a virtuoso who understands how to connect with audiences across generations, ethnicities, and continents. Botero knows Diddley.

Nader Museum’s collection originates from Gary’s private collection, which he has amassed throughout his career as a gallerist. Among his collection are pieces from acclaimed masters of art, including Ponce de Leon, Rivera, Tamayo, and Zárraga.Through a permanent collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, installations, and other media, the museum’s audience can experience and appreciate what is considered one of the world’s most significant regions of today’s contemporary art scene.

The Nader Museum features more than 1,200 works of art that represent approximately 150 significant modern and contemporary masters. Its founder, Gary Nader, has been a staple of the Miami art scene for four decades. The nonprofit museum highlights work from Latin America and its diaspora. Through a permanent collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, installations, and other media, the museum’s audience understand one of the world’s most significant regions of today’s contemporary art scene.

Guests can see a variety of significant pieces representing Botero’s works over the past six decades, such as the circus personages, life in Latin America and its people, and adaptations of the work of art history masters. Botero’s narratives go beyond the represented object; a single image is full of nuances. It will take spectators to a vast and unique universe of experiences. His “baroque” exaggeration of the portrayed objects reminds me that his signature style represents an assortment of influences, from Renaissance masters to the 20th-century expressionist movements.

Fernando Botero was born in Medellin, Colombia in 1932. In 1950, he graduated from Medellin University. He studied in Spain and Italy before relocating to New York in 1960, where he won the Guggenheim National Prize for Colombia. Over the next few years, he began to develop his characteristic style. The small-town life he experienced as a child and the Colombian people of his youth would become his most rich source of inspiration. In 1973, Botero moved to Paris and began his sculpture period. Botero has attained global recognition for his paintings, drawings, and sculptures. His art is collected by international museums, corporations, and private collectors around the world.

Botero, with his immense sculptures, manipulates forms, proportions, volumes, and sizes to create smooth, round, and plump humans and animals that transform their surroundings and generate an immediate response from the viewer.

Botero said of his sculptures, “I never give particular traits to my figures. I don’t want them to have personality, but rather represent a type that I create. My sculptures do not carry any messages, social or otherwise. What matters for me is the form, the voluptuous surfaces, which emphasize the sensuality of my work. I like the enormous size; it is the fulfillment of my longing for voluptuous round forms.”

For more information about the Nader Museum and their Fernando Botero exhibit, visit namla.us.

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I don’t know if this is still being practiced today but Catholic priests are supposed to shave off a coin-sized area at the top of their heads. They do that as a sign of humility. Jewish men are supposed to were a kipa (?) for about the same reason. Hindus wear a turban. Arabs wear their veil. Most cultures have some instructions for men to cover their head but I think I know the real reason. The notion of covering heads is a conspiracy created by the balding elderly men. Can any of you relate to this?

Remember Alfalfa of the vintage TV show “Our Gang” who had the standing hair shaped like a pencil? That was me when I was a kid . I had a pesky cluster of hair at the back that always stood up. It was as if this “Hair Gang” was waving at people saying “hey! look at us! We’re way back here!”

Whenever my grandma would comb my hair, she would put an extra dab of pomade at the back to keep those guys behaved. Fast forward to the present and that spot where those rebels stood is now empty. It’s a ghost town. Nothing there but shiny skin. Yes my friends, I’m getting bald.

I wish I had paid attention to the hairy gang more. But how could I? They were all the way at the back. I never cared about them. I didn’t even know they were going away. I didn’t know I hurt their feelings. They left without  even saying goodbye.

My wife didn’t want me to be like some old men covering their bald spot with over-reaching hair from the neighboring “vicinity.” She said I should just do a buzz cut. So we marched down to the beauty shop and she said “cut them! … cut them all!”

My wife has good fashion sense so I let her have her way with my hair. I think I shed enough hair to fill up a pillow. .

I sat in resignation at the reality of being “follicle challenged.” I was surprised I even cared about how I looked. I never do. No more will my locks toss in the wind. No more will I part my hair. No more will I twirl it around with my fingers. This is yet another step to the ladder of Senior Living.

I was uncomfortable going to my business meeting with my stub of hair. I thought I would be the easy joke target in the room. But to my surprise no one said anything. Only one person noticed and gave me a compliment. I guess the bald life isn’t that bad after all. Anyway, hair or no hair … I’m still the same person. I still can function as before. I still have my self worth because this doesn’t change how God loves me.

To my fellow baldies out there, do you have any suggestions? Was it hard for you? You women, what do you think of bald men?

“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
— Luke:12:7

TGIF people!

My Wife Got Stung by a Bee

Contributed by Scott of Deerfield, New Hampshire

TGIF Videos

Grown man’s first injection
Sent by Tony of Southern CA

Didn’t your Mama tell you that big boys don’t cry? Pretty pathetic.

Watch Video

Hyper Realistic Sculpture
Sent by Art of Sierra Madre, CA

I never heard of this technology. I want to try this soon. Incredible. Eerie.

Watch Video

Parting Shot

Thanks to Scott of Deerfield, New Hampshire who shared this photo

Coming to an Olympic event near you:

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