Dustin Orlando Scares up Cafeina Fright Fest with "Into the Void"

Skinner

In Cold Black Mountain

​Creative types and seasoned art collectors once thumbed their noses at Cafeina Lounge, deeming it unsuitable to hang shows. Tray-toting waiters and blaring DJs can make it hard to contemplate the work on exhibit.

Enter Wynwood pioneer Dustin Orlando, who has been invited to add gravitas to the hipster dive with the exhibit "Into the Void," opening 7 p.m. tonight and again during this weekend's Second Saturday culture crawl.

It's a spooky group show that explores the relationship between the subconscious and the occult. Orlando says the exhibit "materializes that area of perception easily infiltrated by the subversive and the supernatural." Sort of like the same feeling materializing after a few rounds of Café con Leche Martinis at the snazzy joint cum gallery space.

Skinner

Sounds and Skills, It Is Enough

​"For this show I want to present the viewer with a commentary about social abnormalities, myths, make believe, rituals, folklore and the like in the spirit of the Halloween holiday," Orlando explains.

Orlando returns to the 305 after his peripatetic wanderings in Hawaii and Texas to mainline Cafeina with a trademark injection of the gritty, outsider juice he's noted for trafficking in. Let's just state unequivocally, Cafeina has long been Jonesing for a hallucinatory dose of the mind-fucking work Orlando has a sweet tooth for.

Michael C. Hsiung

On the practice of astral projection, and the transfer of consciousness to a secondary, more fit body for recreational use

​The indie curator says artists in his show have "orchestrated a beautiful symphony of mysticism, chronicling everything from Norse mythology to heavy metal". Expect to see a variety of works in various mediums and styles Orlando says. "A heavy selection of the work will be bold, graphical and illustrative, but there will also be an even distribution of softer paintings and drawings that aren't so hard edged".

Leslie Martinez

Smuggler

​The show will feature original paintings, drawings by Michael C. Hsiung, a video piece by Julian Duron, a possible neon light sculpture, and a few screen printed works, as well as additional video pieces by Brinson Renda and Rocky Grimes in the gallery's courtyard area.

"There may also be a site specific installation and possible wall painting, but we'll see, just depends on time," Orlando says.

See "Into the Void" Cafeina Lounge (297 NW 23rd Street, Miami) through October 30. Call 305-438-0792 or visit neonforestgallery.com. The event is free to public.

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