Florida Grand Opera Announces Humherto Benitez Exhibit To Accompany BEFORE THE NIGHT FALLS, 3/18

Florida Grand Opera's (FGO) production of Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls, which opens on March 18, will offer not only a feast for the ear but one for the eye. FGO's production features visual projections by the brilliant designer Peter Nigrini, whose Broadway credits include Here Lies Love, 9 to 5, An Act of God, and the current, critically acclaimed mega-hit Dear Evan Hansen.

There's another visual treat in store for those who attend Before Night Falls. At each performance of the opera (March 18-25), the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, in collaboration with Florida Grand Opera, hosts an exhibition of the renowned Cuban painter Humberto Benitez.

Born in Havana in 1960, Benitez spent his early years in the small town of Guanajay. Although he came to the U.S. at the age of eleven, he has always experimented by blending color with the red clay soil of Guanajay. Many of his works hearken back to the "tierra mia" of Cuba; his style ranges from soft pastels to brilliant acrylics. His paintings explode with erotic and exotic energy; one of his most celebrated works, "Casa Fiesta," is nicknamed "One Hell of a Party" and stands thirteen feet tall and fourteen feet long.

Movement plays a central role in Benitez's paintings. "My inspiration is my homeland and my love for music," he has said. "I want the viewers to envelop themselves in movement; to allow the dances and celebrations on my canvas to play a whirlwind upon the mind."

The exhibition of Benitez's paintings will continue in FGO's private Opera Lounge at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County through the run of Before Night Falls.