Exhibition: Nicole Antebi, Rebel Waters / Aguas Rebeldes

The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) and Flagler College present “Rebel Waters / Aguas Rebeldes,” an exhibition featuring work by moving image artist Nicole Antebi. The exhibition will be on view from Aug. 31 to Nov. 7 at CEAM, located at 48 Sevilla St. in historic downtown St. Augustine. The public is invited to attend an opening reception on Friday, Sept. 4, from 5-8 p.m., as part of First Friday Art Walk, with an exhibition walkthrough led by the artist at 6 p.m. The artist will join Dr. Jennifer Saracino, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Arizona, in conversation on Monday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. in the Virginia Room, located in the Ringhaver Student Center at 50 Sevilla St. Both events are free and open to the public.

Nicole Antebi grew up in the El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico regions, and her work focuses on the history of these landscapes, specifically the once-meandering Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and the Santa Cruz River. She employs sculpture and animation to tell the story of the region and the environmental, social, political, and economic pressures that have afflicted this landscape for over a century. Antebi moves fluidly between mediums, reusing materials such as found cottonwood from the lush areas surrounding the Santa Cruz River in the San Rafael Valley, Arizona, and papel de amate, Jonote bark paper from Northern Puebla, Mexico, as well as motifs such as text and mapping in both her time-based and sculptural works. Her visually compelling animations help viewers consider our relationship to past cultures that extend into the present, memory, and the places we call home.

Antebi’s work has been exhibited and screened at film festivals across the United States and abroad, including the Houston Center for Photography, Union Docs in Brooklyn, NY, Irish National College of Art and Design, Museo de Arts de Ciudad Juárez, El Paso Museum of Art, AM Docs Film Festival in Palm Springs, CA, MexiCali Biennial, and Tucson Museum of Art. In 2025, Antebi served as a Visiting Professor at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico, and received the prestigious MacDowell Fellowship. She is currently an Associate Professor of Illustration and Animation at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

CEAM programming is supported by Flagler College and through grants from the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, the St. Johns Cultural Council, Volkswagen of St. Augustine, and VyStar Credit Union. Additional support is provided by the AC Hotel St. Augustine.