Wynwood at Art Basel.

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Plans to go to Art Basel on Saturday were Shanghaied when I went to a gallery in New Smyrna Beach. I couldn’t sketch at this opening, so there isn’t much to report. I kept my hands in my pockets except when sipping a Coke or eating pretzels. Occasionally shrimp circulated around the room on a tray. The show consisted of small paintings competitively priced for the holidays.

I made the three-and-a-half hour drive down to Miami on Sunday instead. After parking in the Wynwood District I only had to walk one block before I saw a graffiti artist at work. This NYC artist was named Cortez. I couldn’t make out what the letters were in the tag, but now after the fact, I’m thinking it might be his name. I got lost sketching the tag, so don’t expect to read it in my sketch. It became an abstraction of bright colors, valves and shapes. The artist’s girlfriend videotaped me as I sketched, and I asked the artist to sign my sketch when I was done. Art tourists kept taking photos of the wall in progress. For some people, the only way to experience art is to photograph it.

I explored the Wynwood Walls and several galleries before heading over to the convention center, which is at the heart of Art Basel. Tickets to get in are like $45. I got there at the end of the day so paying for a few hours of browsing seemed like a waste. Instead I went to Ink, which consisted of galleries specializing in limited edition artists prints. Flying Horse Editions from UCF here in Orlando was on site. Each gallery had a quaint motel room surrounding a courtyard with a long central fountain. Since I am searching for a rental apartment, I desperately wanted to convert one of these small units into a studio.

I went to a public park near the convention center where sculptures we scattered in the grass. Long- legged camels walked above a shimmering mirage reflection. Jesus had open avocados on his head, shoulders and forearms. Perhaps he as actually the patron saint of avocados. A black hula hoop was plopped on top of a pile of road tar, and the crowning glory was a pile of six-foot-high brightly colored pebbles that looked like the cheery painted rocks you might find in a fish tank.

I stopped at Maxine’s on Collins Avenue for a bite to eat. It isn’t as good as the Maxine’s in Orlando, but I went in h honor. Afterwards I followed the long line of red taillights that inched towards I-95 to drive north into the night.

Evoca 1 paints a mural at Falcon Bar in Thornton Park.

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Artist Evoca1 paint original artwork on the wall outside The Falcon Bar and Gallery last week. The artwork is curated by The Falcon and sponsored by Thornton Park District Main Street.

About the artist:
Dominican-born and Miami-based, Evoca1 is a figurative painter, designer and muralist, who is strongly influenced by his Latin American culture. Founder of Sketches for Mankind, Evoca1 works to raise awareness to important local and world issues through art. His powerful imagery can be seen on walls from Mexico to Peru to England.

About this project:
The Falcon become a fan of Evoca1 after seeing his work in the Wynwood Arts District in Miami during Art Basel a few years back and then again more recently in Saint Petersburg, FL during the Shine On Mural Festival. His figurative style is what attracted us to his work and is also what makes it unique from the more traditional mural styles. Evoca1 and The Falcon chatted about what makes The Falcon Bar and Gallery and Thornton Park District distinctive and he came up with a concept that compliments our beautiful historic neighborhood and the uniqueness of The Falcon Bar and Gallery.

I loved how boldly the artist worked. His first bold brushstrokes that blocked in the composition where still visible as I sketched. He used a large paint pan as a palette and worked on the mural like it was an oil painting, gradually building up the lights.  He used a large flat house paint brush as his tool of choice. He spent most of the well refining the mural. Periodically admirers would stop and ask a few questions.

Places Less Traveled at the Peacock Room

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On May 6th, I went to the opening reception for “Places Less Traveled” at the Peacock Room (1321 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL). This show featured Selected Graffiti Photographs taken by Grazyna Kleinman in Miami between 2011-2014. Grazyna travels to Art Basel in Miami each year and she documents the ever changing urban graffiti scene. The Wynwood Arts District in Miami has entire buildings covered in Graffiti and every year groups of artists travel there to expand and change the scene. She takes multiple photographs at each location and stitches them together to create her high resolution images. Some of the images are printed on metal giving them an interesting sheen. She had several self published books on display and I thumbed through to see more of her work. 3D glasses sat on the table along with the books. When you look at the photos with the glasses on, the graffiti tends to float above the walls.

Grazyna’s husband and son were at the opening. Her son is planning to become a stock broker and he bragged about how easy it is to make money in the stock market. I thought it would have been good for him to meet Terry to get a more realistic view of what the market has been like for the past twenty years. Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it.

In the main bar area there was a  Group Art Show by local Artists which was curated by Mendi Cowles.

Wynwood Block

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During Art Basel week, (December 5-8), graffiti artists from around the globe converge on the Wynwood Arts District to cover buildings. Some buildings are completely covered. Wynwood is Miami’s gallery district and every time I have gone the place was hopping. I go to sketch the artists at work.

The artist on the right is named Bruno, or “BR” for short. His wall portrayed a vibrant inter planetary scene. Characters were covered in vibrant Mexican fabric patterns, and sinister green clouds floated overhead in a purple universe. The other artist was likely painting a portrait of a rap or hip hop artist. The face was cut up into a grid and each panel was a different color. Even the van parked in the street was covered in dripping ice cream graffiti lettering. I never did figure out what the lettering spelled.

Terry and a friend went to one of the many Art Fair tents and when my sketch was done, I walked towards them. My college, The School of Visual Arts, was exhibiting student work. Terry introduced me to the SVA Faculty who were supervising the show and I shared one of my sketchbooks with them. There was some really good art in this tent. One memorable wall was covered with paintings on small panels of Obama. Each panel was painted in a different way creating an amazing variety all of the same face.

The Pérez Art Museum just opened in Miami and a group of us went to an exclusive preview of the collection in the evening. It is an impressive modern museum. Hanging from the ceiling of the entries were columns covered in foliage. The ground floor had an exhibit of model boats suspended from the ceiling that I liked. Had there been time to draw, that is what I would have focused on. An entire room on the second floor had hundreds of bicycle wheel rims interconnected by a horizontal metal framework. Guards tried to stop people from spinning the rims, but there were too many rims and the compulsion was too strong. People watching was more fascinating than some of the art. High society was out in force and every fashion was strutting on display. I would like to return sometime when it isn’t so crowded.

As we were leaving, we bumped into Patrick and Holly Kahn. Patrick just opened the new Snap Gallery in the renovated Cameo Theater, 1013 E. Colonial Drive Orlando FL. The gallery opened on January 18th and the crowds where overwhelming. It is the first time I’ve been to an exhibit in Orlando where people had to wait to get in. It seems Patrick has managed to bring some of the Miami excitement and exclusivity back to Orlando.

Pause.itive

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Terry’s friend Elaine Pasekoff from Miami Beach Florida helped organize Pause.itive, the change with attitude. The one day empowering seminars were held on Saturday September 28th at Art Seen Gallery (2215 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami FL). The buildings in the Wynwood Arts District were covered with graffiti. Mercedes Soler. a news anchor from CNN en Espanol was the host. The seminars touched on topics that matter most to women over 35, Like Hypnosis, hormones, fitness and fashion. Presented by physicians and experts the seminars offered empowering honest dialogues about changes that every woman goes through.

Actress Vanessa Elisse stormed into the room and sat in the lone chair facing the audience, “It is hot in here or is it me?” she said. She began a comical discussion about her life changes. It reminded me of Samantha Jones of Sex and the City who gave a talk to a group of women and then said *%$k it”, as she took off her wig and complained about her hot flashes. It took a few minutes to realize that this was an actress rather that a woman who had barged in late to the seminar. It was a quite effective intro.

Of course things heated up when Nilza Kallos turned the discussion Sex and Intimate Relationships. There were props, like a rather sizable vibrator and laughter helped in making the points. She was hilarious and it was encouraging because she knew she was beautiful regardless of how old she was. It also helped that she had an accent like Doctor Ruth. It was the highlight for me and when I realized I was to only guy in the room except the guy behind the TV camera. The dry medical discussions about hormone therapy were a bit too clinical for my taste. It felt like the doctor thought he was speaking to clinicians at some medical conference. Miami seems to always be the birthplace of trendy health initiatives, like the South Beach Diet that later sweep the nation. These hormone balance therapies seem to be the new hot and costly trend. The psychotherapist offered women the encouragement to accept their bodies and life changes, which contrasted the Fashion experts who were razor thin which is hard to maintain after menopause sets in. Terry seemed upset that medical experts were pushing women to pay big money to always strive for the unattainable ideal. In general though the seminar focused on promoting positive views of the inevitable changes in a woman’s life.