While Art Basel was taking place over in Miami Beach, Art Miami was on display in the Arts and Design District of Wynwood, north of downtown Miami. It was a wonderful fair, and they
actually attracted more people than Art Basel. The whole area of Wynwood has been revived,
and outside the fair is a small park with three sculptures by Romero Brito, a very popular and successful Miami artist. Above is his "Butterfly." His works are always very colorful and
often use strong black outlines around bright areas of color.
This what the inside of the Fair looked like, many booths of different sizes and shapes,
and artwork of every variety from extremely realistic to highly abstract.
In the foreground is a stainless steel sculpture by Enrico Castellani.
Latin American artists are very well represented at the fair. One of my favorites is
the Cuban artist, Amelia Pelaez. "Daisies in a Vase" is typical of her work, bright
areas of color with string black outlines. Her paintings look almost like
stained glass. The Cernuda Gallery in Miami was showing the painting;
they are excellent and I always learn much from visiting their booth.
A very different "Bouquet of Flowers" is this piece by U.S. artist John Chamberlain.
Mr. Chamberlain took pieces of automobiles and reworked them and repainted them
into powerful abstract sculptures.
Roy Lichtenstein disliked abstract art and the highly personal styles of the
Abstract Expressionists. He was influenced by popular culture and every day
industrial techniques. Comics books and their style of depiction caught his eye.
"Modern Painting" captures the feeling both of an abstract work of art
as well as the style and techniques of the comics in every newspaper every day.
Yayoi Kusama takes simple forms, like a pumpkin, and treats the surface
with patterns, often dots. It looks almost like a mosaic.
The German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol carves in wood, a very old German
technique. But he does not carve statues of St. Sebastian or Venus,
but a friend of his, in this work entitled "Tall Man." It is about 9 feet high.
Roy Lichtenstein also applied the techniques of comic books to great
paintings of the past, in a new style. "Water Lilies with Pink Flower"
is based on one of Monet's paintings of his gardens.
The "Wailing Wall" has "teardrops" of carved white marble. It reminds one
of the famous site in Jerusalem, but in a very new, simple, powerful way.
Shawn Huckins is one of a number of artists who work with words painted on their canvases.
The letters are forms in color, like a painting, but they also convey specific meanings to
viewers. Here we have the famous Whistler painting, meticulously repainted, but with white
letters giving a second and third level of meaning to the work.
Fernando Botero is a very popular Colombian painter and sculptor. This was a large work,
entitled "The Supper." He uses ordinary people in ordinary situations, but by inflating their
proportions they become something different.
Ms Monir Farmanfarmaian is an artist from Iran who often uses the beautiful and
intricate inlay patterns of traditional Persian art, found in mosaics on buildings as well
as on cabinets and jewel boxes, to create mesmerizing works. This piece is four feet in
diameter and made of pieces of mirror and glass painted from behind.
Pablo Atchugarry is a sculptor from Uruguay who treats white Carrera marble as if
it were as soft as fabric. This untitled abstract work is typical. The marble seems to
undulate and move in the breeze.
A very different style can be seen in John de Andrea's "Classical Illusion."
The female figure is made of polyester resin and real hair, and the
classical bust is caved of white marble. The style is often referred to
as Hyper-realism.
Henri Matisse created "Pierrot's Funeral" for a special limited-edition book
entitled "Jazz" in 1947. This is one large page. At this time Matisse suffered from
several debilitating diseases and could not paint or hold a brush. He improvised,
took a large shears and cut pieces of colored construction paper. which he had
an assistant arrange on the floor. His publisher than came and took the cut-outs
and prepared special plates to print the images. Current cost $50,000 per page.
Damien Hirst. "Love is Forever." Butterflies on board.
These are real butterflies which Hirst glues to the back.
There are only a few craft artists at the fair. Lino Taglipietra, the glass artist, is one of
the greatest. Lino works in Venice, the traditional capital of glass art, but comes to the U.S. frequently to work and teach and often collaborate with the great American glass
artist, Dale Chlhuly. This is a vase of clear glass decorated with rods of dark blue.
Manolo Valdes. Spanish. "Head of Princess." Valdes is a painter, sculptor, and
printmaker. He frequently uses images of princess froma Velasquez painting as
a starter, and then makes variations.
printmaker. He frequently uses images of princess froma Velasquez painting as
a starter, and then makes variations.
David Spiller. English. "We Will Never Grow Old Again."
Spiller is a British Pop artist and uses letters and words both as iamges
and symbols.
Marc Quinn. English. "Oblique." The painting is huge, perhaps ten feet long, and
brilliantly colored. He works with actually flowers as models, but also photos and
uses both spray paint and brushes to create his huge images.
Keith Haring. U. S. "Figure." Haring died at only 32, but his works remain
very popular, bright, and cheerful. He began as a graffiti artist in New York,
nut behan to work in the studio and created both paintings and sculpture.
Peter Anton. "Rapture." This is a huge box of Hyper-Realistic candy. Each
piece is about 8 inches high and looks so real, you want to grab it and take a bite.
He makes various sizes and shapes of candy boxes, donut boxes, ice cream cones,
and various other sweet treats. pop Art.
Robert Motherwell. "Open in Green." U.S. 1973. One summer, Motherwell saw and
became fascinated with a pattern made on his studio floor by an open door, sunlight,
and shade. It slowly moved and changed shape before his eyes. He tried to capture
the image, again and again, in many colors and sizes and proportions.
became fascinated with a pattern made on his studio floor by an open door, sunlight,
and shade. It slowly moved and changed shape before his eyes. He tried to capture
the image, again and again, in many colors and sizes and proportions.
Alexander Calder. U.S. "Brooch." Brass. There were many works by Calder on display,
mobiles, sculpture, paintings, prints, and special pieces of jewelry he made, often from
wire which he bent into shapes.
Damien Hirst. English. "Hydroxyuridine." Hirst believed artists should not try to show
off their virtuosity or personality or feelings and not make their paintings personal.
So he worked to develop a style which would have none of these characteristics, but
instead reflect contemporary culture where images are mass produced by printing machines
of all kinds for advertising in magazines, billboards, and television. He reduced his work
for a while to dots of random colors with no trace of the artist/painter/creator.
off their virtuosity or personality or feelings and not make their paintings personal.
So he worked to develop a style which would have none of these characteristics, but
instead reflect contemporary culture where images are mass produced by printing machines
of all kinds for advertising in magazines, billboards, and television. He reduced his work
for a while to dots of random colors with no trace of the artist/painter/creator.
Josef Albers. German/American. "Homage to the Square."
Albers was a refugee from Germany and then a very influential teacher
at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. He devised a very famous
exercise for his students and himself to work with the issue of how
colors interact before our eyes, some appearing to come closer and
others appearing to recede, calling it "Homage to the Square."
Albers was a refugee from Germany and then a very influential teacher
at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. He devised a very famous
exercise for his students and himself to work with the issue of how
colors interact before our eyes, some appearing to come closer and
others appearing to recede, calling it "Homage to the Square."
Joan Mitchell. U.S. "Then and Now." 9 ft x 6 ft. Mitchel was an
Abstract Expressionist who worked mostly in France and often inspired by nature,
but never literal. Her blueberry blues and luscious color seem ripe on a
warm summer day.
Abstract Expressionist who worked mostly in France and often inspired by nature,
but never literal. Her blueberry blues and luscious color seem ripe on a
warm summer day.
Adolph Gottlieb. U.S. "Burst." Afther the Second World War,
when many American soldiers experienced Asian culture for the first time,
some American artists were inspired by Japanese aesthetics and
philosophy. Gottlieb's works have a quiet meditative quality and
often abstract symbols which look like Oriental writing but are not.
when many American soldiers experienced Asian culture for the first time,
some American artists were inspired by Japanese aesthetics and
philosophy. Gottlieb's works have a quiet meditative quality and
often abstract symbols which look like Oriental writing but are not.
Donald Sultan. "White Flowers." Black tar and white paint.
Alfredo Sosabravo. "Dressed for a Party." Cuba 2002
Sosabravo attended art school in Havana briefly, but then left and is mostly
self-taught. His style is often described as "primitive," which means all parts of
the work are equally bright and in focus, there is little or no space or depth,
the whole canvas is covered with small details, and bright colors are emphasized.
Alexander Calder. Model for large Stabile. Calder designed many monumental steel
sculptures to be placed out doors, like "Flamingo" in downtown Chicago by the Federal
Building. This is how one of the projects began.
Takashi Murakami. "Red Ball" lithograph.
Murakami is a painter, printmaker, and ad designer in Tokyo.
The above work is perfectly flat, but he alters his forms to give the
illusion of depth and swelling.
Bernard Venet from France uses large pieces of steel to define space and attract
our attention. This is a smaller piece; there were others eight feet high.
He is a Conceptual artist.
Deborah Butterfield creates horses out of found materials, sometimes branches or pieces of wood
or in this case pieces of metal. "Bachelor" stands about three feet high and is made of welded
iron; many of her other horses are life size.
Robert Indiana is a painter and sculptor who uses words both as artistic images
and also to have meanings as words. His "HOPE" has been widely used throughout
the world in many sizes.
The interior of Art Miami and a stainless steel sculpture by Gino Miles. It is mounted on
a pivot, and you can turn it. Each time you see it from a different angle, it becomes a
different sculpture. One of his works stood outside the front entrance to the Fair.
A visitor and a "Self-Portrait" silkscreen of Andy Warhol 1966
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