Young Art Always

While Dade county is embroiled in heavy construction mayhem, many think the rebuilding of South Florida will never end.  Happily there is some very good news from West Broward out in what used to be mostly horse country.   

The new and deluxe Young At Art Museum and County Library opened with much fanfare.

Museum director Mindy Shrago should be very pleased with herself and the dedicated staff who together labored unrelenting to realize this magical place for children to enjoy for years to come... and adults to reawaken their inner child.

A charming and lightly puzzling sculpture by SoFla legend Duane Hanson adorns a vitrine bridging the museum and media center.

Like Alice in Swampland,  illumination frozen in time gushes from a pop teapot beaconing visitors to this other worldly menagerie of interactive environments and attractions. 

No she did not take the subway, our very own wonder woman Wasserman Schultz was on hand to offer her support and words of praise for a very worthy cause.  Encouraging an active participation in all things artistic and crafty does indeed infuse the community with the creative process vital to a healthy culture.

Classic and edgy were the points of interest on opening night.  Without reservation, the VIP event was a who's who of Broward movers n shakers eager to show their support for YAA and literacy.


The roster of permanent attractions is staggering.  From installations by a multitude of renowned artists such as the delightful puppet master Pablo Cano and the mind expanding Kenny Scharf to a thematic african adobe and gigantic Japan wave jungle gym and much much more.

 It takes all manner of effort to achieve the level of success evident at the new YAA facility.  In no small part thanks to the creative and professional team of RedBox Workshop from Chicago for orchestrating and realizing this jewel in the swamp.

Here is a glimpse of the Kenny Scharf Cosmic Cavern (# we lost count)

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Field of Flux

It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black"

Charlie Brown

South Florida is much more than glorious beaches and teflon highways. It is also home of the thematic week. Contrived conventions like music week or boat week or art week or wine and food week are promotional events that reduce experience to a novelty that runs contrary to the cultivation of place and purpose. For most it may be nearly impossible to truly understand the swampy world we inhabit, and it sure is a distracting spectacle to watch.

No grand charade is complete without plenty of noise, flashing lights and dust shaking. The circus of modernity will soon be in your neighborhood also.

And with every main event there is a cost that fluctuates... mostly upwards as with this message menu on I-95 luxury fast lane.

Progress is by far the over arching drive. It take a formidable work crew in orange vests and hard hats to move the swamp forward. I can almost say it is affordable and worth it.

Great weather, curious people and progress have a knack for attracting returning visitors to Miami. One such repeat offender is my odd pal Kenny Scharf. He once lived here in a time when Dade was desirable and Broward was a backwater. It was a time before Britto.

Last week Scharf was back in South Florida to put the finishing touches on his whirlwind of projects. I had a chat with Scharf recently, posted here.

Back in 2000 while working in North Miami, Scharf got a call from sharp eye Mindy Shrago director of Young At Arts Children's Museum in Davie asking if we would build an attraction for the Broward County kids. Kenny was flattered to help out so we created the Cosmic Cavern #18 in an old hanger of a strip mall on State Rd. 84. Today the Museum will share an impressive new facility with the public library set to open in May. Along with a slew of new attractions, visitors can enjoy Scharf's Cosmic Cavern #32!

Down in Dade's Wynwood neighborhood, interested gawkers can also enjoy another Scharf Mural, the latest addition to a growing museum of street art courtesy the Miami Arts Awakening visionaries such as Tony Goldman and Brook Dorsch.

Meanwhile in Little Havana the main event awaits. Yankees VS Marlins! the much anticipated first game at the new Marlin Stadium and parking jamboree in what some are calling mega crock-pot on the site of the dear old Orange Bowl.

Forget bottled beer. This place not only has central A/C and sonic flushers, it also has a system of pipes and valves that deliver ice cold beer to a network of dispensers on every level. Truly the light is sweet, and so is the lager.

Nothing sells brands better than bobble-heads. I heard someone say the Marlins have already sold millions in Tshirts, caps and other disposable stuff. But some stuff is not exactly throw-away.

While Red Grooms and Arsham grapple with Art in Public Places for placement of their art in the swampdome, Scharf has wrestled very skillfully with team owner Jeffery Loria for the creation of this outrageous and monumental giant banner i call ode to all things baseball.

In the realm of the Field of Dreams there are three possible outcomes. There is the HomeRun, the one you imagine and long for. Then there is the Bunt and the three strikes.

"There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice."

Charlie Brown

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basel cold snap

I can remember the year.

It was 2001 when the news of ABMB signing a ten year contract with the swamp registered little attention from the multitude of people with marginal interest in a discipline founded on our vices of leisure and contemplation of the subliminal objects. Nine years later, the art virus has infested mass culture on a near pandemic level.

But not every who in whoville is susceptible to the allure and shock of fine art. For much of South Florida it is business as usual... and that means more concrete and another red-light scamera...

Red-light cameras are multiplying faster than ten foot purple snails.

So let's follow the snail trail of slime on a document dump of Basel highlights thus far.

Pal Trey Speegle has hit on a marvelous schtick with his paint-by-numbers message delivery systems.

Vernissage is a word few americans were familiar with until now. We now know that the word is synonymous with the see-n-be-seen event that heralds a week of gorging on art.

No austerity here. The record traffic at all the opening is a sure sign that the audience for art is growing yet the market for art remains flat.

So it is the conventional wisdom of the artist that when sales are weak, the time is ripe for a little experimentation and the taking of calculated risks. Sex always sells.

New media is on the rise. The level of comfort with intellectual property has arrived at a point where folks will pay big bucks for a 15 minute DVD.

There is some amazing art at ABMB. With that said, there is also allot of weird (i can do that) stuff. Marcel Duchamp was right, DADA will rule the world.

Hey Mr. Tallyman, tally me bananas. I'm cuckoo for coconut at 500 buck an nut.

Yoruba has gone Blue Chip. This could be Wynwood, but no it is Basel.

Permaculture has invaded the art fair and i got the munchies.

This curious cluster is "i don't know what".

Two by Fours and a block of upholstery.... 75,000. euros

The future is in re-newable energy and gas pumps will be petrified.

To be a contender in the art world, one needs a good 1,2,knock-out schtick.

Never a fan of female mutilation, Miss Glass Shards is still rather appealing...

This fine couple with their display of trophies would adorn any CEO office or Bank Lobby...

Fake Jean Michel Basquait? what do you think...

Leyden's Tot-Lot at the family friendly corner of the fair.

After the show, a stroll down Lincoln Road reminds visitors of our embarrassments.

I always suspected that the true allure of Miami has always been a pair of opportunities and a "mentirita".

On my next installment we shall discuss the substance of art as expessed by the words and works of Robert Williams, aka god.

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earn extra cash, doing nothing

The ClearChannel Choice

In these tough economic times, with skyrocketing inflation and stagnant wages, some intrepid and well situated folk are offsetting their property tax costs with the leasing of roof-space for giant billboards. The APD's (approved propaganda devices) must comply with the strict county sign ordinance. Once kosher, APDs provide a revenue stream while you slumber in front of the flat-screen. But be warned would-be-creative landlords, ironically if you choose to adorn the exterior walls of your building with graffitiesque murals without a permit, a courtesy notice/fine from the sign police will soon be levied.

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Prize of Pittsburgh

Post Traumatic G-20 Summit Syndrome

Pittsburg PA is a lovely town reminiscent of other post industrial cities that are actually shrinking in size and, though not immune to the economic melt-down, seemingly less affected than places like Miami, Las Vegas and others. While NYC is in a state of shock and contraction, the birthplace of Andy Warhol is relatively sound and celebrity free.




Hall of Hispanic Fama

Roberto Walker Clemente. With a name like that and a bat swing like king kong, he is the prize of pittsburgh. Here is a photo of an enormous bronze adorning the baseball field downtown, a giant among men and a Hispanic for all seasons.




Hammertime Willy

But not all art in public places is quite so epic and commanding. Just a few steps from the magnificent Clemente is this weird marble thing with what appears to be naked workmen having head-aches. It hurts just to look.



Corporate Hip

As with most things of money today, it is the corporate sponsors that hold the OPM to get things done. Andy Warhol understood this years ago and single-handedly re-educated the corporate Joe mentality to accommodate new ways of thinking about art, it's people... and branding. This giant painting is a collaboration of Warhol and Basquait, two giants who energized chemistry of the art world.





BrilloBox Branding

Ans so it is that we celebrate 100 years of Synthetic Rubber with the collaboration of The Andy Warhol Museum, Lanxess Rubber Corporation and artist team Ryan Alexiev and Hank Willis Thomas. Ryan and Hanks are the winners of a competition to create a work of art for the occasion of 100 year history of Unnatural Rubber. Laxess claims to be 'energizing chemistry' and indeed their sponsorship has been energizing to this artist memory of Andy Warhol, my Art Father.




Will Work for Play

The Warhol Museum is an impressive institution and a fitting tribute to Andy's legacy.
There is a bounty of artworks to enjoy and many displays of memorabilia. The caption for this photo reads "we started the magazine so we would get invites to the premiers". Kinda like opening a gallery so we can get free grolsh beer.




Data Illuminatta

The winning artwork is a graphical representation of the data turned 3-D showing the exponential growth of synthetic rubber from 1909 through 2009. I wonder how things are going in Manaus, Brazil home of natural rubber.



For Whom the Bell Tolls

Their dreams are a fabricators reality. Here is the bell in production at my studio. American marble aka styrofoam is the closest thing to conceptual clay available. It's mostly air and very forgiving.




Black is the New Green

Here is the artwork after buckets of MicroRubber coating made from your recycled tires.




Rim with Bling

Here is the center-piece of the sculpture in nowheresville North Miami getting pimped with Mirra-Krome. People like shiny round things...




Wheel of Fortune

Here is a snapshot of the "Wheel of Fortune" on display at the Warhol till January 2010. It is scheduled to travel around the world to remind folks of the power of chemicals.




Propaganda Promulgated

The Warhol also provides the public with exhibitions of other artists work. Currently they have a show by uber-controversial Shepard Fairey the "street artist" from RISD and Obama Poster Fame. More on him later.



AndyMouse

I met Warhol in the mid 80's when he befriended my pals Keith Haring, Jean Michel Baquait and Kenny Scharf. These fellas are the three musketeers of the East Village Art Explosion that Andy had built a foundation for. Their collective cautionary contribution to the art mindset is immeasurable in a world gone celebrity crazy.




Even republican twitty Cindy McCain understands the power of Celebrity that Warhol espoused perfectly so each of us would feel entitled to 15 minutes of fame.

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