All That Glitters is Not Sold

Geez, Where's the Beach?

Like no other perennially themed week of events in South Florida's SOBE,

ABMB has once again cast an air of entitlement on the hollowed hegemony of the elite art industry and residual motivations to the local arts community. That which lures jet-loads of world-class enthusiasts is part home-grown part import. It is the habitual desire to live by art that transcends cultural and economic distinctions. Committed minds are no doubt scheming over next year's fair when all the hullabaloo will be repeated like a broken record.

NADA ZipZero

Two heads are better than one, as these charming fixtures pleasingly display. They don't have much to say but, hey they are a welcoming sight for lost tourist wondering if they are in the right place.

Pool Gallery Berlin, i want one of these...

OHWOW in their Design District Tent, great schmear art.

Design Miami in SOBE, way to go w the swampiness!

Overall i rate Design Miami Fair a shiny 14-karat thumbs sideways.

HorneyMen

The folks at Shafrazi Booth were pleasantly accessorized with a treasure trove of Robert Williams awe inspiring masterpieces. What is beyond comprehension is how Williams can be so revered in the west coast and virtually unknown in the east coast.

Molly Hatchet

It is stuff like these reclining dummies in revolutionary costumes that begs the question,

WTF, i like that?!

Here are a few of my favorites...

Nerdreams

Arshamowlsmarts

TomSachsRocksApollo

another WTF moment

Queue for the Infinity Booth of Mirrors

SleepingSillyPuddyPrincess

...and finally this amazing display of WTF cardboard boxes at ABMB

Yes there were predictable blue-chip works on display, but there were also plenty of absolutely bizarre pieces that leave many scratching their heads with thoughts of,

"I Can Do That... But Why?"

The Kiss of Art

We opened Swampspace Gallery so as to have an excuse for missing half the stuff there is to do during Art Week in Miami.

What was your excuse?

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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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Basel To-Do

Dear Leader

Wow, better get your comfortable walking shoes on.

For your consideration,

here is the most comprehensive listing of local attractions compiled by the incomparably Colleen at ArtMurmur.

Are You a Collector?

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the Happy Warriors

One More for the Road

Before the Tea Party got all teed-off at every Democrat Liberal, Jimmy's brother Billy Carter was craftily ridiculed for being the All American Guy.

The Vision Thing

Before the Gipper turned Republican, he supported many Progressive Ideals. Papa Bush has always been the grease in the gears of regressive thinking.

Tricky-Dicky

Before nervous Nixon trashed the Executive Branch with cries of "I Am Not a Crook", there was one man who stood out from the crowd of crumb-cakes that comprised big-boy politics.

Lean Left

Hubert Humphrey is a hero to a generation of progressives who fought tirelessly for the advancement of the American worker and the Civil Rights Movement. Humphrey was also an incubator of great ideals such as the Peace Corps and Nuclear Disarmament and Food Stamps.

Speaking Truth to Controlfreaks

But what happens to people when they rise to position of prominence and power?

As the old protest song of disillusion says:

"Whatever became of Hubert? Has anyone heard a thing? Once he shone on his own, now he sits home alone and waits for the phone to ring. Once a fiery liberal spirit, ah, but now when he speaks he must clear it. ..."

Bunkers for Health Care

Great people get building and bridges named after them...

Building Bridges

Hubert was very good at working across the isle and reaching out to the most entrenched unsavory element of power of his time, the incorrigible Dixiecrats ( perhaps today's Teabaggers). The southern power structure opposed to Civil Rights was like a giant pile of festering hate-dung baked in the sun to a crusty collapsible house.

Embalming Tea

Not so great conservative ideals just get a formaldehyde makeover and are hurled back out to the great stage for tragic regurgitation.

Can you name a Happy Warrior for our times?

Hint: It rhymes with orange!

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The Kissing Booth Show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELIEF 11/20/2010

Who: SWAMPSPACE Gallery

What: The "KISSING BOOTH" Show

When: Opening December 1, 2010 (closing Dec.15)

Where: 3821 N.E. First Court Miami, Florida 33137

Calling All Smoochers

Join Swampspace Gallery to celebrate the romantic nostalgia of love with the much anticipated"Kissing Booth" show, featuring artworks by Kenny Scharf and Oliver Sanchez. Kissing Booths were light spirited attractions at carnivals and fairs of days gone by. On the surface these contraptions were used to tantalize and loosen our pockets. They are sentimental relics with an enduring practical purpose. Reviving their benevolent tradition, the Kissing Booth show is a fundraiser benefiting the students of Design and Architecture Senior High school. But the gallery installation like the "Eternal Kiss" is much much more.

Love is Blue

In 1907 sculptor Constantin Brancusi took a chunk of stone and with a few simple cuts, transformed the rock into an iconic sculpture. With the canons of amour that preceded him, Brancusi illustrated the soulful power of this singular carnal contact. His work serves as a constant reminder that there is no substitute for kissing. Chiming in with salacious intent, the very kissable Bob Hope once said "People who throw kisses are mighty hopelessly lazy". At the risk of smothering the flames of the kiss, the huggable Confucius proclaimed, "Kissing is like drinking sea water. You drink, and your thirst increases". Today many find themselves at the crossroads of emotions. With salty tears we proceed along the paths of contentedness and despair. The intimacy of a kiss shared by two being in a single space in time is like happiness, it feels best when you give it to someone else.

Pucker Up

During the festivities of the prestigious ABMB 2010 art fair and the sophisticated reveling in theMiami Design District, one destination certain to be unique and uncouth is the Kissing Booth.

Whet Your Whistle with a swampy cold beer, compliments of Grolsch USA.

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