Miami is an interesting place.
After 4 years here we've managed to carve out a comfortable niche in this fast-paced, sunburned city but there will always be days (usually when we are stuck in traffic) that we long for the great white north.
I suppose every major city has its ups and downs though.
One of our major 'ups' however, is the stream of art and art shows that dot the calendar. Art Basel in Decemeber, events in the design district, random gallery showings and art walks pop up in my email surprisingly often and we have been lucky enough to stumble into some pretty interesting gatherings.
Last night we made our way to the MIA artfair in downtown. This particular art fair was on a large yacht overlooking the Brickell/financial district area - making for a pretty spectacular view of the water and downtown.
We got there fairly early so the crowd was quite manageable. With 3 floors of art and one floor of a bar and tables, it was pretty easy to maneuver about the ship and spend time in each of the artist's (or art galleries) spaces.
It was a great time. A lot of really interesting work was shown and I wish I had thought to bring out my camera sooner. I wasn't sure if photography was allowed and I am generally hesitant to photograph art in a setting like this. (When we were in Europe, I had my camera poking out of my bag for pictures to be as covert as possible...even though I was fairly sure taking photos without the flash was just fine.) I did however, carry a notebook and wrote down names to look up later.
One of the names I was most interested in was Philadelphia artist Frank Hyder. His massive panels of mixed-media fish immediately caught my eye and I swiftly went to investigate. There were countless layers beneath a heavy coat of clear resin (I have such a soft spot for resin!) and I quickly found myself transfixed by the buildup on the surface. That same surface was also tooled into - creating ridges and waves in the (usually) metallic background that made for a really neat interaction with the solid paint of the fish. I wish I could stayed in that booth a little longer (or taken a photo at least!). Definitely some of my favorite work there.
The other name I scribbled down was that of Lian Jian. His faces were HUGE and incredibly haunting. The flesh tones were mesmerizing and I would have enjoyed seeing more of his works present.
Overall is a great art-filled evening spent aboard a very impressive vessel.
Miami definitely has it's perks :)
