New York City is cold this time of year. Warm Thanksgiving dinners have faded into the past and Christmas time has already begun with the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
Sleigh bells might be softly jingling and jangling in the background but this week for art and beach lovers alike, the magnanimous ringing of the hugest convocation of art exhibitions in America calls to us from Miami Beach.
It’s that time of year again – Art Basel Miami Beach 2012! Photo from Miami Real Estate
The famed Art Basel Miami Beach will host its 11th edition. 260 leading galleries from America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America will exhibit the most established global artists to burgeoning and veteran art lovers.
Take a look into a previous Art Basel Miami showing, photo from Miami Art Zine.
previous Art Basel, photo from Imagine Lifestyles.
On display at Art Basel you will find artwork from more than 2,000 talented artists and having them all situated in one place calls for a celebration…or celebration(s)!
In addition to Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest and baddest art fair of them all, you will also find over a dozen auxiliary fairs to include Art Miami, Pulse, Scope and Aqua. On top of all of the art fairs there are tons of art parties and special exhibitions.
Not sure what to see and when? Don’t worry, we’ve constructed the time charts below with all of the fair hours to help you plan your trip!
Wednesday Dec. 5 Fair Hours
Thursday Dec. 6 Fair Hours
Friday Dec. 7 Fair Hours
Saturday Dec. 8 Fair Hours
Sunday Dec. 9 Fair Hours
Want to be plugged into Art Basel but can’t make it to Miami? Jennifer Wallace, editor of The Bare Square and host of Art Seen, will be one of those spirited individuals journeying to the heart of art will be reporting back. Be sure to check out our twitter and facebook pageto satisfy your hunger for Art Basel Miami news!
A previous Art Basel Miami showing, photo from Art Basel Miami’s facebook page.
For more of a taste of each of the art fairs, check out the links below to help better whet your art appetite:
It’s simple; sex sells. Inescapable; sex can be found in music, movies, television, media, and art. If today’s popular culture needed a corset, sexuality would lace it up.
New York City is a prime setting. The seductive flashing lights, tight traffic, upbeat honking and the constant pounding of feet against the pavement are sure to stir up a quiet night.
Smile Your Beautiful in New York City, one of many graphic street arts, photo from Huffington Post.
Seductive imagery can be found throughout New York City. Some are so explicit and realistic that questions arise as to whether they belong behind bedroom doors rather than in broad daylight.
Artist Unknown in New York City, photo from Huffington Post.
For example, artist Judith Supine’s artwork of two nude, neon green girls caressing one another may spike one’s blood pressure.
Judith Supine in New York City, photo from Huffington Post.
Local street artist Vinz has been diligently coating the walls of New York City with nude women and men with animal heads. This nude parrot-headed woman jumping a police tape rope may take the cake.
Vinz in New York City, photo from Huffington Post.
Despite the recent shift in attitude regarding sexuality, some New Yorkers have been complaining about the graphic nature of these works, noting that they are inappropriate to viewers under 18. Conversely, there are those who like a pleasant shock to jolt a stagnant New York morning.
The openly stimulating street art pieces might be too saucy for some, but sometimes it is nice to see a change in scenery.
-Paulina Tam [with contributions by Cole Harrell and Jen Wallace]
Basketball season is fast approaching and with the newly establishedBrooklyn Barclays Centerjust unveiled on September 21, 2012, the spotlight is going to expand to more than the highly anticipated first game between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks. Not only is the Barclays Center the official new home for the team previous known as the New Jersey Nets, it also houses several art installations that will shed light on the very colorful and diverse culture that makes Brooklyn, Brooklyn.
The recently opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn, photo from Travelers Today.
David Berliner, board member of The Barclays Center and The Brooklyn Museum, says that the fine art exhibitions will “reflect our commitment to strengthening the connections between the Barclays Center and Brooklyn’s great cultural institutions.” Three installations were displayed alongside renown rap artist Jay-Z’s eight day opening concert to get the ball rolling in the court.
One exhibition will host a 20 ft by 110 ft wide mural by Mickalene Thomas, an artist best known for her labyrinthine enamel and acrylic paintings which showcase individual African Americans as her primary centerpieces. Thomas’ interest in portraying and uplifting African American women in her work, is reminiscent of outstanding African American stars of theNBAsuch as Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Julius Erving, and Walt Frazier influenced and revolutionized the way basketball is played and viewed today.
Artist Mickalene Thomas’s mural of the Brooklyn landscape featured in Barclays Center, photo from The New York Times.
A mural by Cuban-American artist, Jose Parla’s will be displayed alongside Thomas’s. Parla drew his inspiration for his mural from childhood memories living in Brooklyn.
Two video installations by digital artists Marc Downie, Shellie Eshkar, and Paul Kaiser of OpenEndedGroup are exhibited outside the Barclays Center on a 3000 square feet LED viewing platform. Their video installations will illustrate athletic activities complementing the whirlwind of basketball fever.
Artist Jose Parla’s mural which will be one of three art exhibitions displayed in The Barclays Center, photo from Forbes.
Make your way to Brooklyn starting on Nov. 1 for a game-changing basketball season. Whether you’re a $12,500 VIP court-side seat holder for the upcoming game or not, seeing art and basketball of this magnitude is a sure win!
A frazzled commuter bumps you as you make your way through a crowded subway station. As you approach the platform, your train leaves the station. What could make a day in the frantic New York City Subway better?
Look around. Often we are too busy hustling and bustling to fully appreciate the jewels that are encrusted in the walls of station stops and cars. Wind down and take a local train from the past to the present of New York City subway art.
Artist Nicky Enright’s Universal City displayed at the 225th Street Station on the 5 line.
In the 1980s, the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) started a grand improvement project, installing unique art pieces underground. Standing the test of time, Time Square Mural by Roy Lichtenstein dominates the Times Square station near the 7 line. Ben Snead’s ceramic-tiled mosaic called Departures and Animals depicts symmetrical images of fish and birds. See it in the Jay Street-Metro Tech station station on the F line.
Artist Roy Liechtenstein’s Time Square Mural located at the Times Square station on the 7 line.
Artist Ben Snead’s Departures and Arrivals shown at the Jay Street-Metro Tech station on the F line.
In the subway, you can spot flying people, a modern rendition of Egyptian-themed porcelain enamel, and floating hats, all distributed throughout the city’s cavernous and expansive system, and all waiting for you to discover.
In the last decade the MTA decided to further their dedication to preserving and acknowledging fine art by introducing “art cards” inside subway cars. Grand scroll-like images portray life in the New York subways. These subway art cards exude the same warmth, joy and happiness we might find in a greeting card–just bigger!
Artist Chris Gall’s Art Card for the 2008 MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design
Subway art pieces are little comforts, reminding us on our most grueling days in a cramped subway car how to stop just for a moment and enjoy beauty everywhere.
New Yorkers are known for fashion, but two weeks out of the year you may notice that some New Yorkers seem even more stylish and fashionable than usual, that is because of the famous New York City Fashion Week. Although this fall’s fashion week is coming to an end today, it is clear to say that one designer in particular is inspired by much more than his own creativity.
Prabal Gurung spring 2013 NYFW collection
Prabal Gurung, a rising fashion designer who debuted in the 2009 Fashion Week, says that he looked toward artist Amie Dick’s and sculptor Anish Kapoor‘s works as inspirations for his 2013 collections. Dick is a burgeoning Dutch artist who makes use of magazine clippings as her art work’s foundation. She then plays with the magazine article’s texture by adding or subtracting from the canvas with cut outs from other magazines or utilizing sandpaper to eradicate particular objects or colors as she sees fit.
Artist Amie Dick’s La Durée
Renowned artist Anish Kapoor started out in the 1980s constructing colorful basic geometric architectural sculptures. Only recently in 1995 did Mr. Kapoor decide to center most of his art works with stainless steel as his medium. Not only do the stainless steel conform to abstract shapes to his liking, the steel also serve as distorting mirrors that parallel those that you can find in a carnival fun house. The mirrors in turn alter the views of Mr. Kapoor’s audience of how they see themselves in a physical and emotional level.
Artist Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate
Amie Dick’s and Anish Kapoor’s unique take on art prove to be an exciting inspirational source for Prabal Gurung. Gurung states that his 2013 collection reflects on the constantly revolutionizing style of the everyday woman. According to Hollywood Reporter, Gurung said, “With the women I create for, it’s always changing, always evolving. They don’t need to prove anything to anyone. They dress for themselves.”
Just as what Gurung said, the same goes for the ever transforming fine art styles of the 21st century. New artistic styles are always being created, renewed, and expressed in totally new interpretations. In the case of Prabal Gurung’s creations, fine art has reached a new ante with its close cousin, fashion.
