It seems like only yesterday that Teo Castellanos told me about the art show taking place in Roberto Clemente Park on NW 34th St. So my wife and I went. It was 2002. Every so often back then, I would ride my bike there and look at the street art. I would also go to the Design District, to look at Balinese furniture and to see Steve and Anh at World Resources. I’m not absolutely certain about the dates, because I documented nothing accurately, and though I took photos which are often time stamped, unlike others, my pursuit was random, businessless, and purely curious.
Once I met Martha Cooper, who was working with and for Wynwood Walls in its first year, but I didn’t really know who she was and what fascinating things she had done. You can look her up, but basically, Martha is a legend in the graffiti and street art community, creating Subway Art (1984), a ground floor book that recorded how graffiti tagging and subway art blew up in New York City in the late ’70s and ’80s. Her work inspired young artists, spreading a movement around the world.
I also met Kenny Scharf painting some wall a block or two from the one he created in the Wynwood Walls, but of course, I didn’t know who he was until Teo hipped me. The New Times later called Scharf the best artist to leave Miami. Riding around Wynwood was an adventure. You would meet painters, avoid broken glass, and by 2010, have a coffee at the brand new spot created by Joel and Leticia Pollock. I think then Panther was geometrically green, orange, and white. Later it became tie-dyed, before settling on its current, understated coffee bean brown. Panther was Miami’s pioneering coffee spot for non-Cubans and future hipsters.
Art Basel Miami got off to a bad start; year number one was cancelled because of September 11. So the introduction of 1000 artists from 150 leading galleries took place a year later. Though it seems easy in retrospect to be skeptical that an art extravaganza at the beach with a name still mispronounced by many – Bay-sil like Baywatch or the plant, Basil like Rathbone – instead of the correct Bahzl like the Swiss say. Nevertheless, Art Basel and its satellites lit up the city. It’s only gotten bigger and more important for artist, dealer, collector, lover, and partier. Any skepticism about the impact is long gone. The city has been changed, and culture, fashion, and marketing walk down the aisle together.
Wynwood and the Design District are no longer the same, and arguably, Art Basel is responsible. Art Basel, Art Miami, Scope, Pulse, Untitled, NADA, and other satellites might also contribute to the emergence of local artists like Jose Arellano Jr., whose takes on reverse-perspective works began when Jose received a few art show tix, saw Patrick Hughes, and then went on an exploration. This is how this often works.
For the past four years, Jose’s sculptures have been shown at Scope; this year, they will be at Art Miami. Jose keeps it simple, “ A large part of why I do what I do is to give people that wow feeling. People pay good money for art, so it should evoke intense and lasting emotions. I find energy and peace in the ocean but my best ideas come from lucid dreams. It’s nice to be inspired but more often than not, my designs come from a long process of starting with a concept and redesigning it until I’m excited about it.” Now Jose is a product of Miami’s relationship with Art Basel.
As art and artists changed themselves and entire districts yesterday, the same will continue when long running beloved trailblazer Rubell Family Collection will open on December 4th as the Rubell Museum in Allapattah near Santa Clara metro station and across from game changing Hometown BBQ. These gentrifying changes are complicated and well worth examination and argument, but this is just real proof of the Golden Rule – he who has the gold rules. In the USA, only the public sector can make the kind of changes necessary to prevent wholesale destruction of neighborhoods for profit and entertainment, but the Golden Rule here is written by the private sector. Developers run this show.
Last weekend, I rode around Allapattah. I stopped at Deco Coffee. During my hour there, no other customers stopped by, but Deco, backed by Threefold Cafe and Relentless Roasters, knows what is coming. It will be good – and bad. So stay tuned for a continuation of this story. There is a lot to discuss.
