Page 20 - The Wynwood Times - 1st Edition
P. 20
Vo l . 1 T H E W Y N W O O D T I M E S MAY 2015
Basel Beat Down
Art Wynwood Delivers Community Knockout
Text by Yves Kohn Decker, Illustration by Xian Lee Wao
When Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) For its 4th edition, Art Wynwood should look to the success of this project
first breezed into town, expectations were showcased “SOLO Miami,” an impressive moving forward or risk further decline of
that local galleries and artists would be assembly of five of the Magic City’s its reputation for continuing to ignore the
featured at the top of the marquee. top-ranked galleries, each boasting solo quality of art representing its host city,”
exhibitions by some of the leading artists said Nina Fuentes.
But sadly, almost 15 years since the Swiss working here.
fair arrived, locals for the most part have At the February fair, Fuentes, a Wynwood
been elbowed to the back of the line The project was the brainchild of Grela pioneer who owned and operated the
at the Miami Beach Convention Center Orihuela, Art Wynwood’s new director. Hardcore Contemporary Art Space
where they barely register on the radar. Her efforts resulted in a presentation for more than a decade, presented an
It’s the old clichéd story of heavyweight that ABMB officials better take note of if installation modeled on folded paper
champions thumbing their nose at those aspiring to remain the people’s champ. planes crafted in aluminum by the Italian
they regard as featherweights. conceptual collaborative Blue & Joy.
Art Wynwood’s Miami-centric “SOLO”
On the other hand, the Art Wynwood players were Emerson Dorsch Gallery “Their work is symbolic of the tens of
Art Fair, which opened this past (with Brookhart Jonquil), GUCCIVUITTON thousands of visitors from the national
February during President’s Day (with Peter Goodrich), Primary Projects and international community that fly
Weekend, auspiciously reminded us (with Autumn Casey), the Fredric Snitzer here for Art Wynwood every February,”
that the Magic City’s art community has Gallery (with Mauricio Gonzalez) and mentioned Fuentes who buried a time
reached a powerful level of maturity Spinello Projects (with Farley Aguilar). capsule at The Chill Concept during
that unresponsive Basel types continue “Some people thought it couldn’t be done,” President’s Day to mark the edgy
missing the boat on. Orihuela told the Miami New Times on neighborhood’s meteoric rise the past
the occasion. “But this project is in Miami, decade.
That was not the case at this year’s Art about Miami, for Miami and speaks to
Wywnood where some of our vaunted Miami’s cultural evolution the past three “Unlike other local fairs, Art Wynwood
visual arts programs ruled center ring. decades,” she said. continues to play an important role in
Despite ABMB trumpeting the representing this community and its level
contemporary art world as its oyster, it “If Art Wynwood can unite our art of culture beyond December Art Week,”
was at the Art Wynwood Fair instead community under one roof then ABMB she concluded.
where international visitors and collectors
discovered Miami’s pearls.
