It doesn't take a genius to notice the strengthening ties between the art world and the entertainment industry. Late last year Lady Gaga released Artpop, an album suffused with joint efforts from art establishment giants like Jeff Koons and Marina Abramovic. For her latest album, Sia transformed promotional appearances into a performance art piece that pokes fun at the commercialization of musicians. Even Kanye West has taken up the charge of heralding an art world perspective, in his live shows and general ouvre, to hip hop music.
Nathaly Charria, a bi-coastal art producer and manager working out of L.A. and Miami, wants to solidify the ties between art and entertainment at this year's Basel.
See also: Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 Fairs Guide
"It's a major change year," Charria tells New Times. "The way art is packaged, displayed, and sold is dramatically changing." Charria fancies herself as a modern day Gertrude Stein — seeking out and mentoring undiscovered talent.
"The traditional system of the artist alone in the room creating is outdated," quipped the effervescent Charria. "Today, it's all about collaboration."
It's a creative style that has its roots deep in the entertainment industry. Movies are inherently collaborative ventures. While a couple auteurs pop-up in every generation, the process of creating film involves the input of various technical and creative specialists. Increasingly, the music industry has been fraught with overt collaboration. Gone are the days when Madonna would secretly employ savant-like producers to master her next album's sound. Today, musical acts rely on cross-platform and cross-genre collabs to keep their music fresh and interesting.
Charria wants to bring her brand of forward thinking performers and artists together in a way that's never been done before; blurring the antiquated delineations between patrons, curators, dealers, and gallery owners. "It is our responsibility as creators to protect, value, and support one another, and be open to one another's support," said Charria.
Born in Cali, Columbia, Charria moved to Naples, Florida, as a little girl, before relocating to Miami in 2003. Here she discovered the town's then burgeoning art scene. This Art Basel, the Ones is a part of Nicole Ehrlich and Rocket in my Pocket's second annual Celebration Women in Art, alongside the Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth A. Stackler Center for Feminist Art, School of Doodle, and 5D Society.
The new union between art and entertainment mirror Charria's ties to Miami and L.A. With the building of the PAMM, and the continued growth of Art Basel, Miami takes its place in the world as a growing center for the international art market. Coupled with LA's established entertainment culture, the two cities form a venn diagram that intersects precisely around Charria.
So how exactly is she planning on realizing this herculean vision? Charria will be exhibiting at Scope Miami Beach, Booth D33. With her, she's bringing a small group of artists curated to showcase her new vision.
One of her artists, Francesco Lo Castro, explores subjects in the metaphysical and existential realms, conveyed through a visual language that is both accessible and complex. Through the use of shapes, colors, symmetry, layers, and movement, Lo Castro presents his work across a platform that transcends the diversity of the human experience.
Elena Stonaker is another member of Charria's house of artists. As a mythmaker and storyteller, Stonaker illustrates creation, love, and mysticism through handcrafted intricacies and whimsical one-of-a-kind pieces. The Los Angeles-based artist bridges fine art and luxury design by exploring the possibilities of transformation through positive manifestation. Most recognized for her soft sculpture and wearable works, Stonaker re-imagines the experience of art by presenting the opportunity to physically embody and become a part of the work.
Self-trained dancer, and performance artist Jos McKain rounds out Charria's Scope acts. McKain's creative work approaches performances as a shamanic ritual where the heightened state of performance acts as a trance-like state. McKain has appeared in works by Mike Kelley, Marina Abramovic, Daft Punk, and Julien Previoux, who was awarded FIAC's 2014 Prix Marcel Duchamp. McKain will also be a part of Ryan McNamara's MEEM 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet presented by Art Basel Miami Beach and Performa.
The exhibit at Scope is just the start. After Basel, Charria is planning a major coup by staging a helicopter ballet choreographed and danced by Ryan Heffington, the choreographer behind Sia's Chandelier video. The production is the brainchild of Heffington, who's had it in the works for the past several years. Sia will write and perform original music for the performance, and the whole event will be filmed by Heffington's longtime collaborated Jason Trucco.
As a hoard of horned-rimmed artists, critics, collectors, and general lovers of art descend upon Miami over the next couple of weeks, the city's culture will be, at least momentarily, transformed. Whether Charria and her bunch can successfully argue her new perspective remains to be seen. What is certain is that her proposed change will leave lasting marks on Miami, and the art world at large.
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