Skateboards and Smiling Skulls

If you’ve been to any Urban Outfitters location in Miami in the past year, you’ve likely seen Taylor Kienholz’s creations — he does the hipster store’s displays. But the California native’s work has seeped outside retail and into beloved bar Kill Your Idol. There you’ll find his first solo show,...

By Amanda McCorquodale

July 22, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "19274298",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17482312",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482310",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482313",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

If you’ve been to any Urban Outfitters location in Miami in the past year, you’ve likely seen Taylor Kienholz’s creations — he does the hipster store’s displays. But the California native’s work has seeped outside retail and into beloved bar Kill Your Idol. There you’ll find his first solo show, “Amor y Muerte,” which he describes as his “rendition of love and death, how they coincide with each other.” He spray-painted the bar’s walls to look like they’re covered in Mexican blankets, and then layered them with grinning skulls, painted skateboards, and raucous graffiti art.

Kienholz says he’s been fascinated with Mexican folk art and graffiti since growing up in a community rife with Mexican gangs. “I wanted to be them — wanted to be gangsta. But I ended up finding skateboarding and didn’t go that violent, weird, destructive path that a lot of my friends went down. I got into graffiti and expressing myself in a positive way.” Mediate on love and death this Friday. Kill Your Idol will exhibit “Amor y Muerte” through August 5.
Mondays-Sundays, 7 p.m. Starts: July 23. Continues through Aug. 5, 2010

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.