4. FriendsWithYou

Cultist proudly presents "100 Creatives," where we feature Miami's cultural superheroes in random order. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email [email protected] with the whos and whys.



4. FriendsWithYou

Whether you're an art lover from Miami or Berlin or New York, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of FriendsWithYou or seen their work. The artist collaborative, comprised of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, or Sam and Tury, was born eight years ago. FWY spreads a feeling of fun and playfulness to their audiences. There's pretty much nothing somber about it, and the work is accessible to just about anyone. From their graphic stuffed creatures to the gigantic bounce houses at last year's Rainbow City during Art Basel Miami Beach, their art is the art of joy. 

Through large-scale installations, like the bounce houses, they

encourage adults to be kids again, and kids to be, well, kids. They give

people a place to make friends and enjoy their bodies. FriendsWithYou

also creates live performances, animations, and multimedia projects that

are always colorful, creative, and magical, and best of all, not too

creepy. 

FriendsWithYou's work has been

exhibited at or included in the permanent collections of such

prestigious galleries as Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, the

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Haus der Kulturen der Welt Museum in Berlin,

Art Gallery of Western Australia, and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. 

Visit friendswithyou.com or fwystudios.com or write to [email protected].

1. List five things that inspire you.

-Magic
-Luck
-Friendship
-Love
-Unity 

2. What was your last big project? 

Rainbow City was our last larger than life installation, taking place in the Design District during Art Basel 2010. Rainbow City is a fully interactive environment that played with every sense. It is comprised of a 40 piece inflatable city striped with color and filled with living magic. The inflatable sculptures ranging from 10 to 40 feet in scale created a place where visitors could come and make their own story amongst the art we created. 

3. What's your next big project? 

We are working hard to bring our magic to the entire world in a big way. We are focusing on all means of modern communication through fine art installations hopefully in China and on the High Line in New York in the year, as well as animations that we can infect the whole world with our happy virus.

4. Why do you do what you do? 

Our mission is to connect all people and fight human alienation with our art. Bringing happiness to the world to make it a better place. To allow people to be at their best and share love and information making a global village. 

5. What's something you want Miami to know about you? 

We love you. You are our home. You are pure magic. We are thankful for your support. 

What's something you don't want Miami to know about you? 

That we are secretly aliens that came to Earth to harvest human souls for our King Haeluzharad, the great Ruler of Xoozorex level 5 Zytarian.

The Creatives so far:

5. Typoe
6. Wendy Wischer
7. Lucas Leyva
8. Jen Stark
9. Adler Guerrier
10. Susan Lee-Chun
11. Andres and Diego Meza-Valdes
12. Beatriz Monteavaro
13. Timothy Buwalda
14. Edwidge Danticat
15. Juraj Kojs
16. Cat Dove
17. Campbell McGrath
18. Frances Trombly
19. Jose Mertz
20. Emma Trelles
21. Pablo Cano
22. Natasha Tsakos
23. Freegums
24. Aurora Natrix
25. Gean Moreno
26. Yaddyra Peralta
27. Barron Sherer
28. Brigid Baker
29. Daniel Fila
30. McLaine Oberhellmann
31. Fro Rojas
32. Annie Hollingsworth
33. Preston Allen
34. Cristina Molina
35. David Josef Tamargo
36. Jillian Mayer
37. Alfonso Vega
38. Natasha Lopez de Victoria
39. Aholsniffsglue

40. Heather Maloney
41. Jorge Rubiera
42. Elaine Lancaster
43. Nick Duckart
44. Danielle Estefan
45. John Dufresne
46. Monica Lopez de Victoria
47. Bill Bilowit
48. Alette Simmons-Jimenez
49. Tawnie Silva
50. Ginger Bardot
51. Jonathan David Kane
52. Naomi Fisher
53. Rocky Grimes
54. Teresa Barcelo
55. Paul Tei
56. Lee Materazzi