Last night, Midtown Miami morphed into an overwhelming visual arts playground. On a terrace in front of Art Miami, what looked like eight-foot-long indigo stalks of licorice swished around with visitors passing through it. Purple-caped girls handed out tiny kites, advertising the Cirque du Soleil show Kooza (in Bicentennial Park). And in front of Scope, a convertible was draped in a kaleidoscopic knitted creation from Polish artist Olek.
Overall, the general feel of Scope (with Art Asia flanking it) seems
free of the stuffy, elitist attitude that tends to plague the
high-priced, institutionalized world of contemporary art. But make no
mistake, it still possesses the effortless cool factor: the hipster
gallery owners, the cutting-edge curatorial projects and special
programs, and the diverse (but keen) crowds pounding the floors.
Highlights included an enormous mural produced by Keyrock Screenprinting
(produced by New York collective Eat Shit & Die) called UP WITH
MURAL is a grid of grosteque faces representing social, cultural,
political and psychological evils. Another visual treat was Jeremy
Earhart's handmade wall-mounted glass creations for a.m.f. projects,
Miami complimented by Shelter Serra's clever resin casts of a Rolex, a
bundle of rope, and a half-consumed box of chocolates.
Carole Feuerman's
giant, hyper-realist swimmer dozing in an inner tube was truly uncanny
(a la Duane Hanson), presented by Gallery Biba from Palm Beach. Other
notable eye-catchers were Tim Sullivan's grand prize-winning multimedia
installation for Art Takes Miami 2010, a completely knitted, enclosed
bedroom from Olek (the same artist as the car at the fair's entrance),
Karyn Olivier's trippy Doubleslide, and Karelle
Levy's Quickie Couture.
So the final verdict? Scope has
delivered a brand new punch to the satellite fairs circuit for 2010. The
friendly atmosphere, the electrifying works ... Scope is truly unmissable.
