Some local art dealers consider August a dead month for inaugurating shows. But for Wynwood dealers like Robert Fontaine, this time of year is the perfect occasion to offer Second Saturday Art Walk crawlers a broader inspection of Miami’s arts programming in a less structured setting. Beginning at 6 p.m., the free art walk will feature small works by names ranging from blue-chip international talent to rising locals. On view will be works in every conceivable media by artists including Damien Hirst, Marilyn Manson, Banksy, Nan Goldin, Olek, Josafat Miranda, Tina La Porta, and Troy Abbott. Fontaine also says it’s the only time of year dealers like himself can organize this type of display leading into the high art-fair season. “It’s not an exhibit with a theme in the traditional sense,” he says of the show this weekend at his eponymous Wynwood gallery (2349 NW Second Ave., Miami). “There will be upwards of 100 works by dozens of artists in our collection. It will be really great to see the works, many of them new, formally shown together as we begin the countdown to Art Basel. And it will also be a great opportunity for those venturing out to this month’s art walk to experience a taste of what we are planning for the future.” Alexander Korzer-Robinson, the dealer says, is one exemplary artist to watch. “He cuts the words out of old books he saves from the trash. The work is social commentary on how fewer people read and settle for only pictures, leaving behind the need for words. Though the work is in the tradition of collage, Alexander’s aim is pursuing the very personal obsession of creating narrative scenarios in small format,” explains Fontaine, who also calls the work a “deconstruction of nostalgia.”
Sat., Aug. 11, 6 p.m., 2012