Visual Arts

It all happened the day she decided she was going to delete her Instagram account. But then she received a notification. “I was in school all day and got back home,” Rune Lazuli recalls. “I had posted something on Facebook, and someone commented, ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Lady Gaga reposted your work.’” As she eagerly searched through the superstar’s Instagram page, there it was — Lazuli’s words posted for millions to see across the globe: “Crawl inside this body — find me where I am most ruined, love me there.”

When Jenan Matari, the cofounder of MissMuslim.com, asked me to wear contemporary Muslim clothing including a headscarf as part of A Day in Her Hijab — a virtual event she is organizing for December 10 — I hesitated. In general, I’m the kind of friend who will show up if something is critical — but if it’s just for social purposes, probably nah.

In his Variety review of Monica Peña’s feature debut, Ectotherms, Guy Lodge referred to the zero-budget film as one of “the most striking world premieres at the Miami Film Festival.” To meet Peña and chat with her is such a casual, though always engaging, experience that one would never expect her to be a filmmaker who presents such intensity in her work.

Jason Fitzroy Jeffers is first and foremost a storyteller. Though the mediums through which his stories are told can vary, the direction of his artistic gaze stays laser-focused on the Caribbean. The 35-year-old musician, writer, and filmmaker left his home of Barbados more than ten years ago, but it has not left him and continues to shape his creative expression.

Art Basel’s celebrity scene gets more crowded each year, with club events, block parties, rooftop soirees, and everything in-between, all competing for the attention of the famous faces who flock to Miami’s biggest art week. From actors to musicians, models and more, here’s how the other half partied during Miami…

Osama Bin Laden’s erect genitalia covers the nose of a cut-out of President-elect Donald Trump’s head. Trump’s mouth spews  glittery brown droplets of waste. A neon-green speech bubble sprouts from Bin Laden’s mouth, declaring in all caps, “THE SPECTACLE LIKE MODERN SOCIETY ITSELF IS AT ONCE UNITED AND DIVIDED.” Surrounding…

The year 2016 has been fraught with political unrest, discord, and so much tension you can feel it like the crackling of electricity in the air. With a Trump presidency looming and many Americans expressing fear of what that regime change will look like, the art world is responding in…

Looks like we made it. Another Art Basel week in the books. But the party’s not officially over yet. The fairs are still open, and plenty of events around town are hoping to lure stragglers in with promises of restoration and mimosas. If you can muster the strength to get…

Spirits were high as three adventurous souls stripped down to their skivvies, grabbed a Pussy Riot surfboard, and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, as part of DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY, an installation by Tomas Vu and Rirkrit Tiravanija at Untitled, Art, Miami Beach. Artist Tomas Vu happily…

One of the latest additions to the Brickell skyline, the East, is getting in the Basel spirit with an installation and show of recent work from Chinese artist Ye Hongxing. The Shanghai-based artist is known for her intricate canvas pastiches, constructed with stickers she finds at flea markets and small…

Here’s what you will not encounter at fashion designers Maxwell + Dao’s installation at the Confidante pool area this Basel: Any exhibits to do with fashion design. Here’s what you will get: An ear into the candid conversations of the Public School duo and their friends, as they tackle every…

You have just two more days to take in all the spectacles around the city. The Basel fatigue struggle is real, but now’s the time to chug a coffee and get over it — or resign yourself to waiting a whole year for redemption. Basel Saturday has the biggest crowds,…

Goddessphere, an art installation emulating a strip club scheduled to launch at the Shore Club tonight, has been canceled. According to Marina Fini, one of the collaborators on the project, code enforcement officers arrived at the door of the penthouse today and shut the project down, citing a lack of…

You won’t have to buy a ticket to the fairs or battle traffic to get to a gallery to witness new art this week. Chances are that you’ll run into a newly installed work of art just wandering around like you always do. Artists from all over have installed pieces…

Lisa S. Johnson’s father was a guitar player, and her mother was a singer. Her father loved photography, so she studied it in school to bridge communications with him. While working for Eastman Kodak, she began dating a musician who owned a vintage guitar store, and he was first to recognize the singular soul of her artistic guitar portraits.

“It’s hard for me to define my identity. Because I have been to Cuba — over a decade ago, before this craze — I can say that I am Cuban,” explains Belaxis Buil. “Stepping out of the plane, I felt relieved. I actually cried. After spending time on the island and becoming acquainted with the people, I realized how Cuban I was…”

It’s Friday, and Art Basel weekend is ready to kick off. All the fairs are open. The galleries and museums have put on their best faces. It’s go time. Here are a few places to start.

Super 8 motel rooms aren’t exactly known for their chic and modern decor. But the budget hotel brand is now undergoing a transformation, shedding its old skin and stepping into a fresher, sleeker design. It’s out with the old and in with the new, and visitors to the “Super 8 Innov8te” Art Basel show in Wynwood…

Past the vintage neon signage of the art deco-style Parisian hotel in Miami Beach, an eight-foot-tall milk carton perpetually pours a stream into a colossal cereal bowl. Performers luxuriate in the liquid while splashing around and sipping tropical drinks. Floating inside the bowl are inflatable cereal pieces from favorite childhood brands.

Award-winning costumer Patricia Field has curated a line of art fashion to exhibit at the White Dot Gallery in Wynwood during Art Basel and throughout December.

They say life imitates art. But is it the other way around? Or is it a complex back-and-forth? Get a look at this new photo series, and you’ll seriously consider those questions.

You might have been partying the past couple of nights, but today is the official kickoff of Art Basel. The RSVPs, the art overload, and, yes, the traffic are about to get real. Pop a Xanax for that road rage and get ready for today’s best events.