Visual Arts

Videographer Jacob Katel wandered midtown and Wynwood to capture the energy and excitement the satellite fairs brought to our city. This is the first of a two-part video series…

So Basel, Pulse, Design Miami/ and Scope all had duck inspired pieces, which sort of bewildered us, but that was hardly the biggest ducky art news of the week. Franca Sozzani, the editor of Vogue Italia, was in town to unveil, hey, guess what, a giant resin duck by British…

Riptide cares about celebrities in the same way most celebrities care about Art Fairs: We will use them for shallow reasons. Celebrities need publicity and free drinks and, most of all, attention. Riptide needs things of local relevance to blog about. So with out further ado, here is your Art…

NYC artist Gregory de la Haba, who has two young sons, spent five years creating a life-size sculpture of a horse with a two-foot-long schlong, about to mount a mare with a motherin’ vagina. When he chartered a truck that carried a picture of the sculpture to drive around Wynwood last Tuesday, Miami…

Art Basel is here and the galleries of Wynwood and the Design District are packed with beautiful hip people, vying for attention with the paintings on the walls. And of course everyone is out to look their flyest. The beauty industry of Miami is well aware that the influx of…

Riptide has been noticing lots of weird little trends during Basel week. Which is quite easy considering the sheer amount of art gracing the city right now. The real feat would be finding a piece so unique it is essentially peerless. But the artists responsible for the latest trend we’ve…

The Green Art Fair, billing itself as a “single point of contact for the art and design world, eco-friendly businesses and all individuals interested in moving the environmental friendly movement forward,” seems like a gyp for the $15 entry charge.The skimpy tent fair only features a handful of designers and…

While trolling through Scope Miami yesterday an unusual piece of wearable art stopped my daughter Bethany dead in her tracks. Brooklyn’s Helene Dumenil Gallery was exhibiting a pair of boots made out of horses hooves created by Berlin’s Iris Shieferstein. “What size are they,” Bethany inquired about the $6,000 kicks…

Riptide kind of has a love/hate thing with the idea of blog based point and click photographers achieving notoriety. On one hand the whole phenomenon is just kind of shallow and vein, on the other, well, we love to look at oddly dressed people doing oddly drunk thing. Plus the…

“Giants in the City” featuring whimsical inflatable sculptures by ten local artists opened Tuesday night at Bayfront Park where an intimate crowd gathered for a lighting ceremony and a concert on the green. “It was pretty chilly but about 200 people showed up,” says artist Alette Simmons-Jimenez who along with…

Art Asia is one of the few fairs to debut this year, though, as an annex to Scope. As the name suggests it specializes in contemporary art by Asian artists. The stated purpose is to demonstrate the influence of Asian art on the world, yet the most obvious theme found…

Riptide has already wondered about the symbolism of an Obama portrait being the most noticeable piece one see’s when entering Art Basel. Perhaps an Obama portrait should say “Welcome to Art Basel. We know, we know. The economy is in the tank, but look at this President. Don’t worry, change…

If you haven’t realized that 30 Rock is the single best thing regularly on the teevee right now Riptide pities you. Last night’s episode centered around Liz Lemon’s high school reunion. Alec Baldwin’s fictional NBC Exec Jack Donaghy offers Liz a hitch on the comapny jet on his why to…

Greg Haberny, The Wanker’s Ball at Fountain Art FairYesterday afternoon Wynwood streets were surprisingly light in traffic with the exception of a few taxis, rickshaws and Miami Police squad cars along North Miami Avenue. It was nothing like last year when cabs and limos snaked bumper-to-bumper in the gritty nabe.On…

The word for last night’s opening of Art Positons was “tight.” Tight in the way Frat boys mean “somewhat awesome.” Tight in that it was crowded, and getting in and out of the mini galleries housed in storage containers wasn’t an acitivity for claustophobes. Tight in the way that everything…

Walking into the Scope tent yesterday was like getting smacked in the face with an art stick. You know, in a good way. Inside, it was a visual sensory overload, with way too much for any normal, methamphetamine-free viewer to see in one trip. Riptide felt like a contestant on…

The vacuums roared cleaning up leftover debris as the press was allowed a preview of what’s in store for the crowds visiting the tent at photo MIAMI. Lights flickers on and off, while the A/C hummed loudly making it uncomfortably cold inside on an usually frigid Tuesday afternoon.”We are just…

We have not been to a single art fair this week yet where we haven’t seen a duck inspired piece. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, or what it reflects, but if I had the money I’d buy up every waterfowl piece I came across. This is Richard…

Perhaps the most striking piece immediately visible as you enter Art Basel from the convention center’s East entrance is Obama by Yan Pei-Ming at David Zwriner. Perhaps an Obama portrait should say “Welcome to Art Basel. We know, we know. The economy is in the tank, but look at this…

Few dealers in town can claim the longevity of Barbara Gillman, who began peddling art out of her home 40 years ago. “Back then I was selling to local banks and thought, ‘Wow! This is easy.'”The self-styled doyenne of the fledgling South Florida arts scene went on to open her…

They’re out there: hoity-toity connoisseurs just waiting to tell you that fashion photographers aren’t real artists. They’ll say, “Bla, bla, bla isn’t fine art. Bla, bla, bla isn’t thought-provoking… Bla.” Then they’ll take a sip of free champgne from a plastic cup and check their Blackberries when it’s your turn…

When my mother dropped me off at Boy Scout camping trips she always joked with the troop leaders that her idea of camping involved staying at the Ritz-Carlton. My mom would laugh at her own joke while the khaki-clad men smiled politely. This year’s Design Miami/ inhabits a tent that…