The Art Basel labyrinth contains treasures aplenty yet nowhere else inside will visitors find the sort of epic installations displayed at OmniArt, a former unofficial Basel favorite. Housed in three nondescript warehouses west of the Miami Performing Arts Center, last year’s OmniArt 1 featured awe-inspiring works like Kaarina Kaikkonen’s And…
Grand colonnades, triumphant arches, and other equally imposing yet wholly superfluous elements have invaded Miami like an architectural virus, and one local architect wants it to stop. Through December 4, Miami’s Luis Pons will unveil his plastic 30-by-30-by-20-foot Fabulous Floating Inflatable Villa — a satirical monument to the pervasive McMansion…
One doesn’t have to be related to Paulie Walnuts or Big Pussy Bonpensiero or their goombahs to hook up with conceptual crew Friends with You. Made-in-Miami Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, who together form the Friends with You gang, are opening up the books at MoCA at the Goldman…
When cinema mavericks formed United Artists, studio bigwigs called their efforts a case of the lunatics taking charge of the asylum. Risking similar criticism, indie curator Anat Ebgi and artist Jen DeNike hatched Frisbee — the fun-poking anti-fair set to take control of South Beach’s Cavalier Hotel during Art Basel…
Most people are probably beginning to understand that Art Basel Miami Beach has spawned a crapload of periphery events all vying for the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Bigbucksartbuyer. Among Basel’s unofficial happenings are a handful of art fairs that have attained a noteworthy stature. Three new fairs will make…
On Wednesday, October 12, shortly after 6:00 p.m., three police cars slide into the parking lot of a Walgreens on SW First Street and Twelfth Avenue. The sun is low in the sky, and the first lights are snapping on in Little Havana as residents arrive home from work. Tonight’s…
Five minutes into the most closely timed surgery of his 58-year life, Scott Ross stops drilling. He pulls his tiny tool from Andrew Chauser’s gums, turns toward me, and raises his hand. “If I take a picture,” he asks, “will you stop the clock?” I frown, then peer down at…
Though big-game hunting went so out with bwana, it would be a mercy killing only if someone — Cupid, perhaps — launched an estrogen-tipped arrow straight to the heart of Zenobia, a 650-pound male lion who lives at the Destiny Big Cat Sanctuary in Southwest Ranches. It seems the consequence…
Much has been made of a union’s recent attempts to organize the University of Miami’s custodial workers. There have been Miami Herald articles, protests, even TV reports. For those of you not in the know, two big acronyms are fighting it out. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of…
“Im having to make a quantum leap in my way of thinking, a total shift,” says Gulfstream Park general manager Scott Savin. It’s not that Savin is changing jobs — rather, his job is changing. Radically. “There’s a way of doing business that I’m used to, but that’s totally gone…
Squealing bikini-clad blondes and brunettes throw their hands up rollercoaster-style as they skim across the Everglades. The six wannabe models look like they’re having a hell of a time, shimmying in their seats and tossing out come-hither smiles each time the director calls for another take. Of course, it’s not…
In late 2004 the Humane Society of the United States released a report condemning deplorable conditions at Miami-Dade County’s animal shelter in Medley. Healthy creatures were being caged next to sick ones. Dogs were choking on short leashes. Shelter workers violently thrashed cats around. And many of the animals were…
On a recent weekday afternoon, massive yachts bobbed gently off Turnberry Isle in Aventura. Sunbathers on shore lolled in a sea of white lounge chairs around a glittering pool, the only background noise a waterfall ruffling the chlorinated surface. It’s here that a dispute over zoning, lifestyle, and towels escalated…
The sign, written in marker on a dry-erase board, leans against the remaining window of Sweat Records’ store at NE Second Avenue and 23rd Street. “Dear friends and customers,” it reads. “As you can see, Sweat Records got pretty messed up by Wilma….” And you can see: Weeks after the…
Hundreds of writers, book editors, and other denizens of the publishing industry are descending upon Miami and environs this week for the Miami Book Fair International. The list of renowned authors is pretty impressive: Michael Cunningham, Joan Didion, Robert Antoni, Margaret Atwood, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Kozol, Dava Sobel, Amy Tan,…
I. Truth and the Truthful Truisms That Truly Don’t Spring from It Well, yep, it’s presidential campaign season again. No, it’s not. Liar! But this is true: Just as sure as politics and literature are the conjoined twins of the intellectual world, no book fair would be complete without a…
Listen up, kiddies. You better buy your videogames soon. If state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla has his way, you’ll need Mommy to purchase the next Grand Theft Auto. That’s because Diaz de la Portilla, a Miami Republican, submitted a bill to the Florida Senate October 25 that would…
Last month, when Miami-Dade County’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board granted the Coconut Grove Playhouse protected historical status, local preservationists breathed a sigh of relief. The 1926 Mediterranean Revival building would be protected forever. But when the board meets again November 17, the playhouse will appeal the designation. “We want…
This year’s hurricanes didn’t just beach boats, buzz-saw trees, and short-circuit South Florida. They also floored the region’s number one provider of jobs to the disabled. Last week Goodwill Industries of South Florida laid off about 800 people in Miami-Dade County. Many of them worked at a taxpayer-backed superstore and…
Lenny Tachmes christened his new space near the Design District the Saturday night before Wilma made landfall. After sinking thousands of dollars into an old Floridian home and retrofitting it into a funky gallery, he was poised to make his art season run. On Monday he might have felt as…
Scrolling through the free stuff on Craigslist.com just days after Hurricane Wilma, you could find mildewed bookcases, bent ceiling fans, and a “30 ft. Royal Palm Tree/Yours for the taking/Perfect shape.” How did the tree get there? Miracles, good karma, and letting go in the wake of a wreckage-spewing storm…
Sometime after 3:00 p.m. this past October 27, Miami City Manager Joe Arriola ministered to Hurricane Wilma-weary residents at the Orange Bowl. He also relayed a message to citizens in District Five, which includes much of Overtown and Liberty City. A vote for Richard Dunn II will get nothing done…
