Stephen Gamson's work is "art" like the Herald's puff piece on him yesterday is "journalism." Technically it meets the basic requirements, but we should expect more.
It's not often that our daily does an 850-word feature on a local artist, and in a sense it was helpful, since it introduced us to Gamson. Sure, we've seen his work around town before, but we've never bothered to figure out who was responsible for it. I guess we'll have to get used to seeing a lot more of it.
Gamson is yet another South Florida "pop artist" who used to work for Britto ...of course he did. He's not as concerned with such a silly thing as artistic merit as he is with making people happy ...and making money.
He'll been designing work for Cafe Bustelo, painting luxury vodka bottles, "tooling about town in a Lamborghini he was commissioned to paint for the festival by Lamborghini of North America and Lamborghini Miami." (Ah, art and Lamborghinis, two things people in this town have a habit of buying not really to enjoy, but only as a way to flash their wealth.)
What the Herald fails to mention is that Gamson is also a succesful art dealer and collector whose apartment is decked out in Tromblys, Picassos and Warhols. It makes you wonder, then, why his enviable studio space must be "provided" by arts patron Andres Asion.
Of course, amongst Gamson's favorite artists is Keith Haring. Gamson's figure may actually be the bathroom door symbols, but he says the idea hit him in a Russian bathroom. We have to wonder if the idea hit him while looking at Haring.
We're also a bit surprised that Gamson apparently doesn't have any of Julian Opie in his collection.
