Back to the Beach

By: By David Heller

December 2006

Miami may still be considered the clichéd fun and sun capital of America, but it’s also a great city
Courtesy Miami Dade Art in Public Places

Roberto M. Behar and
 Rosario Marquardt, "M," 1996 concrete block, stucco, concrete, paint.

for art. Art Basel Miami Beach, the only outpost of the famed art fair outside of Switzerland, is joined this year by 10 other fairs capitalizing on its fame. (This year’s Art Basel Miami Beach, December 7–10, features some 195 galleries at the Miami Beach Convention Center and countless satellite exhibitions, performances and art happenings around the city.) Once again, Design Miami ’06, a showcase of modern furniture that launched last year in the Design District of Miami to much acclaim, will return during Basel Weekend. In January 2007, Art Miami (Jan. 5–8) sets up camp in the Miami Beach Convention Center for the 17th year with a strong showing of Latin art; the Original Miami Beach Antique Show (Jan. 11–15) is also returning to the convention center. Miami Modernism (Jan. 20–22), a fair focusing on mid-century furniture and collectibles, will once again occupy the James L. Knight Center. In Miami, this is the harvest season of art, but at any time of the year, art is just about as common as palm trees. Here are four reasons to migrate south this winter:

1. AN ART ROOM OF ONE'S OWN
Since the launch of Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami has become known for several important contemporary collectors—such as Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz on Key Biscayne and Norman and Irma Braman in Bal Harbor—who have built home museums. During Art Basel, many of the private collections in town are open for VIP tours. Don and Mera Rubell (related to the late Steve Rubell of Studio 54 fame) have taken the unusual step of moving to their collection. Several years ago, they established the Rubell Family Collection in Wynwood, the SoHo of Miami, an area that now boasts most of the city’s galleries and, most recently, an outpost of the North Miami museum MoCa. To be closer to their art, the Rubells built an apartment over their private museum, which is open to the public every day and features work by Keith Haring and a host of other contemporary artists.

2. SLEEP AND EAT WITH ART
The Sagamore Hotel on South Beach has become known as the art hotel of the city, with a lobby that more closely resembles a gallery, replete with an epic-scale photograph by Massimo Vitali. It now has a very busy restaurant as well, Social Miami, that is well, exceptionally social, especially during Art Basel and Art Miami. To dine amid a first-rate collection has a certain aesthetic flair. In Little Haiti, the perfect correlation between art and food can be found at TransEAT/Food Culture Museum, founded by famed chef Montserrat Guillen and the renowned Spanish artist Antoni Miralda. Everything pertaining to food and the senses, from unusual African canned goods to Miralda’s own renditions of giant plastic tongues, can be found at this tasty little museum. It’s open by appointment, and Guillen, a famed cook, is known to serve wonderful fare at their openings.


3. THE MUSEUM BEAT
In recent years, the museums of Miami have begun to keep pace with the city’s great private collections. The Miami Art Museum recently hired Terence Riley away from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and is building a new facility on Biscayne Bay. Ella Cisneros, of the noted collecting family, has opened a private museum in South Miami, Miami Art Central. But the
Courtesy Miami Art Museum

Edward Burtysnky, "Shipyard #11,
Qili Port, Zhejiang Province, China," 2005, digital chromogenic print.

standard-bearer is still The Wolfsonian–FIU, founded by Mitchell Wolfson Jr. and featuring his vast collection of acclaimed decorative and propaganda art from 1885 to 1945. It’s located smack-dab in the heart of South Beach, right on nightclub row, and remains a strange treasure. Where else can you see King Farouk’s matchbook collection and countless propaganda posters from World War II?

4. ART FOR THE PEOPLE
For many years, Miami has had one of the finest public art programs in the country, and any visitor should not miss the local landmarks of art, such as Karel Appel’s colorful “Tulip” at the corner of 72nd Avenue and SW 29th Street. And of course, Miami—a place given to grand gestures—has a huge M, right at the Riverwalk Station of the MetroMover, the monorail system that circles downtown. The sculpture, “Red M,” by Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt, celebrates the alliance of Miami and, of course, all kinds of magic.

David Heller is a Miami-based journalist who covers art-related destinations and collectors’ stories.



MIAMI CHECKLIST

(Area code 305 unless otherwise noted)

►Ambrosino Gallery
771 N.E. 125th St.
891.5577
Contemporary art, featuring such Miami artists as Annie Wharton.

►Architectural Antique Inc.
2520 S.W. 28th Ln.
285.1330
Antiques of assorted time periods, at various price points.

►Barbara Gillman Gallery
4141 N.E. 2nd Ave., #200B
573.1920
Contemporary gallery with local artists.
 
►Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
3550 N. Miami Ave.
573.2700
Emerging artists and Miami stalwarts.
 
►Bonnin Ashley Antiques Inc.
4707 S.W. 72nd Ave.
667.0969
European and American antiques from the 18th and 19th century.

►Cauley Square Shops
22400 Old Dixie Hwy.
258.3543
Three antiques stores with Florida artifacts, something of a Homestead institution.

►Centro Cultural Español
800 Douglas Rd., Suite 170
448.9677
Emphasis on Latin American art.

►Cernuda Arte
3155 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
461-1050
Cuban art, from modern masters to contemporary work.

►Damien B. Contemporary Art Center
282 N.W. 36th St.
573.4949
Modern work, from Europe and America, with occasional performance pieces.

►Diaspora Vibe Gallery
3938 N. Miami Ave.
573.4046
Contemporary Caribbean art.

►Dorsch Gallery
151 N.W. 24th St.
576.1278
Showcase for such alternative Miami artists as Charles Recher.

►Evelyn S. Poole Ltd. Antiques Gallery
284 Bay Dr.
861.0603
A Bal Harbor fixture, specializing in fine antiques of varying periods. A second location at 3295 N. Miami Drive.

►Frederic Snitzer Gallery
2247 N.W. 1st Place
448.8976
Contemporary gallery, featuring such Miami-based artists as Robert Chambers and Mette Tommerup.

►Galerie D’Art Nader
1911 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
444.1740
Haitian contemporary art, among other selections.

(Area code 305 unless otherwise noted)

►Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
194 N.W. 30th St.
573.2130
The Wynwood outpost of the Paris-based contemporary gallery with a stable of international artists.

►Industrian 20th Century Design Store
5580 N.E. 4th Ct.
754.6070
Mid-century furniture and collectibles.

►Kevin Bruk Gallery
2249 N.W. 1st Place
576.2000
Contemporary art, primarily New York–based, with some Miami artists’ works.

►Locust Projects
105 N.W. 23rd St.
576.8570
Non-profit gallery featuring emerging Miami artists.

►MoCa at Goldman Warehouse
404 N.W. 26th St.
893.6211
New exhibition space featuring a selection of internationally recognized contemporary artists.

►Orion Vintage Furnishings
4030 N. Miami Ave.
438.0103
Furniture and decorative objects by the masters of 20th-century design.

►Rocket Projects
3440 N. Miami Ave.
576.6082
Alternative gallery with occasional installations.

►Rubell Family Collection
95 N.W. 29th St.
573.6090
Exhibition space owned by leading contemporary collectors Don and Mera Rubell.

►The Americas Collection
2440 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
446.5578
Gallery for “new artists and old friends.”

►Vermillion 20th Century Furnishings and Fine Art
765 N.E. 125th St.
893.7800
Thoughtful pieces by design stars of the 20th century.