Art Basel: Usain Bolt opens Hublot store in Design District

 

By Anthony Cave | Miami.com | [email protected]

Usain Bolt crossed the finish line in a suit. Gold Puma’s too.

The widely regarded fastest man in the world and six-time Olympic gold medalist had a track and field style set-up outside the opening of the Hublot Galerie in the Design District Saturday.

Bolt, a brand ambassador for the Swiss watch brand, was part of the ribbon cutting festivities, along with Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe.

Thankfully, we did not have to chase after Bolt for an interview. We caught up with the Jamaican superstar before his boutique appearance. The speedster admitted that this was his first time in Miami during Art Basel.

It seems like you’re not in the U.S. too often, what are your thoughts on Miami?
“Miami is a cool place; I’ve been here a few times. It’s one of the places that doesn’t get really cold (laughs), for me, I like that…I have a few friends here who cuss me out and say I should come out more often. I think, in the future, when I retire, then I’ll have more time.” 

Since you’re associated with Hublot, have you met Dwyane Wade?
“I’ve met Dwyane. I met him on the Gatorade shoots. He’s cool. I’ve seen him play in person, cool dude.”

Beyond the endorsements and running times, what do you do to relax?
“Stay home (laughs). I love video games so I play Call of Duty a lot and just chill with my friends. I think I watch way too much movies. I’m an iTunes junkie, so I watch a lot of movies off iTunes.”

(For more answers from Usain Bolt and his plans for the 2016 Olympics, click here)

Art Week: Miami tech startup brings Wynwood street art to life

It's a beautiful day to check out the walls of Wynwood this weekend, and while you are there pop by Freedom to see a few works of Wynwood's finest -- Kazilla, Miguel Paredes, Lebo and Trek6 -- brought to digital life.

A new Miami startup, blackdove, is creating a distribution platform for digital motion art. The vision is to turn your big screen TV into a canvas with affordable, changeable motion art. The free app is available on Apple and Android, and about 15 works, including the Wynwood pieces, are free to download. Think Spotify for art. Blackdove now is integrated with Google Chromecast; AppleTV and other integrations are on the way. And coming soon: a blackdove marketplace to purchase the art at prices typically ranging from $10 to $100. "The traditional art world wants you to believe arts is not accessible," said co-founder Marc Billings. "We want to make art accessible." 

The startup is launching this week, but the founders have been at the startup game for awhile. Pictured here with a Miguel Paredes creation is Billings, the team's tech wizard, who most recently was part of the co-founding teams of itopia and Boatsetter, and Tito Gaudenzi, who has marketing and advertising experience and ran a global event company. Their third cofounder is Marisa Terrizzi, chief curator.
"We encourage people to come in and see the art and interact with it," said Gaudenzi, adding that the response all week has been overwhelming. The Wynwood pieces, plus a selection of other art, and blackdove team members will be on hand from noon to 8 Saturday and Sunday at 48 NW 25th St.

-- Nancy Dahlberg | @ndahlberg

 

Download blackdovevid.MOV

Art Basel: North of Modern at Midpoint Miami

Midpoint Miami at NE 79th Street and Biscayne Boulevard is Miami's first mall and its undergoing a major renovation with artist studios and new retail spaces opening in 2015. 

Miami-based Joshua Kingston curated “North of Modern” to feature the work of notable local artists including Christin Paige Minnotte, Deborah Gray Mitchell, Eleazar Delgado, Erin Parish, Evo Love, Gianna Di Bartolomeo, Gregorii Trombo, Hilma Koelman, Ivan Castillo, Jonathan DeCamps, ERMAN, Monique Lassooij, MANO, Tracy Cristal and Wesley Alvarez.

The group show is open to the public in the new pop-up gallery space at 553, 557, 570 NE 81st St., Miami. Today is the last day of programming and the gallery is open from 1 to 11 p.m.

- Galena Mosovich

Art Basel: Niche Media Art Basel Magazine Women in Arts Luncheon draws luminaries

Niche Media held its annual Art Basel magazine Women in Arts luncheon on Friday, at Katsuya Restaurant at the SLS South Beach.
 
The event, hosted by Art Basel magazine editor-in-chief Sue Hostetler, honored four leading women, Madeleine Gyrnzstejn, Brooke Neidich, Lynda Benglis and Teresita Fernandez.

About 100 attendees munched on miso cod, chicken teriyaki, spicy yellowtail rolls and more at the luncheon, sponsored by Baha Mar Residences,
 
Among the artists in attendance were Carrie Mae Weems and Tracey Emin. Other luminaries included Kevin Systrom, co-founder and chief executive of Instagram, with his girlfriend Nicole Schuetz, founder of Sutro Energy Group, and Nadja Swarovski, member of the executive board of Swarovski Crystal.
 
-Ina Paiva Cordle
 

Kevin Systrom and Nicole Schuetz

 

Nadja Swarovski

 

Carrie Mae Weems

 

Art Basel: A Picasso goes for more than $2.5 million at Fine Art Auctions Miami

Fine Art Auctions Miami (FAAM) closed its "Important Paintings and Sculpture" auction at 80 NE 40th St. in the Design District Thursday night with the sale of Pablo Picasso’s The Painter and the model at $2,582,500. 

Big sales:

1. Lot 48 - Pablo Picasso, La Peintre et son modele, 1965 - $2,582,500
2. Lot 32 Wilfredo Lam, Personnage, 1970 - $290,000
3. Lot 44 Moise Kisling, Grand Bouquet devant la fenêtre, 1928, $362,500
4. Lot 31 Robert Matta, Le Progess Espirituel, 1971 - $ 242,500

Total: $4,335,500

[All sold prices include buyer’s premium]

-- Galena Mosovich

Designer Jon Buscemi unveiled his Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege Decanted Collection during Art Basel.

Thursday night the Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege Decanted Collection by acclaimed designer Jon Buscemi was unveiled at a private location in South Beach during Art Basel. In this collaboration for Art Basel, Buscemi reinterpreted the art of luxury with a collection comprised of a Tote Bag, Leather Cinch Bag, Hat, Bottle Porter, Coasters and a signature 100 mm High Top Shoe. None are for sale.

The exclusive Decanted gallery will be open by private appointment only this weekend at Basel for select VIPs to come through and experience the limited collection with the designer and special guests.

-- Fred Gonzalez

Art Basel: Baz Luhrmann channels his inner child at ABMB

 

Credit: Shayne Benowitz

Swiss-based Galerie Gmurzynska is at Art Basel Miami Beach showcasing “A Kid Could Do That!” in collaboration with famed film director and producer Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. The great works curated by Nelle Hooper include artists Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Joan Miro, Wifredo Lam, and others.

Miro’s “Jeux d’infants” painting is paired with an exclusive reinterpretation of a film featuring the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo for which Miro designed the set in the 1930s. 

We caught up with the visual genius who brought us Romeo + Juliet, which he wrote here in Miami Beach nearly two decades ago, Moulin Rouge!, and The Great Gatsby at booth B02 inside the Miami Beach Convention Center to chat about his creative input, and of course, Shakespeare.

Joan Miro, "Painting for the ballet 'Jeux d'Enfants'", 1932, Oil on cardboard. Galerie Gmurzynska at Art Basel Miami Beach, www.gmurzynska.com.

 
Tell me about the making of this exhibition.

BL: All children are innately artists so I helped contextualize this by setting it in a schoolroom. I also made this movie inspired by Balanchine.

How do you nurture your inner child?

BL: I could easily lose the inner joy that it takes to be creative. As a kid, you express because you’re angry or sad, but after receiving recognition, you lose confidence. That’s why it’s important to walk away and take risks. But always keep doing what you love.

List a few of your maxims for success.

BL: Well, all work and no play makes Baz a boring boy.

1. I have to enjoy the people I work with much like kids seek out kids they want to play with.

2. I always find adventure in the journey, meaning I need to do it, whatever it is, for myself.

3. Nothing I’ve ever made is what I imagined in the beginning. There’s a line to go from “not working” to “working” and you must always believe that the line is right around the corner.

What's next?

BL: I've always wanted to affect culture, but this gets harder as you get older. I hope to do the canon on Shakespeare. These primary texts influenced me so much as child and every decision I make for a film is based on them. Maybe Henry IV or King Lear...

-- Galena Mosovich

Photo credits: Shayne Benowitz; Galerie Gmurzynska- Joan Miro, "Painting for the ballet 'Jeux d'Enfants'", 1932, Oil on cardboard. Galerie Gmurzynska at Art Basel Miami Beach, www.gmurzynska.com.
 

Usher gets in on the Art Basel craze at ArtHaus

Grammy-Award winning artist Usher joined a crowd of art A-listers for the vernissage of ArtHaus. Mercedes-AMG, in conjunction with Lufthansa First Class presented the opening of ArtHaus, a luxury VIP lounge. The space, adjacent to Select Art Fair, serves as a place to meet, mingle and recharge. Photos: Larry Marano, Getty Images

Basel Dog: Basel House in Wynwood rescues, reunites dog with owner

In all this craziness that’s Art Basel, we thought of sharing a little human interest story, that we’re happy to report, had a happy ending.
 
Thursday night a stray dog wandered into Basel House in Wynwood - the only place where street artists can freely showcase their work. It’s also the only place that’s free and open to the public. (No wonder this particular dog felt welcomed.) The folks managing the pop-up gallery noticed that this dog was in need of attention.
 
They took him home, cleaned him up and then took him to the vet. The veterinarian was able to locate the owner of the dog. Turns out that this dog was stolen several months ago. Basel House was happy to reunite the owner to his beloved dog.

Basel Dog!

-- Fred Gonzalez and Dina Allende

Mr. Brainwash leaves his mark on Miami Art Week with a Burger King-inspired mural in Wynwood

By Fred Gonzalez | [email protected]

On an overcast Tuesday during Miami Art Week, pop street artists Mr. Brainwash was drawing a crowd in Wynwood. A crowd of students from the Miami Ad School filming his every move. A crowd of passers by wondering what he was up to. A crowd of Miami-based celebs and reality TV stars, all coming to say hello and snap a photo.

Mr. Brainwash, aka Thierry Guetta, was getting ready to begin pasting his latest mural - this one commissioned by Burger King - on the outside walls of GAB studios in Wynwood, across from Wynwood Kitchen and Bar and Jugo Fresh. But the weather wasn’t letting him start on time, a short, tropical rain shower passing through. So Brainwash did what he always does - he got spontaneous.

So he started painting people’s crisp, white shirts. First an older man in his collared, buttoned-down shirt. Then a young man sporting a white t-shirt and black jeans, and a big fan of the artist, stood up against the wall and Brainwash splattered his shirt with red, then blue, and then green paint. The young man’s smile looked permanent as he showed of his “Brainwash Original”.

“I never met him but he was so sweet, his face, and since we were waiting for the rain let’s do something for fun,” Brainwash said. “I have never done something like that before, but it was like having a show.

“I like creativity in all forms, and I like to be creative for people. When someone comes by with a camera, I want to be creative for them to please them,” Brainwash continued. “And my goal in life is to please people as much as possible. I do my work that I do with one message - that love is the answer, and life is beautiful.”