Art Basel: Where The Wild Walls Are
- Author: Vivianne Lapointe
- Posted on: Tuesday December 15, 2009 at 3:00 PM
- Filed under: exclusive, graffiti, primary flight, miami, art basel
"Let's Live Today... In Case It's All Lost Tomorrow."
When you think about it, it's a pretty realistic motto to live by for any & all street artists whose work are as temporary as the institutions that decide to take them down, paint over them and make them disappear overnight. Thankfully, things are changing in Wynwood, aka South Florida's (booming) Art District, a locale where graffiti is revered as a legitimate form of contemporary art.
During Art Basel Miami Beach 2009, we were able to witness this: it's safe to say that the explosive, irreverent street art burgeoning all over midtown was the most inspiring and exciting part of our trip at the fairs last week.
We bumped into REVOK - the Los Angeles-based artist who painted these words of wisdom on a wall off North Miami Avenue - on a cloudy Sunday afternoon as he was putting the last touches on his painting commissioned by a collaborative curatorial organization called Primary Flight.
Here's a quick Basel specific street art history lesson for the uninitiated.
In 2007, a Fort Lauderdale graffiti artist named Darin "Books" Bischof launched Primary Flight along with 15 other artists to create murals in Wynwood on buildings & warehouses where art enthusiasts owners such as, for instance, Martin Margulies of The Margulies Collection, had given permission for art, stage performances and parties.
Since then, the street level exhibition has grown in artist participation levels, funding (see numerous sponsors), buzz, and reach. This year, it included over 30 local and international artists painting murals on over 25 building around town: ranging from barely known talents to established street to gallery artists such as Melbourne's Meggs, who we featured before on JT.com in a post titled: When Graffiti Meets Cartoon.
Furthermore, a huge indoors "traditional fair" space was dedicated to represent the finest graffiti artists in a world, in a show titled Graffiti Gone Global.
Above: Miami's young prodigy Typoe at work.
See Victor Reyes' stunning wall below, starring a exalted Pegasus, a symbol of knowledge, glory, and inspiration.
Photo Credit: Victor Reyes
SF-based Reyes has been invited to paint by Primary Flight to paint since the very first year. "Right now, Wynwood has the coolest site specific murals in the world," he told us. "It's a real treat to be part of that momentum and to see all the critical attention the event gets this year. My first wall from three years is still out here for everyone to see. It's really great to see the landscape evolve. Our work is cumulative."
We snapped some pics we took as the crews were headed back to their walls after a rainshower.
There were few gals at work, including the very talented Tatiana.
Here's Scarface playing videogames and holding a supersized bottle of Bubble Yum:
Of course we spotted groupies! These chicks definitely were in one of our best style sighting during Art Basel this year:
Here's a link to Primary Flight's blog should you want to check out portraits of the artists along with their finished pieces.
Psst. We skipped the Shepard Fairey walls to focus on up-and-coming artists, but you can always check them out here.
Reportage and Photos by Vivianne LaPointe unless otherwise indicated.
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COMMENTS
“ Thanx, Vivianne, it's so beautiful! The photos are grand. ”
“ WOW Amaizing . ”
