Criticalmiami.com, props to you. Otherwise I would have missed the photo described as “officially the best thing all week” of Art Basel. I agree. The send-up of the iconic drawing by Richard Serra, called Abu Ghraib, was made by a DASH student (no name associated for attribution, sorry to say!), was found in Wynwood and belongs exploded to gargantuan size in painted, brushed steel and put in the plaza of the Carniverous Center for the Performing Arts.
Every time I read in the Miami Herald (as in today’s lead editorial) that “the city of Miami is on the brink of greatness”, Romero Britto comes to mind—the unofficial iconic artist in celebration of the inconsequential. Happy is good.
A port tunnel, the subject of the Herald editorial, is a good idea but forget about public funding: it should be funded through the port itself and associated fees, just like the baseball stadium should be funded by the Marlins. Period.
As to the breathless Herald depiction of ours as a great city, defined by the contribution of “new residential towers” (mostly empty), “a museum park” (for which there is neither parking or any hope for easy access by cars unless you work at the Miami Herald), and “a plan for a green, livable downtown” (with no public access to the waterfront, the signature feature of Miami), well enough parenthetical comments.
Give it up for DASH and the anonymous artist at large. Kid, you rock.
ps. There was too much to see at Art Basel, but also note with criticalmiami.com the gorgeous “Designer of the Year” Tokujin Yoshioka, at Design Miami. See for yourself, although the web scarcely does the project justice,
here:
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6 comments:
So sad to see this relentless boosterism in the face of reality. I suppose when we are all scratching rocks in the dirt someone will come along to tell us that prosperity is just around the corner.
PS: Methinks you didn't complete the post. Or was that art?
Thanks!
BTW, I've got the kid's name now!: Ilan Wilson-Soler.
~alesh
Ilan, you're officially famous on eyeonmiami!
Can't the piece be seen more as a direct commentary on the Abu Ghraib photo that Serra also used as the basis of his drawing? The link to the photo is below, hope it works. The image is pretty darn (in)famous on its own.
I agree that it is pretty fantastic stuff. I have always found Britto insufferable.
http://tiny.cc/sqcfV
Now I get it! it took a while. We are making fun of Britto playful tacky art. The trivializing Art juxtaposed on the starkly serious underpinnings.
Britto may be an iconic artist in celebration of the inconsequential but has anybody been to his studio on Lincoln Road and read all the pithy quotes that he posts from leading power-brokers? The reason he is official is because he knows how to brown nose and flatter those who matter in Miami.
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