February Art Guide - Miami

Aside from celebrating George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays, Presidents Weekend is also the first long weekend of the year and is a very busy weekend in Miami! While the rest of the country is suffering from icy temperatures, here in South Florida we enjoy more tropical weather which make it ideal for a mid winter get away.

The Miami International Boat Show has selected President’s Weekend for their annual display of all types of water crafts and is when Biscayne Bay sees the most traffic. If you are here for the Boat show or just to thaw over the long weekend, there are a few other things you shouldn’t miss.

Monday is the last day to view “Christo and Jean-Claude: Surrounded Islands, 1980- 1983 A Documentary Exhibition” at the PAMM. The exhibition opened last fall and has brought thousands of museum-goers to see up close what the 3 year project entailed for this artist duo. Everything from their drawings, to the legal documents, to a rich photographic account and even samples of the actual fabric used to surround 11 islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay for a site specific installation that lasted only 10 days. 6.5 million square feet of fabric and thousands of volunteers made this possible and PAMM commemorates its 35th anniversary. If you haven’t seen it… you have until Monday February 18th!

Christo and Jean-Claude: Surrounded Islands, 1980- 1983

In its 8th edition, Art Wynwood opens doors on Valentine’s Day for a VIP only vernissage and is open to the general public from February 15-18th. Taking place at Art Miami’s new location at One Herald Plaza, Art Wynwood rounds up a roster of over 65 galleries from around the world in a very visitor friendly and fresh art fair environment. Small than its “big sister” fair, Art Miami, but no less prominent in terms of gallery and collector attendance.

Judy Chicago

Its also the perfect weekend to check some of Miami’s other highlights, like the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), who opened doors just over a year ago and have brought some truly astounding exhibitions. Currently on view and not to missed is Judy Chicago and Larry Bell’s major survey exhibitions. Bell’s minimalism is an exquisite expression of the exchange between shape, light and its surroundings. If you are able to play hooky for a few more days, the great feminist artist, Chicago, will be doing a performance based on the “Purple Smoke” on Thursday February 21st 7pm and access is free but seating is limited, so RSVP and come early as it is sure to be a full house!

Larry Bell

Find shelter from the sun this weekend at any of these great events or book your private and personalized tour to not miss a beat.

Learn more about Oh So Arty in Miami here.

February Art Guide - Bilbao

Recommendations of what to see in the Bilbao art scene this month by local insider María José Orihuela.

2019 started with good news for art lovers in Northern Spain: Chillida Leku Museum, former house of the great Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, reopens its doors to the public next April after 8 years of closure. It does so with a renovated team, some improvements on site and more importantly, a plan to host visiting exhibitions and hold events in collaboration with other art institutions. Counting the days until it happens!

I.

Exhibition: Alberto Giacometti. A Retrospective

Artist: Alberto Giacometti

Venue: Guggenheim Bilbao

Dates: until March 24th

Last June, Fondation Giacometti in Paris opened the doors of Atelier Giacometti, a faithful reconstruction of the artist’s studio in the same city. At the same time, Guggenheim New York held a major retrospective of the artist, showing nearly 200 sculptures, paintings, and drawings. This exhibition has now arrived to Bilbao and it is currently our best show.

© Alberto Giacometti

II.

Exhibition: En el Tiempo

Artist: Carlos Cánovas

Venue: Sala Rekalde

Dates: From February 15th until May 19th

Carlos Cánovas’s photography focus on spaces where nature and human intervention converge. His work is strongly tied to Bilbao and its industrial landscape, where many of the photographs of the series were taken. Its title is ambiguous relating to the temporal condition, it could be translated by “In Time”, but perhaps more accurately “Inside Time”. Exhibition produced by Museo Universidad de Navarra in collaboration with Museo ICO.

La Piel que Habitamos II (The Skin we Dwell On). 2018. Photography© David Latorre

III.

Exhibition title: Architecture, Body and Attire.

Artist: David Latorre

Venue: Juan Manuel Lumbreras Galería de Arte

Dates: until February 15th 2019

Spaces that are about to become a ruin are captured in their final catharsis by David Latorre’s photography. During a visit, one is likely to be exposed to mixed thoughts and feelings of nostalgia, romanticism and loss, surely a trip worth a try.

Learn more about Oh So Arty in Bilbao here!

Header Image: Sculpture park at Chillida Leku © Museo Chillida Leku

January Art Guide - Jerusalem

Starting the new year with some really interesting, eclectic and educational new exhibitions in Jerusalem! Don’t miss these three shows which span a wide variety of mediums, artists and ideas. Experience the Jerusalem art scene on an Oh So Arty tour.

I.

Exhibition: Placeless: Following Jacqueline Kahanoff

Artist: Group Show

Venue: Musrara New Gallery, HaAyin Het St. 9

Dates: Until February 24th

Part of Musrara’s Photopoetics event which spans three exhibitions connecting visual arts with prolific Israeli literary works, Placeless: Following Jacqueline Kahanoff, follows the writing and thought of Jacqueline Kahanoff, focusing on the search for identity in the Mediterranean expanse, while looking at notions of Eastern and Western, antagonism versus fluidity and hybridity, belonging and not belonging. A writer and essayist, Kahanoff sought to define multiculturalism as a world view and a way of living, long before the postmodern discourse. Alongside Kahanoff’s texts, the artists who were invited to participate in the exhibition explore, each in his or her own way, the possibility of presenting a personal voice and the ability to capture memory and cultural identity.

Image: Dafna Shalom, “Press Plants (Book of Exodus), photograph, 2018.

II.

Exhibition: Victory Over The Sun: Russian Avant Garde and Beyond

Artist: Group Show

Venue: Israel Museum, Ruppin Blvd. 12

Dates: Until July 2019.

The first comprehensive exhibition on the subject in Israel, Victory Over The Sun will explore avant-garde trends in Russian art during the 20th century. Beginning with Kazimir Malevich’s radical revolution in art prior to the year 1920, the exhibition emphasizes his Suprematist period and its significant influence on generations of prominent artists up to the present day. This is followed by an exploration of Nonconformist Art that emerged after Stalin's death, and the exhibition’s epilogue addresses the legacy of each of these movements in the works of contemporary artists, highlighting the continuity of the avant-garde tradition.

Image: Pavel Pepperstein, El Lizzitzky’s Autostrada in the Alps in 2401, watercolor on paper, 2017.

III.

Exhibition: Carry That Weight

Artist: Group Show

Venue: Jerusalem Artists’ House

Dates: Until March 9th.

The exhibition Carry that Weight explores the image of a youth carrying an animal on his shoulders, regarding the image as something which passes from hand to hand, like a commodity or a currency that crosses worlds, cultures, and periods, and changes meanings and contents. The works of the 21 participating Israeli artists extend from the 1950s to the present and introduce a lively dialogue with the image, bifurcating into diverse narratives. The works range from the shepherd figure to father-son relations, through allusions to the Sacrifice of Isaac portraying death and bereavement, as well as different representations of masculinity -- other works allude to feminine aspects, as well as to different types of burdens and the implications of the carried load on the body.

Image: Galia Pasternak, Plenty, Love, Rachel, oil on canvas, pastels and ink on paper, 2013

Learn more about Oh So Arty in Jerusalem here or book a tour here!

December Art Guide - Bilbao

Recommendations of what to see in the Bilbao art scene this month by local insider María José Orihuela.

I.

Exhibition: A Runaway World

Artist: Diana Thater.

Venue: Guggenheim Bilbao

Dates: until March 18th 2019

From time to time it is refreshing to escape from the surface of the museum walls and get immersed in a different format and dimension. Diana Thater’s video installation takes our senses and imagination to a faraway land, in Kenya, where a story about our changing world develops and makes us question our role in it. Using a phrase of the artist, it is an experience that lays somewhere “between science and magic”.

Diana Thater, A Runaway World, 2016-2017. Video installation Dimensions variable. Installation view, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles. Photo Credit: Fredrik Nilsen © Diana Thater and The Mistake Room Inc.

II.

Exhibition: Hanging Figures

Artist: Juan Muñoz

Venue: Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao

Dates: Until June 6th 2019

Hanging Figures is a guest artwork that can be a suggestive starting point of a visit to the museum. What I find in Juan Muñoz’s sculptures is a careful ambiguity in his representation. His figures, and particularly their faces, are both familiar and stereotypical, which leaves just enough room for the viewer to get unconsciously implied, complete the scene and relate to it quite intimately.

Exhibition photo, by MJ Orihuela.

III.

Exhibition: Tracing Memory

Artist: Aitor Ortiz

Venue: Museo Universidad de Navarra

Dates: until March 4th 2019

Tracing Memory is an outstanding photography exhibition that takes us to the University Museum of the neighbouring city of Pamplona. Aitor Ortiz’s work is twofold: on the one hand shows sheer excellence in architecture photography as we know it, on the other, there is a less linear and quite unique personal exploration.

Learn more about Oh So Arty in Bilbao here!

Header image: Aitor Ortiz’s installation at Museo Universidad de Navarra

Guide to Miami Art Week 2018

Next week Miami will be hit with an adrenaline rush of art, transforming this restless beach town into the art capital of the season! With over 20 fairs and hundreds of exhibitions, lectures, parties, happening all over town Art Week can be overwhelming and figuring out what to do and where to go can be exhausting. It takes planning, strategizing and a lot of patience as you Uber around town to the different venues… So I wrote this guide to highlight some of my favorite “must see” events and a few local insider tips on how to survive another Art Week…

If you are a local, like myself, you tend to skip the shows that will still be up after the fairs have left. Miami boasts 3 extraordinary private family collections that are open to the public and 3 magnificent museums, each with power exhibitions.

the 35th anniversary of Christo and Jean Claude’s “Surrounding Islands” commemorated at PAAM.

Like a local…

Margulies Collection at The Warehouse houses the collection of Martin Margulies and curated by Katherine Hinds, showcasing sculpture, photography, video, painting and large scale installations from international artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Rubell Family Collection offers free admission and extended hours during Art Week. This year their survey exhibition is of Miami local Purvis Young with over 100 paintings. Hans Ulrich Obrist’s interview is featured in the show’s catalogue.

More/Less a group exhibition at the De La Cruz Collection

De La Cruz Collection opens More/Less a group exhibition highlighting works from some of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Kicking off Art Week, the museum opens to the public and not to be missed is a lecture by Hans Ulrich Obrist at 8 PM.

PAMM celebrates the 35th anniversary of Christo and Jean Claude’s “Surrounding Islands” installation with an incredible exhibition of research, materials, videos, photographs documenting the ambitions project of the duo that took over Biscayne Bay from 1980-83. Christo will return for lectures and a private dinner for a few lucky museum patrons.

ICA, celebrating its 1st anniversary, packs a punch with Judy Chicago’s 5 decade retrospective, “Reckoning”, opening Tuesday December 4th. Her strong feminist voice paved the path in a male dominated world and who’s impact was felt not just in the art world, but beyond.

Judy Chicago, Sunset Squares, 1965/2018. Her solo exhibition 'A Reckoning' opens at the ICA December 5

The Bass underwent a major overhaul last year, opening again with Ugo Rondinone’s solo exhibition (perhaps one of the most Instagrammed shows of the year). This year’s Paola Pivi, Adam Curry and the much anticipated Haas Brother’s exhibition are sure to bring in the crowds.

The Faena Festival is back this year with a show titled “This is Not America”, anchored by Alfredo Jaar’s work “A Logo for America”. The works revolve around the America as a concept not a place, where artists explore a sense of place not by the physical but rather more dynamic notions of what that means. Faena is also know for one of the best parties!

Gagosian takes over the iconic Moore Building in the Design District every year and this year they will host an auction to benefit the (RED) foundation, to raise money to fight AIDS. The live auction will be held on Wednesday December 5th and rumor has it, (RED) co-founder Bono Vox will perform!

Ugo Rondinone's sculpture 'Miami Mountain' 2016 at The Bass

Ahead of its 4th MISO Chic concert held the weekend after Basel, The Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO) is offering a free concert at their headquarters in the Design District on Saturday December 8th at 6pm. Maestro Eduardo Marturet will perform a kinetic piece he composed for piano, followed by 11 year old sensation Martina Travieso who belts out notes like a mini Billie Holiday. In addition, MISO will screen a selection of works by Paris-based video artist Fabiana Cruz, who is the guest artist for the MISO Chic concert that explores the 5 senses through music and art.

So much Art and so little time…

Art Basel Miami Beach is the mothership! With over 200 of the world’s leading galleries, it is perhaps the largest contemporary art fair in the country. When else in Miami can you get up close and personal to a wide array of works by masters such as Picasso, Calder, Miro, Giacometti… or some of the contemporary greats like Eliasson, Holzer, Richter, Akunyili Crosby, Condo, Kapoor… The biggest artists under one roof!

Also part of the fair program is the fifth Audemars Piguet Art Commission that is set up on the beach next to the W Hotel. This year’s Art Commission was granted to Tomas Saraceno with a work titled “Albedo” which explores the possibility of a post fossil fuel era. Saraceno never disappoints, so expect to be wowed!

Untitled, now in its 8th edition, is one of my favorites. Beautifully curated by Omar Lopez Chahoud, the fair rounds up exceptional galleries from around the world showcasing phenomenal contemporary works. If you can’t make it to Miami, you can always follow remotely with their Podcasts.

Art Miami, the OG of the fairs, is celebrating its 29th edition and along with its sister fairs, Context and Aqua, packs in top notch galleries specializing in modern and contemporary art. Since moving to their new location last year, on the old Herald lot, the fair has grown in size and presence and is one of the first things you see when arriving to Miami off the MacCarther Causeway.

Photo by Casey Kelbaugh for Untitled

Need a break from art?

A morning run on the beach or dip in the turquoise ocean is a great way to start the day. Miami’s culinary scene raises to the occasion as well and with several new restaurants in town worth indulging. Let’s not forget all the exclusive art parties and night life, if one still has the stamina after “Baseling” for hours on end…

Macchialina, an oldie but goodie, my spot for cool hip hop and comforting pasta to recharge!

Sushi Garage nestled in local hang out Sunset Harbour, this Japanese restaurant will not disappoint!

Mignonette for fresh fish and delicious oysters in a very cool and off the beaten path are of Miami.

Swan and Bar Bevy opened just a few weeks ago and is already the place to be!

Art Miami

Stay tuned for Oh So Arty in Miami launching January 2019! Explore our other tour options here.

cover image: Untitled Miami Beach 2017, special projects. Work by Carlos Cruz-Diez, 'Chromosaturation'