Arts

Last month the National YoungArts Foundation celebrated the inauguration of their new national headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard at the Bacardi Tower, now known as the YoungArts Campus. The architectural landmark represents the first time YoungArts has had its own permanent home in its almost 32-year history. The iconic space will soon see an expansion under the direction of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

The stands in front of the teenagers’ chairs hold the same sheet music – the theme to “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”  But each of the young musicians has a different story to tell about anti-gay bullying.

Like the bi-sexual flutist, who says she’s pretty much been bullied all her life.

And the gay saxophonist, who describes how it “really gets to you inside and sometimes you start believing what people are saying.”

Even the heterosexual clarinetist is not immune.  She feels too many of her classmates use the word “gay” to describe something bad.

For artburstmiami.com 

Imaginarium Life is a complex, multi-media performance piece created by the brilliant dark angels at Bistoury Physical Theatre, Alexey Taran and Carla Forte. 

The performance documents -- through dance theater, sound and gorgeous cinematography -- the spiraling, chaotic world of an artist whose obsession with himself and his own imaginary world of self-inflicted wounds destroys him and the person he loves.

The homegrown Borscht Film Festival is underway and in its eighth incarnation now.

It started as a group of New World of the Arts high school students who shared a common love of film. They stayed in touch,

even as they scattered across the country to hone their skills.

For artburstmiami.com

If audiences feel empowered after a Venus Rising performance, then members of this globally-inspired group have accomplished their mission.

“We want to uplift and inspire,” says Founding Director Zeva Soroker, who started the all-female dance and drum group in 2003. “Music is an amazing thing,” she adds. “It helps with harmonizing and healing.”

“The Black Lords” installation at Lords Hotel emerged as one of the crowd favorites from Art Basel week.

Artist Desi Santiago was the man behind the epic-sized installation that featured a giant black dog wrapped around the Lords Hotel.

Called Gypsy, she breathed smoke and shot lasers from her eyes.

Gypsy also told fortunes. People wrote their questions on cards, dropped them into a box and then learned the answer as Gypsy boomed a “yes,” “no” or “maybe.”

Here is a compilation of some different videos from Art Basel 2012 in Miami. Each video tours some galleries you may have missed and some videos even feature interviews with the artists.

Check it out below!

This guest post comes to us from Florencia Jimenez-Marcos.

Is it art?

There is no easy way to define "art." Any attempt at simplification risks making the writer sound uninformed at best. There are countless experts and publications who have created an industry debating what is true art, though the discourse these days seems to center more on economic rather than artistic value.

Tweeter @EstrellaSibila expresses her frustration with fellow Baslers:

Need to see more art and less party people! #artbaselproblems

— Counselor @SibilaLaw (@EstrellaSibila) December 8, 2012

One of the great things about Art Basel week in South Florida is you get to see a lot of strange things in the form of both art and people. After a few Basels, you may start to feel like you’ve seen and done it all.

But I’ll bet you’ve never had your fortune told by a gigantic, smoke-breathing dog named Gypsy.

Artist Desi Santigo has created an epic-sized installation at the Lords Hotel on South Beach. Called “The Black Lords,” it is a giant, inflated black dog with glowing red eyes wrapped around the outside of the hotel.

The UNTITLED art fair is the new kid on the Basel block. It's the event’s first year.

The fair itself has a distinctly South Florida feel to it. The large, airy white tent has soft, filtered lighting and looks out over the ocean. Adding to the Miami vibe are the girls wandering around promoting various kinds of alcohol by handing out freebies.

Among them were the Hendricks gin girls, Jacqueline Sanabia and Kezia Linden, who, I thought, were wearing some pretty snazzy little hats.

Art Basel 2012 has crammed Miami Beach's streets with natives and foreigners from all around the world. Interesting and unfamiliar accents flood the Basel galleries. These notorious exhibits are sparking up all sorts of comments from event goers . Below are selected twitter feeds from the trends #overheardatbasel and #artbaselproblems.

For artburstmiami.com

We are sometimes reminded that history is malleable.

There is a lot to do in Miami during Art Basel so you may not want another item added to your list of “must sees.” Nevertheless, consider including this fair: Aqua Art Miami at the Aqua Hotel on Collins and 15th  Street in Miami Beach. 

The fair has a laid-back vibe, lots of art and a good-sized crowd that feels happening without being claustrophobic.

Galleries were flooded, artwork destroyed and the New York art word left reeling when Hurricane Sandy hit at the end of October.

A month later, several of those galleries damaged in the historic storm are now in Miami for Art Basel.

Artists won’t be the only ones getting international exposure at Art Basel Miami Beach this year. Some Florida breweries might share the spotlight as well at the first annual Basel Biergarten.

Alongside “The Factory” art show, Wynwood Cigar Factory (101 NW 24th St.) is hosting a pop-up beer garden which will serve Florida brews exclusively.  It’s an example of the many things that have grown up around Art Basel over the past ten years.

As you all know, Art Basel is a few days jam-packed with a ton of events, galleries and parties.

In short, it gets difficult to wade through everything that is happening starting next week.

No fears, though! We have a roundup here of some of the more helpful Art Basel guides. Some even point you to free events!

You can click through the links below:

Miami.com

Overtown artists have participated in Art Basel with showings and events in the neighborhood in past years. However, this is the second year that the neighborhood participates on a grander scale.

Lots of us would rather steer clear of construction, but Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is actually embracing it. 

The new runway and terminal expansion project will not only allow for more flights, it also creates more space for art.

So, the Broward County Public Art and Design Committee is looking for an artist, or perhaps artists, in residence.

And the art is supposed to be about the airport construction project itself.

This week, you can find Bigfoot at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens... that is, a large sculpture of a man with unusually large feet.

Idan Zareski's "Bigfoot" will be unveiled on Tuesday at the Gardens. The sculpture, "Bigfoot," has already been featured in other countries all over the world. 

Robert Kerstein is a government professor at the University of Tampa. But when he's not teaching on the other coast, he likes hanging out in Key West. His frequent trips there have translated into a new book about how the little city at the bottom of the peninsula has managed to maintain its unique character while becoming a major tourist town. The book is called Key West: On The Edge, Inventing the Conch Republic. And this weekend, Kerstein will be appearing at the Miami Book Fair International. 

A new documentary filmed during last year's  Art Basel Miami Beach features seven young artists who live and work in Miami.

It's called Rising Tide: A Story of Miami Artists, andn it's the work of Andrew Hevia, 28, a graduate of New World School of the Arts.

Hevia produced, directed and edited the documentary which is a production of WLRN and made possible in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Along with the artists, the film also features gallery owner Brook Dorsch.

Here at WLRN, we get excited about book fairs the way some people get excited about Fourth of July parades or Christmas pageants.

So this week, as the Miami Book Fair International descends upon our region and makes South Florida the center of the literary universe, we’re doing something special.  We want you to help us tweet a story.