I love almost all types of art. Even art that might offend or disturb me, I value as art in the way that I feel 'something' when viewing it. I think that is what is at the core of most art pieces. Do you feel anything when you look at it? It doesn't have to be a strong thought-evoking feeling, it may be a simple "ah' moment, or a little smirk, or even just a great respect for the skill you see before you. Great art makes you stop and look and be in the moment.
My weekend at Art Takes Miami allowed me to feel all the above. There were times, I just appreciated the form and technique. See this fun picture below that looks like stalagmites to me? This is created entirely of buttons and glue. Check out the close up just below. First, the time it took to create this and the attention to detail is amazing. Second, the time it took to find all the same buttons.
There were times I was disturbed and/or offended. Some images I can't or won't share here on my site, but they still made me look and even take a closer look. These taxidermy heads below were quite disturbing. I'm from the south and many in my family hunt so I've seen heads on the wall. However, I haven't seen them so distorted and made to look like smiley emoticons. Again, I stopped and looked, felt sad that they did this to a poor goat, and realized the skill that must have been done to contort and create this imagery.
There were definite trends I saw this year. I was surprised by the works of glitter found in each show we visited. Since I also work in the Craft and Hobby industry, I have lots of glitter and have many friends who love their bling. Many would love these! Here are a few of those together.
Paper was everywhere. Paper in all forms from patterned paper collages, newsprint and magazine collages, paper folding, paper pulp, paper carving, paper, paper, paper. It was something we all noticed. Even Moo cards had an exhibit at Scope focused on paper.
This beautiful piece below was made from paper. How beautiful it is in a frame by itself. The subtle hint of color and all that lovely dimension. But look closer.
They are little paper flowers and layered together above the layers of more paper and color. But look even closer.
These are hand rolled flowers. Each little flower was rolled, many were clustered, some were flattened, and then applied.
Paper collages where tiny pieces were intentionally placed to create beautiful portraits. Here are some of my faves from different shows through the weekend.
This piece below was made from paper pulp. The artist made a grid from large fibers like a heavy twine, and then poured the paper pulp over the grid, exposing some of the twine and then painting over the dried pulp. Very interesting texture achieved.
Darling little dresses made from paper maps. I think my friend, Eileen Hull, would adore these.
More work made from paper pulp. Many paper pulp sculptures are created by carving the relief of the image into foam boards. Once their mold is created, they pour paper pulp into the mold and allow it to dry to get this type of sculpture. These below were in the Moo Cards exhibit. PS. If you want a 10% discount ordering at Moo Cards, check out my post yesterday Art Takes Miami 2015 - Scope.
This screen was massive. And all done in hand-cut paper. Each of those tiny holes was cut out. I'd hate to be almost finished with one piece only to have it tear. Can you imagine? Bravo, dear artist!
And these little vintage travel trailers were made from paper. Even the wheels are paper that has been cut and folded. I want a whole little trailer park now.
This mixed media canvas was created with quilled papers adhered to the painted canvas.
Little strips of paper were layered with airbrush layers. I think of washi tape when I see this one.
Metal was the substrate for many pieces of art. There were prints that were printed onto metal as well as many paintings painted directly onto metal.
There were so many other interesting things to see and I could keep talking for many more days, but you might not want to read that much. The art that I kept being drawn to were textured. Heavily textured. I realized a few things. #1. I need to start playing with my palette knives much more. #2. Don't be afraid to put color in surprising places and mix up the colors. #3. I want to add more focal points in my abstracts. #4. I need to be making even more art and I want to create bigger art CONSISTENTLY! #5. I need to start submitting my work to different galleries.
Here are some of my favorite textured pieces.
The whole weekend was an awe-inspiring weekend. My muse was well fed and I was inspired in so many ways. There were so many shows and an unimaginable amount of artwork to be seen. To imagine all I did see and realize I only saw a small fraction of what was there blows my mind away. I will definitely attend again next year. Art Takes Miami weekend starts earlier in the week. I think I'll go down either Wednesday or Thursday next year. From what I saw and people I talked to, I don't know if I would start my viewing at the Art Basel event in the Convention center though. Don't get me wrong, there was good art in there, but my impression was that Art Basel show was more the place to be seen and to see others more than the art. The art was definitely more edgy and pushing boundaries of what the general public would classify as art. Art Basel was also the most expensive show to get in. It was almost $50 just to attend one day. All other shows were $15-25 on average. Next year, I think I'm starting with Scope and will check out Untitled. There might even be more pop-up shows next year. Aqua will definitely be another place I'll visit. I hope you were inspired by some that I shared this week as well. Let me know if you plan to attend next year and we'll start planning a meet-up!
Thanks so much for viewing through my week of pictures. I'd love to hear from you, so leave me a comment below and tell me what you thought of the show. Did you have a favorite piece? Did you notice something I missed? Now, I'm going to go paint!
