Man in Black

Image credit: Detail from Manolo Yllera, Peter Marino’s Double Portrait, 2013. Photo: Courtesy of Manolo Yllera. Artwork in Background © Damien Hirst And Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved / Dacs, London / Ars, NY 2014.

One Way: Peter Marino opened during Art Basel earlier this month and remains on view at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach through May 3, 2015. That should give everyone time to see this stylish exhibition...more than once. One Way is one of the knock-outs of Miami's art-filled season.

Work by Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, Damien Hirst and Rudolf Stingel -- to name just a few of the noted artists collected by Marino -- is installed in luxe settings fitting for a designer who has worked for Louis Vuitton and Dior. Unsurprisingly, his signature use of black and gold is here in abundance, which is juxtaposed with Marino's elegant, modernist take on architecture. But one of his boldest statements is in the stunning work he's amassed as an art patron. 

(c) 2014 Hilary Lewis. All photos and text by Hilary Lewis unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Zoning in on Preservation

This past week, while most of us were running from one Art Basel event to the next, WLRN (Miami's NPR affiliate) took on some of the sticky issues surrounding preservation in our hot development climate in South Florida. Did my best as one of the invited speakers to address some of the bigger issues.

For more info and to listen online:

WLRN Tropical Currents: Preservation Panel on December 3, 2014

Art Fallout Hits Fort Lauderdale

Save this Saturday, October 18 for Art Fallout!

Fort Lauderdale's arts institutions are offering a terrific array of exhibitions and activities all evening. The usual food trucks and festivities will take over FAT Village, the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, The Girls' Club and a large number of studios Saturday 5-9PM.

For more info check out Art Fallout's blog and the Girls' Club website.

(c) 2014 Hilary Lewis. All photos and text by Hilary Lewis unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Midcentury Modern on Display in San Francisco

Eichler model home c. 1960. Image courtesy of CJM.

Through October 6, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, an institution housed in a Daniel Libeskind-designed building in San Francisco, is exhibiting Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism -- a beautifully designed and curated show the features some of America's most renowned designers. This show frames their talents and work in the context of the American immigrant experience. If you can't get to the show, check out the catalog, available through the museum and Amazon. From George Nelson to Rudolf Schindler, boldface names and utterly recognizable design abound.

Henry Dreyfuss princess phone c.1959. Image courtesy of CJM.

(c) 2014 Hilary Lewis. All photos and text by Hilary Lewis unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

PARKing Day on Friday, September 19

What a terrific idea! Use parking lots as parks...at least for a day.

Our pals at the Coral Gables Art Museum are participating in an international effort to reclaim parking lots as parks: Parking Day. Would love to know who else is on board.

More info from the Coral Gables Museum press release.

(c) 2014 Hilary Lewis. All photos and text by Hilary Lewis unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

The Porch at the Perez...and the Garden Beyond

Museum Park is filling out nicely

The Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) has been maturing into a truly great public space since its opening in December 2013. With neighboring Museum Park's newly planted trees, both just outside the museum's entrance and also at the edge of Biscayne Boulevard, this precinct is fast becoming one of the truly spectacular cultural and green spaces in Miami

FAT Village Art Walk: June 28

The monthly FAT Village art walk in downtown Fort Lauderdale is tonight (6/28). Check out the closing night of Game Show at the Projects, 523 NW 1st Avenue. While there, visit Cadence, Janet Slom, C&I Studios, Helium and others, 7-11PM. Go early for parking and food trucks.

Note, just up 3rd Avenue and continuing up to 4th Avenue are additional artists and designers. Among others, Glavovic Studios is hosting an exhibit, Skins, and Henning Haupt is offering an open studio.

Jeff Koons Fills the Whtiney

Jeff Koons speaking to journalists at the Whitney

Thursday (6/27) marks the opening of the Jeff Koons retrospective at NYC's Whitney Museum of Art. The entire museum is devoted to the artist's ouevre, which spans vacuum cleaners as readymades to monumentally scaled balloon puppies. Just finished the press conference.

New Show from Sailboat Bend Artitsts and 1310 Gallery

Tonight, 1310 Gallery will present The Triumph of Detritus in Sailboat Bend (Fort Lauderdale). Opening event is 7-10. Let's hope the weather clears for tonight! Next Saturday, during the FAT Village Art Walk, the gallery will also be open for visitors.

From SailboatBendArtists.com

(c) 2014 Hilary Lewis.
All photos and text by Hilary Lewis unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Beach Reading: Tropic

Summer issue of Tropic

Summer issue of Tropic is out! If you subscribe you already have your copy, but if you still need one check out one our many fine retailers that offer copies to their visitors. Was just at Eten Food Co. on Las Olas for one of their usually excellent lunches and saw a stack of both the summer and May issues available.

Studio Visit with Janet Slom

Janet Slom at work (photo courtesy of janetslom.com)

Spent the morning at the FAT Village studio of artist Janet Slom as she readies her space for the next FAT Village Art Walk (coming up Sat. 6/28). Slom heralds from South Africa and now lives in South Florida and Connecticut.

Slom's petite frame is in great contrast to her painting series Heaven on Earth -- gorgeous abstract canvases that measure about 9'x9' and require an intense choreography as part of their creation.

Building a Biennale: Rem in Venice

Koolhaas's personal motoscafo

Rem Koolhaas outside the Biennale's offices

The 14th International Architecture Exhibition, or Architecture Biennale as it's better known, opened on June 7 in Venice, Italy. Curated this year by Rem Koolhaas, the Biennale was expected to be a blockbuster. The central presentation in the Arsenale didn't disappoint. It's presentation by Koolhaas of Monditalia looks at Italy as a microcosm of the world in terms of art, architecture, design, urbanism, culture and politics.

Cadence Hosts Picnic Day in Peter Feldman Park on June 18

Yesterday's picnic, courtesy of our friends at Cadence (@CadenceLiving), was yet another reminder of how lucky Fort Lauderdale is to have public space and public-minded folks like Rebecca Bradley and Gage Couch, who have tirelessly focused on efforts to improve downtown FTL.

Blues in Coral Springs this Friday

We loved the regular gig at Andrews Living Arts that Tony Kessler and his TK Blu and the Uncool Band brought to FAT Village on Monday nights. We need more of that in downtown Fort Lauderdale!

Toy Story: Norton Museum's After Dark (Tonight)

Tonight (6/19) the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm has its After Dark offerings 5-9PM. Opening this evening is Wheels and Heels, a show that features matchbox cars and Barbies -- what's not to like?

Missed opportunities at Sotheby's

No winning bids on the Mies chairs/table nor on the Pierre Koenig cabinet. Interesting. Folks will shell out millions for a painting but not $10K for authentic Barcelona chairs or a work featured in an iconic image by Julius Shulman. Well, maybe we'll all get another shot at these gems. Note that the radios assembled behind the Barcelona chairs are a group of radios collected by Charles and Ray Eames. They didn't sell either!

Mies Barcelona chairs and Tugendhat table (1931)
Charles and Ray Eames radio collection

Blog Launch

Welcome to the new blog! This is a place for those extra comments that just can't fit on a tweet or for breaking news that can't wait for our next issue. Let us know what you think.