Arteamericas 2012 in South Beach

The 10^th Arteamericas art fair took place this past weekend in Miami Beach displaying a bevy of art from the Americas. The show focuses on Latin American artists but it also features local artists from Miami who are essentially of Latin American descent. There are have been so many art fairs after Basel: Wynwood Art, Palm Beach Art and now Arteamericas. Honestly it’s a little hard to keep up but wanting to enter fully into the realm of art, it’s time to get into any and all fairs possible.

This one was quite intimate and presented a nice array of artists especially some local artists like JeanPaul Mallozzi and Leo Casteneda.  Initially these artists’ Facebook posts drew me to the fair which then offered up many other interesting artists.

The pieces at Fundacion Antonio Romano gallery based out of La Paz, New Mexico from artist Holly Wood were fun and provocative.  The artist describes the pieces as cartoon surrealism while narratives in the paintings are described as visionary art (perfect description). The work presents humans, goddesses as well as animals in a stark comparison exploring themes of materialism and excess.

Holly Wood Pieces

At the Argentinean Artis Galleria space the work of Julia Romano was eminent. What looked like painted landscapes on wood panels was emphasized with whimsicality and texture. Her work shows beauty in nature while her vision’s filter serves as a framework to a more surreal idea.

The pieces by Nina Surel caught my 9 year old’s eye then mine as well. For good reason, the ones featured at the fair were strikingly large panels composed of photographs and embellished with shimmering jewels, buttons and porcelain objects. She portrays female figures in period dresses sometimes holding a symbolic animal or instrument.

Nina Surel Pieces

One of the most impressive displays was the Branching Out Project Wall presented by the Michael Marguilies Artist Agency. This was one of the few street art type murals displayed at a fair and considering how huge street art is in Wynwood there should really be more of a focus on this type of art and post graffiti art. At the Margulies space we also found some amazing work by artists Alex Yanes, JP Malozzi and a wonderful stand-out piece by Daniel Fila.

Daniel Fila

Arteamericas proved a well rounded art fair featuring not only work by Latin American artists but representing what is actually going on in the streets of Miami by showing some emerging local art and even some form of street art.  Not to mention it also boasted some great hours as late as 9pm on a Sunday!

Branching Out Project