Retna and Mac have been on a tour of duty putting up massive murals. The duo recently posted murals in Orange County at the RVCA headquarters and another in Salt Lake City last week. Now they are in Miami putting up another behemoth at the Margulies Collection. The Collection is a massive warehouse of paintings, photography and some of the most impressive sculptural work around. Sculptures from Noguchi, Frank Stella, Michael Heizer and more are placed throughout the sprawling complex.

Outside Retna and Mac add a bit of the new contemporary flair…more pics of the Collection and Mac and Retna as well after the jump:

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Country Club and Shepard Fairey put on an outdoor mural project on the side of several shipping containers today. Titled “Public Works” the mural features some of Fairey’s iconic imagery. From Country Club:

As part of the programs surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach this year, Shepard Fairey will unveil a major new mural presented on shipping containers. Located at 2700 NW 2nd Avenue on an empty lot in the Wynwood District of Miami, Fairey’s project will continue the artist’s approach to urban explorations of neglected, unclaimed or interstitial sites. The blank facade of the barricade will provide a significant expanse for Fairey to develop a cohesive series of images. The project is being produced by Country Club, a gallery with locations in Los Angeles and Cincinnati, in partnership with The Fountainhead Residency and Miami Art Museum, where an additional component of the project is being presented. Additional support is provided by Smartwater®, Wyn Graham Bradley, Deitch Projects and Goldman Properties-Wynwood.

More images after the jump:

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Deitch Projects in NY is setting up for a massive Miami Basel party tomorrow night. At the moment artists including Futura, Shepard Fairey, Aiko, Kenny Scharf and Os Gemeos are feverishly finishing massive murals for the upcoming exhibition and display. Got a chance to chat with Aiko as she has been on a world tour having just returned from Shanghai.

Futura was working solo on a giant wall while Fairey’s team worked on wheatpasting an equally large space. The old school Kenny Scharf was also putting the last touches on a mural. If you are in Miami stop by the exhibit in Wynwood.

Opening, Thursday December 3rd, 2009
NW 26th Street & 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL

AN OUTDOOR MURAL PROJECT PRODUCED BY DEITCH PROJECTS AND GOLDMAN PROPERTIES

Fifteen influential artists from Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States have been invited to create outdoor murals on the warehouse walls of Miami’s Wynwood Art District. Tony Goldman of Goldman Properties, one of the major property owners in Wynwood, has made available a group of walls and buildings for artists to work on, concentrated in the area between 2nd and 5th Avenues and NW 22nd and 28th Streets. The project also includes an indoor space at 2550 NW 2nd Avenue where paintings by several of the artists and documentary photographs by Martha Cooper will be exhibited.

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Art Basel Miami kicked off yesterday with a series of private parties and events. MOCA Miami opened up with a party hosted by Vanity Fair, Galerie Emmanual Perrotin hosted another large fete at their Miami space and the Viceroy Hotel launched their inaugural “Art Viceroy” curated by Renee Vara and others.

It was certainly an interesting way to start the week and it is not completely clear yet as to whether the art market has turned positive for the galleries here in Miami. Perrotin certainly scaled back from the lavish launch party in 2008. Gone were the never ending trays of hors d’oevres, the flowing bar (they ran out early) and the massive installations of large work. This year had a larger number of smaller works from his stable of artists including new furniture by Pharrell Williams, a small KAWS chum, Hernan Bas, Jose Levy and more. Things must be getting tighter as the gallery had a large print rack out with prints from Murakami on display…and even a mocked up bedroom on display with walls adorned with framed prints. No marching band this year but it was still a lively way to open the group show and certainly a good party. More info on Art Viceroy and pictures after the jump.

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As part of the programs surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach this year, Shepard Fairey will unveil a major new mural consisting of a barricade structure covered with paintings. Located at The Fountainhead Residency property, an artist’s studio program in a residential-neighborhood of Miami, the site will be an unexpected venue for Fairey’s work. The artist’s typical approach to placing his images involves urban explorations of neglected, unclaimed or interstitial sites. The blank canvas of the barricade will provide a significant expanse for Fairey to develop a cohesive series of images. The project is being produced by Country Club, a gallery with locations in Los Angeles and Cincinnati, in partnership with the Miami Art Museum and The Fountainhead Residency.

via ArtDaily

Evan Penny

It’s been about a week since Art Basel ‘08 in Miami came to a close.  Since this was my first trip to Basel, I didn’t know what to expect short of a steady diet of excellent art.  And how…  When most people speak of Basel they are talking about the entire dizzying array of satellite art fairs and gallery shows that have sprung up around the official Art Basel show which is held at the convention center in South Beach.

Having had a week to decompress and reflect upon aisle after aisle of art, we’ll start our focused coverage with Art Basel at the convention center.  After we quickly realized that bringing you all or even most of the show was an impossibility, we settled on focusing on art that caught our eye.  Where possible we have included artist credits – many pieces were not clearly marked. Basel and most of the surrounding art fairs challenge the viewer to make sense out of widely varying styles and genres from one booth to the next.

In terms of our personal highlights, Evan Penny’s amazingly and eerily life-like Murray, Variation #3 sculpture (above) drew large crowds and with good reason.  From the individual hairs to the true-to-life skin, the piece is impeccable.  Note also that it’s slightly distorted towards the back — very subtle effect.  In terms of paintings, Mark Ryden’s new large piece shown by Tomio Koyama gallery stood out partly because well it’s a Ryden and two because of the provocative style featuring bubbles emanating from the girls crotch.  Finally, on the lighter side of life  Mr.’s candy-colored photograph of a female fire team begged a second and third look.  Be sure to check out our photo gallery of sights of Art Basel including the pieces mentioned here, after the jump.

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This past Thursday, December 4th, Gen Art, the national arts and entertainment organization, opened its doors to their first annual Vanguard New Contemporary Art Fair. Held during Art Basel Miami Beach, the inaugural fair presented by FAGE Total, which took place in Charcoal Studios in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District, provided a fine art exhibition platform and global spotlight for emerging artists and eight leading North American galleries representing the New Contemporary art movement. The fair concluded on Sunday, December 7, after a successful four-day debut.

James Marshall (Dalek)

Murphy Fine Art Editions

“The Vanguard Fair is a big step for the rising New Contemporary art movement,” stated Fair Director and Curator, Francesco LoCastro. Based on the overwhelming public response to the fair, boasting nearly 3,000 guests at the Official Vanguard Party and a VIP Press preview which attracted more than 500 attendees, Gen Art and LoCastro are convinced there is an audience eager to experience more from this promising class of up-and-comers and are already planning a larger format fair for Miami 2009. “We want the Vanguard Fair to grow organically,” stated LoCastro. “So we are considering all opportunities as we take the next critical steps to build the future of Vanguard.”

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Jeff Soto

The focus of the art world (at least in the United States) is clearly focused on Miami for Art Basel. While people talk about Basel as if it’s one show – the reality is there are numerous satellite fairs and events that collectively make the event much bigger than the actual Art Basel which is hosted at the Miami Convention Center.

On Friday night (12.5), one of the key highlights was the opening of Scion’s Installation 5 tour at the Raleigh Hotel. This is the second stop of this year’s tour which features Self Portraits in the form of paintings and photographs. Dailydujour attended the VIP event prior to the public opening.

As with prior Installation tours, the large group of artists is as diverse aesthetically as it is impressive.  From noted lowbrow painters to urban contemporary artists – the Installation artists present unique and compelling visions.  Quite a few of the top contemporary artists were in attendance including many/most of the Installation artists.

While the focus was on the art in the penthouse at the top of the Raleigh Hotel, the three custom Scions parked outside including one painted by Jeff Soto (above) drew plenty of street-level attention. In particular, the Taco Truck conversion definitely turned quite a few heads and drew plenty of smiles.

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I’m on-site at the inaugural Gen Art Vanguard New Contemporary Art Fair! Our VIP and Press preview this afternoon launched the fair programming and events. In the morning, FAGE Total hosted the first Lunch and Learn program with artist AJ Fosik to benefit Art for Learning. Artists James Marshal (Dalek), Gary Baseman, and AJ Fosik were on-site for photos and interviews with the media. Graffiti Research Lab’s James Powderly and Evan Roth (who Gen Art and Francesco LoCastro flew in from Hong Kong) were on-site putting finishing touches on their wall installation, using conductive ink on canvas. Graffiti Research Lab will be performing at the Official Party tomorrow night, 8pm to midnight, which will also feature live painting from artist LEBO, Bombay Sapphire cocktails and sounds from DJ Ray Milan. Afternoon panel discussions were rescheduled for Saturday, December 6 from 2 – 6pm and are open to the public. Panels include ‘Outsider to Insider’, ‘The Art of Branding’ and ‘Graffiti Research Lab’ (see details are below and be sure to pencil these panels in your itinerary! Enjoy complementary cocktails, smartwater, and all the FAGE Total yogurt you could desire). Later in the afternoon Bombay Sapphire got the attention of fair guests with a special presentation of Synchronized Swimmers. James Marshal (Dalek), Gary Baseman, and AJ Fosik were on-site for photos and interviews with the media. More soon to report tomorrow, plus additional photos once I get a chance to sync my iPhone! Check out www.genart.org/x/vanguard for additional information about the fair and to purchase tickets to the Official Party on Friday, December 5.

FAIR DATES: December 4 – 7, 2008

LOCATION: Charcoal Studios 2135 NW 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 331 (across from PULSE art fair )

Keep reading…

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Joseph Smolinski, Tree Turbine, 2007, high definition digital animation, dimensions variable, 3 minutes 40 seconds (5 scenes total), edition of 5.

Lee Stoezel, Big Burn Out (Chuck Close), 2008, burned veneer cover, plywood, poplar, 30 x 24 x 1.5 inches (detail)

Lee Stoetzel uses wood to create items of nostalgia and iconic significance like the first Apple Computer, the VW Bus, and the Chopper motorcycle.  “Big Fall” is a site-specific mahogany gutter system conceived for PULSE Miami.  Inspired by the wooden gutters in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, as well as personal experience with his own leaf-clogged gutters in Pennsylvania, Stoetzel has created this sculpture on a 2:1 scale.  For his upcoming solo exhibition at Mixed Greens in 2009, Stoetzel will debut pyrographic work from his Burn Outs series.

Lee Stoetzel lives and works in Chester Springs, PA.  His solo exhibitions include Mixed Greens (2004, 2005, 2007), Philadelphia International Airport (2008) and Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York City (1996-1999).  Past group exhibitions include the Katonah Museum show I Love The ‘Burbs (2006) and the Islip Museum’s Design for Living (2005).  Other group exhibition venues include Jessica Murray Projects, Brooklyn (2002), Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX (2000), Michigan Contemporary Art Center (2000), Stalke Galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark (1999) and the Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA (2007, 2008).  His photographic work is currently in the exhibition World’s Away: New Suburban Landscapes jointly organized by the Walker Art Center and Carnegie Museum of Art.  In 2009, the show will travel to the Yale School of Architecture.