Seeing Is Believing!

Nine Camels

After the whirlwind weekend of art exhibit hopping, I thought I had seen every type of art. That is until I saw British artist Willard Wigan's awe inspiring microscopic sculptures that rest in the eye of a needle. Viewed only with a high power microscope, these intricate pieces of art are truly amazing and awe inspiring. Wigan sculpts subjects ranging from Disney characters to celebrities such as Oprah, Obama and family, John Legend, to architecture, all too minuscule to view with the human eye. Unlike a conventional artist, Wigan uses a variety of interesting materials to create his micro sculptures, such as spiderwebs and the hair off a fly's back as a paintbrush to accomplish his acute details on each subject. It's miraculous to see such a seemingly impossible idea accomplished. Looking into one of the microscopes is like viewing a fantasy world that Dr. Seuss created, only it's real! Wigan's work is breathtaking and incredible!

Beauty and the Beast

Oprah

Statue of Liberty

Obama family

Little Miss Muffet

Due to the size of this art, I have borrowed photos from the Willard Wigan website gallery

SCOPE Miami

In my opinion, SCOPE Miami takes the cake for being the most interesting art fair with the most thought provoking and understandable art and a good looking, young crowd. I was stunned by the array of intricate artwork, from paintings to taxidermy, to textiles and fashion, bedazzled pieces, and wild instillations. SCOPE was teeming with an energetic buzz of excitement and appreciation for the modern arts. Our friend Jason Yarmosky was exhibiting a couple more incredible pieces that we were lucky to see in person before they get snatched up by art collectors! The high energy and inspiring art in SCOPE makes it the perfect fun event to hit up during Art Basel. Check out some of the art that caught my eye!

Room completely crocheted including live people! By New York artist Olek

Olek

Jason with his paintings of his grandparents

Pretty cherry blossom tree...

Then you realize it's made entirely of buttons and pins!

Doily art

Swarovsky covered brass pieces by Jonathan Stein

Art Basel

This artsy weekend wouldn't have been complete without a visit to Art Basel Miami Beach, the most important art show in the United States. With a vast collection of art from more than 250 leading galleries around the world, Art Basel was intimidatingly gigantic. We continuously got lost in the mazes of artwork and got dazed and confused marveling at the incomprehensible amount of modern art. Some art I loved, some I didn't understand at all, and some amazing collector pieces from renowned artists such as Andy Warhol left me speechless. It's a definite must see during the week of Art Basel, but personally I prefer the less stuffy, small community feel of some of the spinoff art fairs such as Scope and Fountain.

In love with Warhol!

Incredible woven tapestry covered skateboards

Hmmmm?

Trash to treasure

How Bizarre

'Tis the season to see the bizarre in Miami. With Art Basel in full swing and artists running ramped in Miami, there are many instillations and interesting sights to see all around the city. The infamous pink snails on Ocean Drive in South beach caught my eye first. These out of this world sized snails are slowly invading Miami with a posse of 45 snails from Italy's Galleria Ca' D'oro. Later that day, a Hummer carriage drawn by two horses paraded past me! I don't know whose genius idea this was, but it cracks me up to think that something as barbaric as a Hummer could be transformed into a modern day carriage. A crochet covered car, street tags by artists including Shepard Fairey, and art instillations in Wynwood were other points of interest this weekend. Check out these odd pieces of art!

Olek

Shepard Fairey

Aqua Art Miami

This weekend was a whirlwind of beach and art, with a visit from a best friend and Art Basel in full force. The first venue we visited was the Aqua Art Miami contemporary art fair. The fair creatively transformed the Aqua, a boutique hotel, into an innovative exhibit consisting of 48 different galleries occupying each of the hotel rooms. With artwork covering the walls and the remaining furniture left in the rooms, Aqua was a great way to soak up art in a laid back environment right in the heart of South Beach. Our extremely talented friend Jason Yarmosky had two incredibly realistic and quirky paintings of his grandparents on display with the SVA gallery. I would highly recommend a visit to Aqua's exhibit during Art Basel next year for a less stuffy approach to appreciate the arts.

Live music instillation

Jason Yarmosky

Art Love

Brian Leo

As the exhibits at Fountain Miami are getting hung and looking fabulous, I've become obsessed with the work of several artists showing this year. The first artist that really caught my eye with her abstract colorful large canvases is the talented Lindsey Brooke Wilner, from New York. Her color-splashed pieces really look beautiful in her gallery space. I would die to have one of her paintings above my couch! Another artist with a really playful use of color and neons is Brian Leo. Juxtaposed on the wall in a scattered array, his fun pieces exude energy with contrasting colors and extreme messages. Later yesterday afternoon I spent at least an hour measuring a grid to hang the many small cube art pieces by Darlene Charneco. Each cube has a different abstract scene, some glittery and all coated with acrylic on the top of the diorama. I've taken close ups of my favorites pieces, and the whole grid as they all compliment each other. I hope you enjoy these artists as much as I do!

Brian Leo

Lindsey Brooke Wilner

Lindsey Brooke Wilner

Darlene Charneco

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