From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover’s Guide to Miami Art Week
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Explore Wynwood Walls, Miami's Outdoor Street Art Museum
With over 80,000 square feet of captivating murals, the Wynwood Walls stand as one of the world's largest and most visually arresting outdoor street art collections. Since its 2009 founding by visionary developer Tony Goldman, the project has transformed once-abandoned warehouses into sought-after canvases for renowned artists. Wandering these colorful blocks offers an unparalleled chance to marvel at monumental works by leading talents like Shepard Fairey, Futura, Os Gemeos, and Faith47.
Arriving at NW 2nd Ave between 25th and 26th Streets places you right in the heart of the action. Prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer scale and detail of the intricate designs. Many of the installations spread across entire buildings in elaborate multi-story compositions. Allow yourself to get lost gazing at the mesmerizing tableaus, discerning new shapes and themes with every pass. While photographing the vibrant walls makes an obvious souvenir, nothing compares to standing before them and fully absorbing the experience.
Several of the murals feature famous figures like Albert Einstein, John Lennon, and Mohammed Ali in the artists' distinctive styles. Keep an eye out for clever trompe l'oeil techniques that incorporate real architectural details into fantastical scenes. You'll also spot many abstract designs with hypnotic geometries and gradients. Let your imagination interpret the meanings and stories behind each unique creation.
While the original Wynwood Walls blocks boast the highest concentration of works, the entirety of the Wynwood district now overflows with stunning street art. Simply wandering the side streets reveals colorful gems around every turn, from small stenciled figures to enormous wildlife portraits. Finding exceptional works by both renowned and up-and-coming artists gives exploring Wynwood an exciting treasure hunt vibe.
To delve deeper, join one of the Wynwood Walls guided tours for insights into the artists' inspirations and techniques. Special events like sleepovers and block parties further immerse you in the creative energy. Or explore the diverse exhibits and installations of the Goldman Global Arts Gallery onsite.
Amid the visual feast, don't forget the rich cuisine and drink options Wynwood offers. Grab an iced coffee at Panther Coffee's airy corner cafe before browsing the indie fashions at nearby shops. Later, refuel on Latin-inspired small plates and cocktails at Wynwood Kitchen & Bar's breezy terrace. Or sample craft brews and gourmet pizzas at the massive Wynwood Brewing Company courtyard.
What else is in this post?
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Explore Wynwood Walls, Miami's Outdoor Street Art Museum
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Must-See Exhibits at the Pérez Art Museum Miami
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Discover Cutting-Edge Art at Art Basel Miami Beach
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Wolfsonian Showcases Art Deco Designs from the 1920s-1940s
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Experience Immersive Installations at Superblue Miami
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Take an Art Deco Walking Tour of South Beach
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Where to Find Murals in Miami's Edgewater Neighborhood
- From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Dine and Drink Among the Art Crowd in the Design District
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Must-See Exhibits at the Pérez Art Museum Miami
Overlooking Biscayne Bay, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) stands as one of the Magic City's foremost cultural institutions. Since opening its striking Herzog & de Meuron-designed building in 2013, PAMM has cemented itself as a premiere venue to encounter important contemporary works and exhibitions.
Visiting PAMM offers a chance to connect with both leading international artists and the diverse voices shaping Miami's local arts scene. The museum's permanent collection encompasses over 2,000 works in mediums like painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation art. Highlights include pieces by modern masters like Joseph Cornell and Helen Frankenthaler alongside contemporary superstars like Anish Kapoor, Cindy Sherman, and Ai Weiwei.
Yet PAMM's temporary exhibitions often generate the most buzz and draw enthusiastic crowds from across the region. The museum strives to host exhibits distinctive to its waterfront setting, fostering dialogues between global perspectives and regional South Florida cultures.
For instance, 2021's major show An Apartment in New York explored performative photographs and experimental films produced by Cuban artists in the 1980s. The exhibit shed light on a pivotal yet overlooked era in Cuba's cultural history through recreating the captivating energy of a 1980s artist salon.
Other recent standouts include 2019's installation ICA at PAMM, which turned the entire museum into an interactive soundscape. Visitors donned headsets streaming a lively audio collage by Dara Friedman and Nicolas Lobo as they explored the thought-provoking exhibits.
This February through April 2023 brings the hotly anticipated There are Black People in the Future: Resistance, Resilience and the Radical Imaginary. Curated by Mikhaile Solomon, this exhibit traces a century of Black speculative practices spanning Afrofuturism, jazz, literature and visual art. Expect immersive installations from interdisciplinary artists like Jacolby Satterwhite and Tourmaline that imagine Black liberation.
Beyond thought-provoking temporary shows, the permanent collection galleries provide an excellent survey of key postmodern and contemporary works. Must-sees include Christian Marclay's video masterpiece Telephones and massive installations like Do-Ho Suh's intricate fabric sculpture Floating Dragon.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Discover Cutting-Edge Art at Art Basel Miami Beach
Step into the global epicenter of the contemporary art world each December by attending Art Basel Miami Beach. This premier Miami Art Week fair draws over 250 acclaimed galleries from across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. For art aficionados, experiencing Art Basel offers unparalleled access to paradigm-shifting works hot off the studios of the world’s most influential artists.
First-time Basel attendees can feel overwhelmed navigating the sprawling exhibitor halls and maze-like tent structures housing the shows. Focus your exploration by targeting several galleries recognized as taste-makers displaying bleeding-edge conceptual pieces, installations and multi-media works. Make a point to visit veteran Basel heavy-hitters like Gagosian, David Zwirner, and White Cube who never fail to deliver museum-caliber offerings from their star-studded rosters.
Intrepid art hunters should carve out time to scout lesser-known venues that provide revelatory opportunities to discover emerging talent and regional perspectives. Look for politically urgent works by Latin American artists at São Paulo’s Galeria Nara Roesler. Or ponder textile-focused abstract paintings at Toronto’s Georgia Scherman Projects. Chat up the gallerists and artists in person for insights into processes and inspirations.
While perusing the various sections at Basel, stay attuned for particularly exciting art forms pushing creative boundaries. Captivating film and new media installations, including VR experiences, increasingly claim prime real estate signalling their ascent. Likewise, galleries debuting computer-generated pieces and algorithmic art draw engaged crowds intrigued by such technological innovations. When you encounter something exceptional that lingers in your mind, take that as a sign of a transcendent work worth contemplating.
Of course with such a stellar range of works on display, visitors need strategies for navigating. Read up on exhibited artists beforehand and make a list of must-see pieces to target right away, as the most coveted works sell fast. Be sure to comfortable shoes, as traversing the massive convention center and outdoor tents involves lots of walking. Also use the fair map to zone in on sections aligning with your tastes, whether captivated by paintings, conceptual sculptures, photography or experiential installations.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Wolfsonian Showcases Art Deco Designs from the 1920s-1940s
Step back in time into the glamour of early 20th century design at The Wolfsonian-FIU museum. This captivating art and design institution delves deep into the aesthetic movements shaping everyday objects and architecture from the late 1800s through 1945. Given its focus on celebrating underappreciated 'decorative' arts, a visit here uniquely illuminates what defined cutting-edge style for both the interwar upper class and progressive modern creatives.
Of its many compelling strengths, The Wolfsonian's collection of Art Deco pieces from the 1920s and 30s proves an absolute must-see. As the Jazz Age gave way to the Depression era, Art Deco's sleek elegance came to define luxury. The museum showcases over 70,000 items from this heyday of cosmopolitan design, transporting you into swanky transatlantic parlors and cruise ship salons.
Wandering through the Wolfsonian's vaulted halls, prepare for your eyes to pop at the striking geometries, opulent materials, and sheer craftsmanship of Art Deco furniture, lighting, ceramics and glasswork. Admire the period's famous asymmetrical and free-flowing lines rendered in exotic veneers and lavish metals. Thematic groupings let you trace Art Deco's origins from various early 20th century styles, from French luxury goods to cubism and African artwork. Don't miss the ornate yet sleek elaborate radios, cocktail shakers, and even toy trains equally prized for performance and visual flair.
Beyond admiring Art Deco's embodiment of 1920s avante-garde chic, the Wolfsonian's collections provide crucial context on the cultural ethos and tensions shaping the era. The rise of industry, travel and mass media brought both prosperity and upheaval that dynamically impacted design. Gallery displays explore how Art Deco expressed contemporary society's paradoxical mix of egalitarian optimism and hierarchical social structures. Thoughtful placards trace how religious, occult and natural themes recur throughout Art Deco as reactions to social changes.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Experience Immersive Installations at Superblue Miami
Step into futuristic worlds of light, sound, and movement at Superblue Miami, an innovative art space dedicated solely to large-scale immersive installations. Founded by philanthropic visionaries and art collectors Jorge and Micky Perez, Superblue provides a platform for pioneering artists employing technology and multi-sensory environments to create transcendent experiences that engage imagination and dissolve perceived boundaries between art and audience.
Housed in a former nightclub just off trendy Lincoln Road, Superblue’s cavernous converted gallery spans over 30,000 square feet. Yet the venue feels anything but static. Artists have free reign to utilize every inch, making the entire space feel malleable, alive. Stepping inside, you immediately encounter reactive screens, undulating light sculptures, or cascading sensory effects flooding the capacious halls. Superblue exclusively showcases experiential works that respond to your presence while progressing and evolving over time, necessitating lingering to fully uncover all the intricacies.
Superblue rotates between solo shows spotlighting visionary individual artists and exhilarating group exhibitions. Returning for an extended run in 2023, teamLab: Continuity highlights the pioneering Japanese collective’s hallucinatory digital landscapes. This installation bombards you with kaleidoscopic colors refracting endlessly across floors and walls to dissolve interior architecture and notions of containment. The hypnotic planes ripple and reform with visitors’ movements like schools of pixelated fish, creating a cybernetic ecosystem. Nearby, Pneuma immerses you in Mark Verabioff’s undulating latticework of light with responsive musical compositions by Dawn Tallman evoking the intangible yet essential nature of breath itself.
Other mesmerizing recent exhibits include Es Devlin's enveloping Forest of Us with interactive mirrored sculptures forming infinite reflections of the self. James Turrell, renowned for his Ganzfeld light installations, contributed Volume that fragments geometric shapes into disorienting fields of color. And in 2022, Superblue hosted Every Wall is a Door, an eclectic celebration of New Media and digital art including VR works by Pussykrew and Hyphen Labs remixing physical reality.
While beguiling, Superblue's installations also carry subtly consequential messages about perspective and consciousness. Step out of habitual modes of seeing to find new resonances and meanings. Adding to the communal experience, Superblue offers guided meditations and Gather sessions exploring the installations' liminal spaces between art and technology, stillness and spectacle. Visitors are encouraged to sit, reflect and share their sensations together.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Take an Art Deco Walking Tour of South Beach
As a hub of Art Deco architecture, South Beach offers a time capsule into Miami’s glamorous heyday from a century ago. Strolling the palm-lined streets and ogling the nautical-inspired hotels takes you back to when this area defined America’s luxury vacation scene. To properly appreciate the Art Deco gems dotting South Beach, booking a specialized walking tour proves invaluable. Expert guides aid you in identifying the key architectural details that make these flashy yet refined buildings prime exemplars of 1920s style. You'll gain insights into both the design features and the context of heady boom times that made Art Deco the hot new trend.
Walking through South Beach’s historic Art Deco district, look up to admire colorfully lit terra cotta facades and neon-accented marquees exemplifying the sleek yet playful South Beach aesthetic. Distinctive porthole windows, glass block features, curved corners and piping embellishments all create the impression of gliding aboard a grand ocean liner, perfect for seaside leisure. Other giveaways of prime Art Deco include symmetrical compositions, exotic Mayan temple motifs, whimsical tropical imagery, and stylized geometric patterns.
Knowledgeable guides will point out how these hotels creatively incorporated new construction techniques like using reinforced concrete. This enabled larger windows to let natural light stream in, which became a hallmark of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture. Make sure to bring your camera to document all the sublime pastel color schemes and flashy metallic finishes that captured bold Jazz Age optimism.
Former tourists rave about how the walking tours vividly brought to life the heyday of Art Deco's 1930s celebrities, scandals and site-specific stories. Guides make the history come alive by pulling out old photographs and really painting a picture of the glitzy vacationers flocking here and revolutionizing resort leisure. Taking a tour illuminates both the stunning details easy to walk by and the context that makes this neighborhoods personality so special.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Where to Find Murals in Miami's Edgewater Neighborhood
Beyond the crowdedWynwood scene, Edgewater has fast emerged as an offbeat Miami neighborhood overflowing with captivating street art. Once a gritty industrial warehouse zone, Edgewater has transformed into a hub for creatives lured by converted lofts, indie boutiques, and inviting sidewalk patios. Yet the graffiti covers even more territory here, sprawling across building walls, underpasses, alleyways and parking garages. The density of world-class murals turns aimless wandering into an adventure of stumbling upon artistic gems around every turn.
For tips on scoping out Edgewater's latest striking works, I connected with gallerist Harper Levine of UnderTheBridge. She recommends starting along the residential blocks just west of Biscayne Blvdwhere unassuming apartment buildings and houses get re-envisioned by renowned talents. Don't miss the flock of photorealistic birds swarming across an entire complex by Brazilian duo OSGEMEOS. Nearby, Aryz gives a realistic cheetah an otherworldly android-like makeover using his signature large eyes. Interspersed are more abstract designs, like an undulating mosaic of shapes in shades of blue by Mexico's SENKOE.
Venture towards the bay to photograph massive depicting figures by Polish artist M-City, whose murals appear from Warsaw to Los Angeles. UnderI-195 and along the Metromover tracks, nuanced grayscale portraits peer out, bringing humanity to neglected infrastructure. The judiciously placed works transform eyesores into contemplative canvases. Heading south, the warehouses host what Levine calls "Edgewater's Museum of Contemporary Urban Art." Belgian artist ROA showcases his reverence for the animal kingdom through a monumental alligator on a produce warehouse. Faile, pioneers of wheatpaste collage art, cover an entire building with a riotous retro baseball and racing aesthetic. Each mural feels like a destination artwork worth the trip alone.
From Wynwood to the Wolfsonian: An Art Lover's Guide to Miami Art Week - Dine and Drink Among the Art Crowd in the Design District
After a day of museum-hopping and gallery browsing, refuel your body and spirit amid the Design District’s chic culinary scene. Once a deserted industrial area, visionary developer Craig Robins transformed the neighborhood into a haven for luxury fashion boutiques and contemporary art galleries. Naturally, top-notch eateries followed, catering to the art and design cognoscenti flocking here. People-watching on the bustling sidewalks reveals artists, dealers, models and influencers sporting next season’s looks. An creative energy infuses the sidewalks.
For a quintessential Design District experience, snag a patio table at Mandolin Aegean Bistro as the sun sets. Whitewashed walls, hanging plants and breezy balcony seating channels the lush Greek isles at this airy oasis. Share tender octopus crostini, crispy squid and other coastal Mediterranean bites perfect with refreshing rosé. After dinner, stroll the palm-lined pedestrian thoroughfare. Duck into galleries like Opera to admire provocative works before drinks at cocktail den Coyo Taco.
Start your day lounging in the courtyard of Lagniappe admiring street art murals while sipping iced coffee. Tuck into prosciutto-wrapped breadsticks still warm from the wood-fired oven and loaded breakfast sandwiches perfect for fueling an art-filled day. Or for an upscale brunch, book at MC Kitchen in the chic MC Hotel. Avant-garde takes on comfort food classics like lobster corn dogs and duck confit hash impress. Whimsical cocktails like the Pop Rocks Negroni play with the senses.