Friday, December 5th

I decided to cleanse my visual pallet with a walk on the beach Friday morning; only to encounter a sand sculpture. This untitled installation was created by Olaf Breuning is a reclining beauty appearing as a crisscross between Miro, Picasso, and Niki St. Phalle. What fun, you cannot escape it, art is everywhere!

Time to check out of the hotel and see what more I could cram in today; flying solo. A couple blocks away, Lincoln road – another scene that you never know what you should expect – today it was a homeless woman singing “Jesus loves me.” The plan this morning was to see what new and exciting things were happening at the Art Center and then to visit the Carel Gallery.

The Art Center/South Florida provides great fodder for new discoveries. Hosting artist’s studios, it’s a great spot to see artist in their environment, talk with them, and discover what their works are all about. A couple of artists drew my attention, but one stood out, Luis Garcia-Nerey. This young man has a rare combination of creativity and contemplation.

Next stop the Carel Gallery further east on Lincoln and connecting again with Michel and Anna Carel is always a joy; their passion for life and art is evident. They are the type of people that just make you feel good to be alive when you are in their company. But we must tarry on – back to the convention center to see Art Nova and Art Supernova that I just could not take in after hitting threshold after four hours on Wednesday afternoon. I also followed up with a representative of the Galerist gallery in Istanbul, Turkey. Sometimes it can be challenging to locate even well know artist’s work in some counties. It’s all about the connections and I hope this puts me in contact with photographer Ara Güler.

Back to the hotel to fetch the car, but it is not quite time to give up yet. Design/Wynwood District for Photo Miami and Art Miami. Works that forced me to look twice were those by Ixone Sádaba and especially Mariano Vargas. Sádaba’s works of whispers of ghostly figures wrestling on a bed in a white room challenges your mind to uncover the photographic technique from which these images resulted. Vargas’ work on the other hand was a striking series of color photographic portraits that recalled the brilliance of Vermeer’s intimate paintings of women.

With the clock ticking, thinking I would escape Miami before Friday afternoon rush hour traffic, I mistakenly thought I would breeze through Art Miami, HA! Art Miami was quite an extensive venue, unlike Photo Miami, and the diversity and accessibility of these galleries was extensive. Here I ran into a number of people, galleries, and artist’s work with which I was familiar. But just as enticing was to discover artist with which I was not familiar as well as make new connections with other galleries.

I had not been in Art Miami for more than five minutes when the large photograph of Michael Thompson work made me look twice. Familiar with this image I was and its gravitational forces pulled me to it. I circled around the dividing wall of this galleries installation and I did I –oh yea, of course Hasted – Hunt Gallery from New York. Very familiar with this gallery I am of course since the sister of one of the gallery owner lives in Marion County. As I walked into their space a cluster of Appleton family members greeted me fondly. While loitering, I had the pleasure to meet Michael, I love his work “Lemon Eye.” Finally moving on I greeted Greg Kucera – of Greg Kucera gallery in Seattle with which I work when we are negotiating an exhibit of Deborah Butterfield’s work at the Appleton Museum in the fall of 2004. Maggie Taylor’s work was also prominently displayed by Laurence Miller Gallery in NY that is currently hosting a one-woman show of her work through December 24, 2008.

One of the most striking and technically challenging works I encounter all week was that by Betsy Eby. Her Ribbons series seems to defy physics. These “ribbons” of Carrere marble are so eloquently poised that you wonder how she could take such solid material and make it so fluid. Yes, if my liquidity was a bit less firm I would have purchased on the spot.

Onto 95 as the glow of the day’s warmth caressed the engine in the rear of the spyder I headed north.

Happy Holidays!