Vol. XXV No. 46 December 2, 2010 Visit us at sunpostweekly.com
Art Basel 2010 MAYHEM P.4
PROFILE P. 6
POLITICS P. 8
NEWS P. 8
CALENDAR P.14
CINEMA P. 18
DANCE P. 19
411 P.20
GO! P. 22
FASHION P.24
SEX P. 26
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kim Stark kim@sunpostweekly.com SOCIETY EDITOR Jeannette Stark jeannette@sunpostweekly.com COPY EDITOR Mary Louise English
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jeffrey Bradley Charles Branham-Bailey Stuart Davidson Marguerite Gil Jennifer Fragoso John Hood Dr. Sonjia Kenya Joshua Malina Ruben Rosario Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Michael Sasser Kim Steiner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Stuart Davidson Jennifer Fragoso Marguerite Gil Ines Hegedus-Garcia Jipsy Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Mitchell Zachs
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Page 2 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
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Tropical Mayhem BITS AND PIECES OF MIAMI LIFE
Peep Toe Pumps
Miami through my iphone
These Diego Dolcini Flower Peep Toe with Jeweled Stiletto Pumps are really a piece of artwork. Seeing that toe embellishments are a conspicuous trend this season, this shoe is right on trend! Beautiful feathers bloom off the toe like a dramatic flower! While the toe decoration is beautiful, the Jeweled Stiletto is truly stunning! I have to imagine that each jewel was hand applied, which is totally impressive. Diego Dolcini Flower
PINK SNAILS
Peep Toe with Jeweled Stiletto Pump. $1,330. Available from
by Ines Hegedus-Garcia - miamism.com - ines@miamism.com
Neiman Marcus in Bal Harbor Shops or neimanmarcus.com
It’s not unusual for Miami to have special art installations that make people think, especially around ART BASEL. The Pink Snails REgeneration Art Project is one of them, 45 huge pink snails around Miami Beach designed to inspire conversations about recycling and its environmental impact. Talk about an unusual visual! I am in the process of documenting all 45 snails, this one on The Venetian Causeway overlooking South Beach.
Kitty Pop-Up Shop Check out Small Gift Miami featuring 50 artists paying homage to Hello Kitty and her 50th Anniversary. The exhibition will display within an 8,000 square foot custom space in the Wynwood Arts District and will showcase an impressive line-up of work from major names in the contemporary art world including: Shepard Fairey, Niagara, Jason Alper, Adam Wallacavage, Mark Mothersbaugh, Richard Colman, Mike Shinoda and Seonna Hong. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the original work and limited-edition prints will go to Hands On Miami. Small Gift Miami, 173 NW 23rd Street, Wynwood. For info: sanrio.com Page 4 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
THE BLACKLIGHT PAINTINGS Check out the cool exhibition at Club Madonna. The first paintings from a new body of work by Ryan McGinness. Women: The Blacklight Paintings is the first glimpse from a series of new works and projects. These paintings, and all subsequent work from the series, are based on figure drawings of over 50 models completed during sittings with the artist over the past year. McGinness plans to continue his unique sketching process at Club Madonna with the venue’s dancers for the duration of the fair. Club Madonna, 1527 Washington Ave, Miami Beach. For info: ryanmcginness.com
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PHOTO: MAGICALPHOTOS.COM / MITCHELL ZACHS
PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY YOU SHOULD KNOW
Margaret Lake Arts Aesthete Compiled By Kim Steiner Who are you? Margaret Lake- Miami convert and the Director at the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts since 2007. I am a trained poet and visual artist. I attended Westminster College in Salt Lake, my hometown, and I have studied at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and La Sorbonne in Paris. I have managed venues for the Sundance Film Festival and Miami International Film Festival, been an on-air radio personality and concert promoter. What do you do in real life? My real life consists of walking my dog Luna at Bayfront Park, coming to work at the Gusman, cooking when I get home, and doing it again the next day. Real life is Gusman. I play my Gibson Les Paul studio electric guitar, read, write, and sometimes yoga at Bayfront. I love being near the water. I take boat rides from friends whenever someone offers. What do you like most about what you do? I like the variety in my job. I enjoy the challenge of keeping creativity alive in my administration. I never have the same day at work even if I try. I get to meet lots of people. I love that I am in a position where I can create change in a community, by preserving and promoting my favorite building in Miami.
changing. There is never the same moment, or the same color. I also love the weather. I love the pulse. If you were in a position too, what would you change? (About Miami?) If I could change anything about Miami…I would put a grocery store downtown. (I know there may be one coming.) I would also encourage people not to honk, cut people off, or litter. I would ask people to treat others the way they would like to be treated. What’s coming up for you personally? I want to finish a book that I am writing of personal perceptions and anecdotes. I am excited for my first League of Historic American Theaters Board meeting (the premiere national service organization for Historic Theaters.) Mostly, I want to get better at playing the guitar, write more poetry, take more pictures and laugh more. How would you describe your personal style? Expressive, left-ofcenter, edgy, a pinch of punk, but classic at heart. I can skate half pipe in shorts, or wear Via Spigas to a gala. I love both.
S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the Knight Arts Challenge grant program three years ago I have wanted to win one for the Gusman. I wrote a grant that was a finalist last year, and this year we won! That was a dream and it came true on Monday Nov. 29, 2010. If you had to move to a deserted island what 2 items would you take? I would take a good pen, and a thick blank notebook. If the pen were attached, I would take a good knife. I could cook, carve, build, and survive with a good knife. Something new, that you have just discovered about yourself? I have discovered that I am resilient; I have the ability to create my world. What are your guilty pleasures? Taking time in quiet spaces. Queso Manchego accompanied with any European dried sausage. One luxury that you cannot live without? My stereo system. Three Words to describe you? Dreamer. Lover. Smarty-pants.
What’s your favorite thing about Miami? The colors. Miami has the most brilliant colors. The greens, the blues, the pinks, in the land, the water and the sky are amazing. Every day my eyes are gifted by the landscape which is ever
What do you do now, that you did not do 5 years ago? Wear high heels. What dream have you had that you have accomplished? Since the John
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Can He Say That? COLUMN
Time to hit Alt-Ctrl-Delete on the WikiLeaks Geek By Charles Branham-Bailey sobefla@gmail.com JULIAN ASSANGE
I’ve always thought that the teenaged and 20something computer hackers that think it’s cool breaking into and sabotaging a national security network like, say, the Pentagon’s shouldn’t be slapped on the wrist by some judge and sent to their room without dessert, as it were, grounded with probation. No, I want ‘em sent to Leavenworth – how’s that? No Facebook, no MySpace, no MP3 music downloads for the next ten-to-20. Draconianly cruel, aren’t I? The punks at WikiLeaks, for the most part an anonymous bunch save for founder Julian Assange, are likely beyond their teenage years, but certainly no less a menacing threat, as we’ve come to realize by now. As a journalist, I suppose I should feel proud that the often-impenetrable steel vault of government stealth was pierced and official secrets were exposed to the sunlight. And part of me would feel that if not for the overriding fact that I’m also an American citizen, one of the 300 million whose safety and security – as well the reputation of our government – Assange and his fellow geeks have immeasurably imperiled. For that, I want payback. As Attorney General Eric Holder affirmed this week, these latest disclosures involving classified and sensitive State Department docs jeopardize national security, diplomats, intelligence assets, and our relationships with foreign governments. The first WikiLeaks assault against this nation, last July, resulted in only the arrest of the U.S. Army private who is suspected of having provided them the stolen Afghan war documents, and a rebuke from the Obama administration. The second WikiLeaks assault, in October, resulted in nothing more than another rebuke from the Obama administration. The third and latest assault, this week, again resulted in nothing more than (yet another) rebuke
and the initiation of a criminal investigation. Would someone please sit our woeful-greenhorn-of-a-president and his people down and explain to them that one doesn’t fight the leak of government secrets and other docs with bared teeth and denunciations? I can think of some past presidents and administrations who would never have tolerated the yesteryear equivalents of this embarrassing modern-era cyber assault getting past the first wave as it did in July, or even making it to that. So how do our president and his people – the ones sworn to protect us against all enemies, foreign and domestic – retaliate against that Scandinavian milquetoast who in the very least should be sitting in a jail cell this very minute being interrogated by CIA agents if not floating down the Riddarfjärden Bay right now with a bullet in his skull? Well, Mr. President, for starters, an Interpol arrest warrant with Assange’s name on it would be nice. The bottom line: When it comes to these WikiLeaks geeks and degenerates like them, Mr. President, you take them out. Through capture or covert action. By CIA or by drone. Dead or alive, but take them out. ASAP. You do this, sir, so as to spare your secretary of state from the humiliation of ever having to spend her whole day – diverted from the critical events in the Middle East or from efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula – dialing up world leaders to apologize for the undiplomatic things our diplomats may have gossiped about them in private cables. You do this to establish a zero-tolerance for acts of espionage and subversion against us and to serve as an example of what will befall others in the future who do that to us. But above and beyond any of those reasons, you do this to keep us secure. You take them out, sir, so as to make a simple credo unmistakably clear: We. Won’t. Tolerate. This.
Not a shot across their bow, nor a flare above them in the sky. No, Mr. President, you lob a direct hit into the side of the SS WikiLeaks to sink them so that their ship of treachery goes down like a lead weight. So that all others who fancy afflicting like antagonism against us are dissuaded most convincingly, with the assurance that they will pay a steep price if they do. The Cold War may be over, sir, but not the accompanying desire of some in this world to hatch and instigate damaging deeds against us. The threat doesn’t come solely from surly young religious zealots packing explosives in a vehicle parked in a public square, or in their shoes or down their underwear while flying on a plane. The threat also comes from those whose weapon of choice is a mere hand-held mouse. For treachery, the Rosenbergs went to the electric chair. Aldrich Ames and others are rotting in cages for the rest of their lives for selling out their country and jeopardizing our security. If Pfc. Bradley Manning – the Army private at the heart of this deception – is eventually convicted in his court-martial, a life sentence in the brig would be too good for the traitorous rat. No way. He deserves a date with a firing squad. Don’t think there’d be any shortage of volunteers wanting to sign up for the honor, either. The CIA’s torture of Iraqi prisoners was a deplorable deed. But Assange suddenly makes waterboarding a very palatable punishment for at least one person: Julian Assange. This pasty-faced prick, with a devil-may-care disdain for us and our security, has as much declared war on America. I am all for free speech and the freedom of the internet. But what WikiLeaks has wrought collides with a greater concern: The necessity to protect and preserve confidential government communications from compromise, especially those whose disclo-
sure might endanger our foreign relations, international objectives, or, more paramountly, our national security and the safety of Americans both home and abroad. These WikiLeaks punks have proved that they don’t care about these. In the pursuit of fame, notoriety, and perhaps to draw humongous traffic to their website and reap hugely-profitable advertising revenue, they have put profit over prudence, vainglory over virtue. So they deserve prison or death. And they ought to be quaking in their Birkenstocks, these reckless shits, wondering if, at any moment, their servers aren’t going to be taken out, or – worse – them. The lives of a handful of geeks hunched over computers in a building somewhere in Stockholm, brazenly net-posting reams of documents and secrets and, in so doing, exposing our country to harm, really don’t amount to a hill of beans when compared to the dead-serious need in this post9/11 age to preserve, protect, and defend the lives and security of a nation of 300 million. If Obama and his people don’t grasp that, or what a blunder they have made in their limp-wristed reaction to all this thus far, heaven help us all. YBER MONDAY, AS WE ALL KNOW, was the day, according to the New York Times, “that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work...and buying what they liked.” Lesser-known, I’m guessing, was Pink Slip Tuesday. That, of course, was the day when a lot of those “otherwise productive” workers who were slacking off on the job the previous day were fired. Ouch.
C
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COLUMN
Special K We’re not talking about drugs or cereal By Jeffrey Bradley
Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane. Remember the K bus? That peripatetic beast wandered all over the Beach connecting out-of-the-way neighborhoods and off-the-beaten-track byways like a branch line connects with a main line. What we liked about it—besides its passing through Orchard Park, we mean— was it got us to where we wanted to go… eventually… without a transfer. Can’t beat that one-trip, one-bus aspect even if, in the case of going to Diplomat Mall (actually to a doctor roundabouts) meant the inside of a bus for an hour. And that’s just one way, which, still, beats getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick, right? But factor in an hour for the return trip and you can see it’s a lot like launching an expedition. Listen, if you’re gonna take a bus on the Beach then you’re gonna learn what it means to wait. It had this going for it, tho’. It ran every half hour and it got us there. It’s cost-cutting replacement— something had to give to afford those luxury limos of elected officials—the confusedly named, Thomas the Tankish 115/117 Mid-Beach Connector is famous for neither, running but once an hour and describing a convoluted loop, a sort of vehicular double-helix. So what once took one bus and an hour, now takes a walk, two buses and an hour and a half or, heavens to Betsy!, three buses and ‘til Tuesday, which is kind of a lot. Listen, if you’re gonna take buses on the Beach then you’re really gonna learn what it means to wait. Point is, they’re not through yet trifling with this bus. Seems folks want it taken from its current route along Sheridan Avenue where it’s deemed “an unsafe aberration serving no need” and move it to Pine Tree Drive. At a meeting recently to discuss specifics, Sheridan was revealed as a smaller roadway by half, with no curbs or gutters or contiguous sidewalks. Also (it was said) buses take advantage of the lesser traffic to make up scheduling time by cruising along at speed… which sits not at all well with the Orthodox, who tend to walk in the street. If deteriorating service hasn’t ameliorated these bad effects, it has, apparently, made it more palatable for those that live there. Question is, what happens when REAL public transit starts serving the Beach, say, in the form of circulating buses or <gasp!> streetcars that run 20 minute headways bi-directionally in interconnected zones? Some claim that moving the route for its entire length over to Pine Tree is simply a case of moving the problem. Not! Comparing Pine Tree to Sheridan is like comparing apples to grapes as Pine Tree’s a totally different roadway. It has 4 lanes divided by a generously landscaped median (there are even people who want the pine trees cut down, but what do the haters know?). Granted, there aren’t enough sidewalks there now, but they’ll have to be built to accommodate the bus—supposedly on the County’s dime—including pedestrian crosswalks, too. And—put this down in the Another Myth Has Been Shattered category—the route will not increase traffic because adequate public transit decreases the need for cars. Good Ford! Some 17th Street Irregulars who drifted north for this meeting reported that the NIMBY arguments raged, with Pine Tree-ers outnumbering the Sheri-dans some 4 to 1. They also disclosed that the same nonsensical sky-is-falling arguments about public transit—you know, that it’ll attract Those People (aka “the wrong element”, as if anybody’s gonna ride a bus to steal your TV), that nobody rides it (well, sure, it’s a bus; might as well be wearing a t-shirt says ‘Loser’ while you’re waiting), that things around here “will change” (let’s bloody hope!)—continue to surface. When will the boo-birds learn? In the event, the City, duly represented at this obstreperous meeting, did what the City does best: it punted. It’s the classic case of the harried wardheel, pulled this way and that by capricious NIMBYist winds, able to do no thing… and so nothing gets done. Score one more for leadership, eh? And while we didn’t mind the old K line wandering about so, we have to admit that looking forward, with streetcars finally in place, the move from Sheridan to Pine Tree makes estimable sense. In fact, both streets benefit by the plan, and retain the same-old same-old without it.
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KRIS KNIGHT, LOVELESS
COVER STORY
DIPTYCH16
Critical Mass Written by Michael W. Sasser Contributing Writer
A GALAXY OF ART SPINS AROUND ART BASEL
I
t’s the big show. The Major Leagues of art. It’s the Alpha, the Omega and the by-all and end-
all.
It’s Art Basel Miami Beach, and this week it grabs all of South Florida and of the entire global art world’s attention. Most of South Florida knows the deal. Art Basel Miami Beach, December 2- 5, is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland’s Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 41 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city’s beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels. An exclusive selection of more than 250 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa will exhibit 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists. The exhibiting galleries are among the world’s most respected art dealers, offering exceptional pieces by both renowned artists and cutting-edge newcomers. Special exhibition sections feature young galleries, performance art, public art projects and video art. The show will be a vital source for art lovers, allowing them to both discover new developments in contemporary art and experience rare museum-caliber artworks. But a funny thing happened on the way to this, the ninth incarnation of Art Basel Miami Beach. While it is clearly and unequivocally the star attraction of what some now simple refer to as “Art Week” around MiamiDade County, it’s a bright shining star that has pulled into its orbit a virtually uncountable number of art fairs, gallery exhibits, art projects and events. While some of the attractions orbiting the ABMB star have an official affiliation with Art Basel Miami Beach, scores of others do not. The pained mixing of metaphors aside, ABMB has prompted the development of a critical mass of all things artistic during this one week in early December – and it keeps expanding every year. “This week, everyone puts their best foot forward, their best work out to show,” said Brook Dorsch, owner of Miami’s respected Dorsch Gallery. “Art Basel has influenced everyone in art because when you have this many collectors coming to town, you want to get your stuff in front of them.” Dorsch said that nothing is too grandiose, too elaborate for this week’s massive regional art smorgasbord. But ABMB is working as well, as a magnet
for local galleries and artists. “The first few years have been phenomenal,” Dorsch said. “Collectors have come and sought us out every year. We’ve had people from the National Gallery and editors and publishers are coming in all the time. It’s been a huge boost for galleries. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward.” The mélange of exhibits and fairs
ARTCENTER: DAVIDPACKER HEART
taking part around South Florida all week have definitely not gone unnoticed by collectors of all stripes as well. “The first time we went, it was for Art Basel,” said Corey Roarke, a self-described “minor collector of emerging artists” from Dallas, Texas. “We started reading about all of the other things hap-
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pening in that part of Florida at the same time, so the past couple of times we have gone, we’ve extended our stay and have gone to see a lot of other things outside the main show as well. Actually I have come across a lot of very good art at galleries and fairs, that I never would have known anything about if Art Basel hadn’t gotten us to go to Miami in the first place. “If you love art then Miami is the place to be this week – and not just for Art
Basel,” he added.
T
his year, despite being invited to participate in several fairs, Dorsch said his plan is to remain “low key,” as Dorsch Gallery has been the past couple of years during Art Basel. “We wanted to really focus on the gallery and on our events,” Dorsch said.
Instead of exhibiting at one of the many fairs around town, the Dorsch Gallery (dorschgallery.com) is presenting Clifton Childree: Orchestrated Gestures and Arnold Mesches: Weather Patterns and Paint – showings of highly innovative work. In Orchestrated Gestures, Childree exhibits new sculptures, with film and audio components, in the form of old arcade machines. Each of these three machines conveys sketched-out narratives associated with musical pieces by composers Scott Joplin, Richard Wagner and Alexander Scriabin. At age 87, Arnold Mesches’ extraordinary new paintings are torn from a full life and an in-depth examination of art history. In both series, Weather Patterns and Paint, the canvases are lush and vigorously painted, displaying the virtuosic, gestural strength and vivid color that has so often been Mesches’ signature. Also this week, the Live at Dorsch Series presents image and sound performances featuring Fugue State D by Chavez/Liu (New York) and Otto Von Schirach (Miami), 9pm – Midnight, on Saturday. Virtually countless other galleries and studios will also be contributing to the week’s extravaganza. The KIWI Gallery (www.kiwiartsgroup.com), located at 1680 Michigan Avenue, will bow Thursday, December 2, with the extraordinary body of work and groundbreaking images of fine art photographer William John Kennedy of internationally famed artists Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana. Kennedy is a Miami Beach resident. The photographs, taken in the early 1960’s at a time when Kennedy forged a friendship with both Indiana and Warhol, capture the two artists and their soon-to-be iconic works at the seminal point of their careers, before the birth of Pop Art. Photographed at the artists’ studios and on location, the images consist of both formal and informal sittings of Warhol and Indiana with their works, the only such images known in existence. After almost half a century in storage, first at Kennedy’s New York studio and later at his Miami Beach home, a select number of the nearly forgotten negatives were carefully chosen to be published for the first time as a collection. The collection of silver gelatin fine art prints have been individually printed by hand directly from the original negative on fiber paper and consists of 50 fine art prints in a limited numbered edition of 60, each signed by the photographer. Included in the collection are photographs taken of Warhol and Indiana at work in their studios and a set of images photographed during the Museum of Modern Art’s ‘“Americans 1963” exhibition featuring attending art notables Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, Marisol Escobar, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Mario Amaya, Dorothy Miller, Henry Geldzahler, Eleanor Ward and others. Complemented by the world premiere of the
LOCAL ART
Clifton Childree CLIFTON CHILDREE, ORCHESTRATED GESTURES; DORSCH GALLERY EXHIBIT DORSCHGALLERY.COM
Miami resident Clifton Childree is a filmmaker/artist who in 2003 completed his six-year solo feature film project, The Flew, which Cashiers Du Cinemart Magazine named as one of the top 50 Midnight Movies made in the last ten years. In 2004 Childree received the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship and presented an installation of The Flew at the Miami Art Museum. His recent projects include She Sank on Shallow Bank, a stop-motion animated/live action dance film, Something Awful, a slapstick comedy/gore film co-commissioned by the Miami Performing Arts Center and the Miami Light Project for their 2006 Here and Now Festival and It Gets Worse made with funding from his 2007 Legal Art Native Seeds Grant. Childree is a featured artist in the book Miami Contemporary Artists. Childree was the first recipient of the Hilger Artist Project Award and in September 2008 after working for 2 months installing at Locust Projects in Miami, presented his life-sized amusement park installation, Dream-Cum-Tru. In Orchestrated Gestures, Clifton Childree will exhibit new sculptures, with film and audio components, in the form of old arcade machines. Each of these three machines conveys sketchedout narratives associated with musical pieces by composers Scott Joplin, Richard Wagner and Alexander Scriabin. Childree’s arcade games elaborate on and combine aspects of his previous work: grotesque slapstick, sweet silent film, self-contained arcade games and large-scale installations that incorporate his films. With Orchestrated Gestures, Childree creates his first exhibition of stand-alone sculptures, each more fully realizing the potential of the arcade game’s form and more focused than his all-encompassing installations, like Dream-Cum-Tru at Locust Projects in 2008.
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documentary film, “Full Circle: Before They Were Famous,” on hand to recall that pivotal period of the early 60’s which launched the worldwide phenomenon of the pop art movement, will be Warhol Superstar Ultra Violet. The documentary chronicles the images’ journey from the days they were taken to the present and is full of personal anecdotes and remembrances by many of the principals of the story, including appearances by Warhol Superstars Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead, as well as a reunion between Kennedy and Indiana at the latter’s Victorian home in Vinalhaven, off the coast of Maine. Not to be outdone when it comes to global celebrity during Art Basel week, the Adrienne Arsht Center is presenting Timeless, an exhibit of classic and contemporary photography by none other than recording artist Julian Lennon, son of the late, beloved John Lennon. The free exhibit is open December 1-5 at the Arsht Center (arshtcenter.org). Showings of the work of local artists abound both in solo and group exhibitions this year, and numerous local artists are included in the expansive MIA/MI CIELO Fine Art Exhibition. This curated ex-
ONEILL, FACE OF HAITI
hibition strives to become a leading venue to discover work of emerging contemporary artists. Conceived as a more intimate experience at its serene and accessible bay-front location, the MIA/ MI CIELO will bring the visitor closer to the artworks and artists at the creative forefront of their generation. MI CIELO (www.davidtamargo.com) will be presented on the 4th floor of the Cielo on the Bay luxury condominium, a high-end residential building located on Harbor Island just north of the Art
Deco District and the Miami Beach Convention Center. As a special feature to this event, internationally renowned New York street artist, Dan Witz will be signing limited edition, hand painted covers of his monograph, “IN PLAIN VIEW: 30 Years of Artworks Illegal and Otherwise” on Friday, December 3rd from 6pm to 8pm. An exhibition of Dan Witz’s fine art works will also be on view. Well-known Miami artist Miguel Paredes is going to be on the busiest people in the city this week. The Miguel Paredes National Gallery is scheduled to take place during Art Basel Miami Beach 2010 beginning Wednesday, December 1 through Sunday, December 5, 2010. The notable pop and multi-media artist, sculptor and urban realist is once again partnering with The National Hotel for the endeavor — the artist’s largest exhibition to date — as his noteworthy, multi-colored and vibrant works are set to completely cover the hotel’s outdoor façade as well as its indoor walls and chic pool garden area. In addition to Wednesday and Thursday night receptions, Paredes is showing with famed rock photographer Danny Clinch in celebration of the duo’s collaborative works featuring musicians such as crooner Jack Johnson. Also showcasing his works alongside Paredes is pictorial realist Hernan Miranda, whose pieces will be available for viewing in the lobby of the hotel during the festivities. Paredes’ Wynwood Arts District solo gallery space, Paredes Fine Arts Studio (www.miguelparedes.com), will also host an Art Basel launch event on Friday, December 3. The gallery, usually only open during the neighborhood’s “2nd Saturdays Art Walk” and by appointment, will be open to the public through Art Basel. The artist’s 18 X 26 mosaic mural “Pulgha World” found on NW 2nd Ave. will also be on view. Paredes will be present at both of his exhibition locations. The marketing-savvy Paredes said that the Art Basel Miami Beach has utterly changed the cultural landscape of South Florida. “It’s like night and day,” he said. “The whole city prepares itself because it brings so much money into town. Every artist wants to be shown. It’s a great opportunity for artists to get into galleries and shown, but it takes a lot of advance preparation. I will start planning for next year’s show the first of the year.” This week, though, Paredes is mightily pleased to be debuting new works never before shown, in-
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cluding oil paintings and sculpture and more. He said it is important to have offerings of work amenable to all types of collectors. “I try to have everything from journals with my work in them for $25 to paintings for $20,000,” said the accomplished creator of urban fantasy pieces in which the inspiration of pop artists like Keith Haring is celebrated. Diversity in his work is important because of the types of collectors who will be looking for acquisitions this week all over South Florida. “We get buyers from very serious collectors to guys who are getting married, want to buy something as a wedding gift but are on a budget,” Paredes said. “It’s good to have that range of collectors and it’s smart to be ready for them.” Paredes said he feels like he is at the stage in his already acclaimed career where he is ready to take the next step. “I’m looking for people to really enjoy my work and for serious collectors and curators to realize I am a good
artist,” he said. “I am so anxious to keep growing. I have been kicking ass for the past five years and it’s time to be taken serious.” An art form that itself has become taken more
LOCAL ART
Enrique Gomez de Molina LITTLEST SISTER ART FAIR; SPINELLO GALLERY SPINELLOGALLERY.COM The nearly tangible nature of Cuban-native Enrique Gomez de Molina’s hybrid creatures fascinated him into bringing this body of work into fruition. The curious and exotic nature of the artist’s sculptures is meant to be both fascinating and humorous. The fantastic, unrealistic qualities serve as a visual experience for the viewer and himself. The fact that these animals once existed, subsequently to be captured and destroyed, creates a sense of woe for the artist. A fond admirer of animals, de Molina strives to preserve the natural beauty of all diverse species. From minuscule insects to evocative birds, a voice is given to animals which cannot speak for themselves. Through the re-imagined expression of the creatures’ beauty, the audience may see these animals for something extraordinary. Using the skins of the once-living animals, de Molina hopes to bring awareness to the danger faced by a multitude of species: nuclear and chemical waste, overdevelopment, and destruction of rainforests. Genetic engineering and human evolution also accounts for the conceptualization of these surreal pieces. The notion that all planetary creatures derive from a different makeup puts into question the possibilities for natural and artificial evolution that lies ahead. de Molina examines the direction in which fauna and mankind are headed as a species.
seriously in recent years is graffiti/street art and they too are celebrated during this busy Art Week. For one of the first times in South Florida a collection of some of the world’s most famous “Graffiti Artists” will come together to show their work and even create their newest images at “Trilogy” during Art Basel 2010. Presented by So Cool Events (www.socoolevents.com) and Scion, it will be the first gallery during Art Basel dedicated solely to Graffiti Art, showcasing the work or artists from New York, New Jersey, LA and Miami. So Cool e-Venue, located at 2585 NW 21st Terrace in Miami, FL, will host the two day event on Friday and Saturday December 3rd and 4th. Primary Flight (www.primaryflight.com) teams up with Miami’s cycling culture leaders, EMERGE, to present Street.Art.Cycles: Art Basel Edition - a guided exploration through the main streets and back roads of Wynwood Arts District. Street.Art.Cycles will offer bike tours visiting more than 50 significant murals sites by established local and international artists. Guided by Dario Gonzalez and Olga Cano of EMERGE Miami, this initiative offers bikers a curated encounter, providing information about how the outdoor mural movement has taken shape in South Florida over recent years, and with commentary about the featured artists and sites. Since 2007, Primary Flight has been dedicated to developing the largest, multi-site, street mural installation in the country. Joined by independent artists, gallerists and developers, Miami’s street movement has rapidly grown into a picturesque collection of outdoor masterpieces. Giving residents and visitors of the Wynwood area a visual experience beyond Art Basel, the innovation behind graffiti culture and urban beautification has become an integral part of the city’s artistic identity. Tours will be held daily December 2 to 4, 2010, beginning at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., on a threemile route originating from Primary Flight base at Cafeina (297 NW 23 Street, Miami). The Green Mobility Network will provide complimentary bicycle valet at Panther Coffee (2390 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami), and bike-checks are a quick, convenient and inexpensive solution to urban mobility. Other eclectic artforms and artist backgrounds are widely on display this week as well. Calix Gustav Gallery (www,calixgustav.com), for example, is presenting the unveiling of its newest exhibit FLASH by internationally acclaimed fashion illustrator Barbara Hulanicki. In celebration of Hulanicki’s first stateside exhibit, an opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 4, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with complimentary cocktails and music by DJ Lazaro Amaral, followed by an after party with a screening of Beyond BIBA: A Portrait of Barbara Hulanicki. FLASH, a solo exhibit featuring a series of colorfully infused digital prints, is a reflection of Hu-
MIGUEL PARADES, BIRDS
lanicki’s wild and free imagination. Inspired by experiences ranging from her early years into the new century, Hulanicki explores joy, mystery, magic, youth and mortality, while staying true to her signature style yet incorporating new and unexpected twists. Even artistic oriented students are part of the visual arts bacchanalia. Collaborating Artists from Design and Architecture Senior High School (dashschool.org) are creating a series of site-specific, multimedia installations revamping the classic tales from the Brothers Grimm. Their works will be presented in the display windows at Las Tias during Art Basel week. Of course, the massive number of individual and group exhibits are just part of the in-
comparable scene rotating around Art Basel Miami Beach.
A
rt Basel isn’t the only art fair taking this place. But Art Basel was the inspiration for the Littlest Sister art fair, hosted by the Miami Design District’s Spinello Gallery (www.spinellogallery.com). “Littlest Sister started in 2007,” said founder Anthony Spinello. “No one was coming to Miami for galleries then during Art Basel week – they were coming for art fairs. So the solution seemed simple enough. I created an art fair!” Art Basel is billed as the sister event to the original European Art Basel, so, playing on that, Spinello decided to create “the smallest art fair in
town.” “The concept for the fair was to conceptualize how Art Basel affected Miami in general, and about concepts like scale, cosumerism and branding,” Spinello said. “All of these concepts go hand in hand with all art fairs, not just Art Basel.” At first it might have been a lark, but as the idea took shape, that changed. “At one time it was a faux fair, but now it is as real as any other!” The art fair consists of 8 booths, all 4’ x 8’ in size. The scaled down booths uniquely house over 40 of today’s most provocative artists ranging from unknown artists, up-and-coming art stars, to seasoned veterans, curated by Spinello and juried by the gallery’s stable of artists.
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 17
LOCAL ART
Aleoop MULTIVERSAL GROUP SHOW, “GREY AREA” WAREHOUSE WWW.ALEOOP.COM Award winning artist Aleloop is former Sr. Art Director of Vh1, Nickelodeon and LOGO Latin America. She launched Vh1 and LOGO for Latin America for six countries gaining 18 million viewers in two years; and re-launched Nickelodeon in Latin America bringing it to 1st place in rankings for kids’ channels. Aleloop has been designing, illustrating and animating for MTV, 7UP, Dr Pepper, Cartoon Network, Ironman, Wolverine and the X-MEN, XBOX, iTunes and many more brands from her studio in Coconut Grove. Originally from Argentina, Aleloop loves the Grove life surrounded by peacocks, wild giant Iguanas, “weird stuff,” cats, minidogs and her own imaginary creatures. After a lifetime of creating purely digitally, Aleloop successfully made the transition from animation to fine arts. She began exhibiting immediately after starting painting in acrylics of a whimsical world of quirky creatures that she doodles all the time and for which she creates stories. Aleloop has exhibited her art at Optic Nerve at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, G40 Art Summit, and many other venues.
This year Littlest Sister will house a VIP Project Room featuring a solo project, “Observations,” by master painter Marc Dennis. Dennis’ hypernaturalistic, highly detailed and obsessively delineated paintings address the changing relationship between natural and unnatural phenomena. In this show he explores the subversive potential of beauty, referencing traditional still life painting while distilling something otherworldly from within nature’s beneficence. Whether by content or clever marketing, Littlest Sister has achieved Spinello’s goals. The timing in conjunction with Art Basel has attracted many visitors. “It’s impossible to even compare how much more attendance there is here now,” Spinello said. “We have thousands of people come through here and who anticipate coming. A lot of the work we have is smaller scale and affordable, but this year we have some much larger pieces addressing scale, and video work, as well.” Sure to be another popular “art fair,” the Bakehouse Art Complex will transform itself through December 5th 2010 to coincide with Art Basel, Miami Beach. Comprised of over 70 studios of Miami’s own emerging and mid-career contemporary artists, as well as two finished galleries and 33,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Bakehouse Art Complex is well worth the attention of visiting and local ‘Baselites’. With free admission and extended hours, guests are encouraged to visit the studios and speak directly with resident artists. Currently in
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its 25th year, the Bakehouse continues to maintain its roots in the Wynwood Arts District while serving the community and its local artists as the premiere institution for visual arts in Miami. All artworks in the galleries and studios are for sale. This is the only “fair” in town that guests can receive a rare glimpse into the process of making art rather than just encountering the final product.
I
t isn’t all about money and glamour. For Rod Kukurudz, it is about taking advantage of the energy generated by Art Basel to make a difference. The French-born marketing and events professional could not help but notice how much all of South Florida changed during Art Basel. The whole city changes – even physically,” Kukurudz said. “You see installations and temporary galleries, men in suits walking the streets. Art Basel creates drastic changes.” After a year of consideration and planning, Kukurudz and his wife have co-founded Arts for a Better World (www.artsforabetterworld.com). Its inaugural edition December 1 to 5 takes significant steps away from the typical art fair paradigm. The elegantly designed 40,000-square-foot space at SoHo Studios (NW 22 Street at First Avenue), showcases 45 artists with more than 400 works, representing 13 countries. A unique partnership with four keynote charities — Save the Children, (Water.org), American Red Cross and American Cancer Society — lends access to artistic presentations, such as drawings by kids undergoing cancer treatment, shown alongside acclaimed professional artists. The egalitarian approach in which the curators designed the show reinforces its collective message, and in addition to receiving proceeds from their artwork sales, partner charities will benefit from 5 percent of sales generated by the entire venture. Kukurudz said that when he contacted artists around the world, he found real interest. “I could tell by talking to them for five minutes if they were a good match for what we are doing,” he said. “At the end of the day, all of these artists believe art can foster a better world. But they also have incorporated that into their lives.” Setting the tone for AFABW is the 672square-foot black-cloaked pavilion situated at the show’s entrance, where environmental activist Joe Zammit-Lucia will share “Expression, Personality, Emotion.” This touring collection of animal photography portraits is presented in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (www.icun.org), landing in Miami after its debut at the Palais des Nations – the United Nations’ European headquarters - in Geneva, Switzerland. With powerful photographs of endangered species, the artist investigates issues related to animal individuality and the human-animal rapport.
Brandon Opalka, breakout artist of Miami’s contemporary art scene, joins this initiative in offering a new view of familiar objects. Opalka’s landmark mural in Wynwood depicts a tree on its side, representative of an eco-system in distress. For AFABW, the artist instead takes a bubbling, prophetic approach in painting, and creates an illusion in which the viewer can believe he has seen a new, real place in his series of amoeba-like shapes with vibrant colors on canvas. Inspiration eclipses tragedy, as AFABW with American Red Cross bring the International Committee of Red Cross’ (“ICRC”) roving exhibit to Miami, making its Florida debut during Art Basel Miami Beach. This series was created in conjunction with VII photo agency to capture the individual stories of loss and suffering in war by award-winning war photographers James Nachtwey, Franco Pagetti, Antonin Kratochvil, Ron Haviv and Christopher Morris. Sending them to eight countries that were either at war or living through its aftermath Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Lebanon, Liberia, Haiti and the Philippines – their arresting images expose the remnants of armed conflicts and other situations of violence, while touching upon ideals of hope, redemption and progress. “All of these works collectively are an exhibit – it isn’t different booths or installations,” Kukurudz said. “The exhibit floor is beautiful.” More beautiful art abounds at the Haiti Art Expo 2010, a creative collaboration between Beach uberpromoter Michael Capponi, Haiti’s leading art curator Michele Frisch and SCOPE (among others) – and hosted by Venus Williams. Taking place this week, the Expo features works of some of Haiti’s leading artists as well as works donated by other artists, and is intended to raise relief funds for Haitians still devastated by the January 12 Port-au-Prince earthquake. The star power behind the Expo, including Capponi, who has long been very personally involved in Haitian relief efforts, illustrates a point that AFABW’s Rod Kukurudz made. “Art is really universal, whatever your background,” Kukurudz said. “Maybe you won’t understand it or appreciate it the same way. But you will understand it.” This week, whether for the aesthetic or a cause, or some combination of the two, South Florida becomes the most “understanding” place in the country. That’s some accomplishment for Art Basel Miami Beach after less than a decade. The exhibits, fairs and events mentioned in this article are just a handful of those taking place around South Florida this week. Much more information is available from ABDM’s official website, www.artbasel.com and from venue websites.
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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 19
LOCAL ART
Brandon Opalka BRANDON OPALKA ART FOR A BETTER WORLD ART FAIR WWW.ARTFORABETTERWORLD.COM
Brandon Opalka, breakout artist of Miami’s contemporary art scene, joins Arts for a Better World by offering a new view of familiar objects. Opalka’s landmark mural in Wynwood depicts a tree on its side, representative of an eco-system in distress. It’s a logical
evolution for the Virginia-born artist who was first attracted to graffiti art. He studied just one semester at Miami’s International Fine Arts College before setting out to be a professional. Since then he has been included in exhibits as far away as Japan and as close as the Bass Museum of Art. For AFABW, the artist instead takes a bubbling, prophetic approach in painting, and creates an illu-
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sion in which the viewer can believe he has seen a new, real place in his series of amoeba-like shapes with vibrant colors on canvas. The artist’s work will also be on view at ArtCenter/South Florida’s Good & Plenty artist show, and in collaboration with Primary Flight’s Wynwood street art mural initiative.
www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • December 2, 2010 • Page 21
Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
DAVID VANCE
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KYLE GROOMS
Miss Cougar Miami. Gosse has written 8 books on the subject of dating including The Cougar Imperative: Why MIdLife Women MUST Choose Younger Men of which he will talk about. Dancing, drink and dating. $20. 7:30pm. Embassy Suites Miami Airport, 3974 NW South River Drive, Miami. For info: cougarevents.com
SEDUCE ME
December 2 THEATER South Beach Babylon Zoetic Stage will kick off its inaugural season with the World Premiere of Michael McKeever’s wickedly funny and sexy new play South Beach Babylon. The play explores the lives of five South Beach artists during the weeks leading up to Art Basel. A fascinating look at what it takes to create art without selling one’s soul in contemporary America. McKeever is South Florida’s most successful playwright and his plays have been produced throughout the United States and Europe. He has been nominated numerous times for the Carbonell Award for Best New Work and has won the honor three times. 8pm. $40. Carnival Studio Theater, 1300 Biscayne Blvd; Miami. For info: arshtcenter.org.
December 3 XMAS Garden of Lights Head to The Flamingo Botanical Gardens in Davie to get into the holiday spirit. The garden and historic Wray Home are decked out with thousands of lights and decorations. Catch concerts and performances throughout the month of December every weekend. $17. Through Dec 31. Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S. Flamingo Rd. Davie. For info: 954-473-2955 or flamingogardens.org.
December 2 NIGHT Fashion Experience Supermodel Cindy Taylor will be hosting The Fashion Experience Tour 2010 at Segafredo. Catch an Exclusive Fashion Show at Spazio Nero along with Fashion TV’s international models and a live Photo Shoot & Coverage by FTV. 8pm. Segafredo, 1421 South Miami Ave, Brickell For info: sze-miami.com
December 2
December 3 BOOKS Dave Barry Meet Dave Barry when he discusses his latest book, I’ll Mature When I’m Dead, A brilliantly funny exploration of the treacherous state of adulthood. In hilarious, brand-new pieces, Dave tackles everything from fatherhood, new fatherhood, self-image, the battle of the sexes, celebrityhood, technology, parenting styles, certain unmentionable medical procedures, and much more. Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave. Bal Harbour. For info: booksandbooks.com
DANCE Merce Cunningham Dance Choreographer Merce Cunningham and visual artist Robert Rauschenberg: Two undisputed giants of American culture. See their iconoclastic work in The Merce Cunningham Dance Company: The Legacy Tour, a 360-degree event— created especially for Miami— that re-imagines their legendary mid-20th Century collaborations. First, is the new site-specific installation by Daniel Arsham, constructed in the theater’s auditorium. Then it’s on to the stage itself where, on three large multi-level sets, 14 dancers, wearing original Rauschenberg-designed costumes, perform Cunningham’s dazzling choreography. It is 30 minutes of pure genius that shatters all the conventions of theater. 7pm. $35. Ziff Ballet Opera House, 1300 Biscayne Blvd; Miami. For info: arshtcenter.org.
December 2 ART BASEL Alexander McQueen
December 3 ART BASEL Seduce Me Catch Isabella Rossellini’s cool and wacky flick, Seduce Me when it screens this weekend during Art Basel. Seduce Me is an installation project that takes its name from a series of short videos created by Rossellini exploring the unconventional seduction rituals of creatures ranging from bugs to cuttlefish. A site-specific project commissioned for The Wolfsonian, it features complex and imaginative paper sculptures made by Andy Byers that are used in the videos for sets, props, and costumes, and the Seduce Me videos created, produced, directed, written, and performed by Rossellini and produced and art directed by Rick Gilbert. Through Sunday, December 5. Free. Wolfsonian, 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach. For info: wolfsonian.org.
During the mayhem of Art Basel, stop in at The Rug Company in the Design District and check out the beautiful sixpiece collection of silk rugs designed by Alexander McQueen. One of his last projects before his death, the rugs were inspired by some of his most beautiful designs like his signature grinning skulls, dayglow humming birds in mid flight and military brocade. Free. The Rug Company, 4040 NE Second Ave; Miami. For info: therugcompany.info
December 3 THEATRE Fizz New Theatre’s 25th Anniversary continues with the Florida Premiere of Rogelio Martinez’s new comedy, Fizz. Gun-toting Southern belles, cocaine-loving Rockettes, and insane soda execs all take part in this fictionalized comedy about one of history’s biggest flops - the creation of New Coke. At the same time it examines the meteoric rise of Roberto Goizueta, as the first Cuban American to head a major American company. $15 to $40. 8pm. New Theatre, 4120 Laguna St; Coral Gables. For info: new-theatre.org
December 2 BOOKS Soaps Deidre Hall joins authors Greg Meng and Eddie Campbell for an unprecedented photographic journey behind the scenes of the longest running program in NBC’s history with Days of Our Lives: 45 Years: A Celebration in Photos. All 3 will be discussing never-before-seen images of cast, crew, sets, and styling from 1965 to 2010 at a meet and greet. Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave. Bal Harbour. For info: booksandbooks.com
December 2
December 3 ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
SOCIAL Cougar Convention Something a little different from author Rich Gosse, is a real live Cougar Convention, complete with the crowning of a
BOOKS Gary Dell’Abate
One of pop culture’s great enduring unsung heroes: Gary Dell’Abate, Howard Stern Show producer, miracle worker, professional good sport, and servant to the King of All Media, for the first time tells the story of his early years and reveals how his chaotic childhood and early obsessions prepared him for life at the center of the greatest show on earth. He will discuss and sign his new book, They Call Me Baba Booey. 8pm. Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave; Coral Gables. For info: booksandbooks.com www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 23
Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK
VICKIE WINANS BARBARA HULANICKI
December 4 BOOKS Sins Of South Beach
buted at #1 on the Billboard Gospel chart. One of the gospel industry’s most respected and beloved artists, Winans sang her first solo in church at age 8 and went on to craft an illustrious career that spans work on television, on Broadway, and in feature films. Winans’ glorious voice and vivacious, down-to-earth personality has won her legions of fans who have dubbed Winans the Joy Princess of Gospel. Free. 4pm.
Former Beach Mayor Alex Daoud will host a Holiday party and sign his book, Sins From South Beach at the newly opened Walgreens on South Beach. 11am. Free. Walgreens at 501 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.
December 5
December 4
FESTIVAL Hanukkah
FILM Beyond Biba
Celebrate Hanukkah at South Florida’s Largest Hanukkah Celebration. Carnival rides, Rock Climbing Wall, live music, food, shopping and a food drive to benefit the WECARE Food Pantry at the Soref JCC and Jewish Family Service of Broward County. 10am. Lockhart Stadium, 5301 NW 12th Ave, Fort Lauderdale.
The life and work of iconic British fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki, will unfurl on-screen in Beyond Biba, a documentary that explores the contributions made by Hulanicki to the worlds of fashion, interior design, and art. The screening follows the opening of Flash, a solo show of Barbara Hulanicki’s sketches at the Calix Gustav Gallery next door to O Cinema. Free. Evening starts at 6pm. Screening is at 9:30pm. O Cinema, 90 NW 29th Street; Miami. For info: o-cinema.org or calixgustav.com.
December 7
December 4
LES LALANNE AT FAIRCHILD
ART Animal Work To kick off their art season, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden will open the U.S.’s largest outdoor exhibition of works by French sculptors Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne. The exhibition, Les Lalanne at Fairchild, will feature more than twenty sculptures, including works never before publicly exhibited in the U.S. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd; Coral Gables. For info: fairchildgarden.org.
December 4 BOOKS David Vance
LECTURE Pearl Harbor Day U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed “a date which will live in infamy.” On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Floridian Jew, Arnold Swartz was officer of the guard at that historic time at Pearl Harbor and he will speak about that experience. Abe Stein, who was also there, will share stories. The Museum invites any other Floridian Jews who were at Pearl Harbor at the time of the strike to join the conversation by calling 786-972-3180. 7:30pm. Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 Washington Ave, Miami Beach. For info: jewishmuseum.com
MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE
From extraodinary, world-renowned, local photographer David Vance comes Erotic Dreams, a new book that takes readers on a journey through his own erotic fantasies. Gorgeous and exciting are his pictures; made with an eye for the details and the will to create something perfect. Vance is always looking for immaculate men, almost to perfect to be true. He finds them, he portrays them and makes them immortal. Vance will discuss and sign his book. 7pm. Books & Books, 927 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach. For info: booksandbooks.com
December 5 MUSIC Vickie Winans Gospel singer Vickie Winans will be hosting Gospel Sundays at the Arsht Center Featuring the Miami Mass Choir and Bethel Apostolic Temple Choir. Winans’ music has been topping the charts for more than 25 years, and her latest CD, How I Got Over, dePage 24 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
FOR KIDS Sunday, December 5 Mammoth Follies
BRING THE KIDS TO SEE THESE GIANT PRE-HISTORIC BEASTS IN A MUSICAL TRIP THROUGH PRE-HISTORY. THE MAMMOTH FOLLIES EXPLORES THE WONDERS OF EVOLUTION IN AN OLD-FASHIONED REVUE OF ORIGINAL SONGS, WITTY JOKES, AND EARTH-SMASHING DANCES PERFORMED BY GIANT DINOSAUR PUPPETS. THIS PROGRAM WILL DRAMATIZE HISTORIC AND SCIENTIFIC FACTS (AS WELL AS SOME MYTHS) ABOUT THE GREAT AGE OF THE DINOSAUR. HOSTING IS WILLIE MAMMOTH, SMILEY THE SABER-TOOTHED TIGER, BESSIE THE APATOSAURUS, TONY AND TRIXIE TRICERATOPS AND TERRY THE PTERODACTYL. 11AM & 2PM. NORTH SHORE OPEN SPACE PARK, COLLINS + 85 STREET, MIAMI BEACH. FOR INFO: HVPUPPETS.ORG.
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 25
Music
Dance
COLUMN
COLUMN
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Miami, How Buoyantly We Can Move
By Alan Sculley The Tran-Siberian Orchestra of today is a marvel of success and a one-of-a-kind entity on the music scene. The combination progressive rock band and orchestra routinely sells more than a million copies of each of its CDs – despite existing in a time when downloading has made that milestone reachable for only the biggest of music acts. The group is a touring powerhouse, selling more than a million tickets for its annual holiday tour, which runs from the beginning of November until the end of December, playing roughly 120 shows. It’s the only act doing a holiday tour that plays arenas – sometimes playing two shows each day. What also makes Trans-Siberian Orchestra unique is that no other music act does things on as big a scale. Its albums, which are conceived and for the most part written by TSO founder Paul O’Neill, commonly feature contributions from more than 100 singers and musicians. The group’s touring ensemble numbers more than two dozen singers and musicians plus an orchestra, all performing amidst the most visually elaborate set there is, with lasers, pyrotechnics, smoke and all manner of special effects lighting up the venues. “My favorite (description) is from a magazine in Britain, which said ‘Enough pyro to barbecue an entire school of blue whales,’” O’Neill said. But if O’Neill, long-time producer for the progressive rock band Savatage, were to try to start Trans-Siberian Orchestra today, chances are it would never have gotten off of the ground. Instead, O’Neill feels when he came to Atlantic Records in 1993 to pitch his concept for TSO, he arrived just in time to be one of the last acts to benefit from the old-fashioned record business model of artist development. “A lot of people think Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, the Who, Queen were all hits out of the box,” O’Neill said. “They weren’t. A lot of them didn’t break until the second or third (album), some didn’t break until the fifth or sixth. They were nurtured by the labels. “When Trans-Siberian’s first album came out in ’96 (the CD “Christmas Eve and Other Stories”), which was the first installment of the Christmas trilogy, the first year, we didn’t even crack six figures (in sales),” he said. “If that had happened in 2006 instead of ’96, we would have been dropped.” Instead TSO is thriving. Its fifth CD, “Night Castle,” arrived last fall, and O’Neill is now full speed ahead on other projects. In fact, he has five more rock operas in the pipeline – each of which O’Neill hopes to turn into a Broadway production. Plus, TSO has expanded from touring only with its holiday
show to taking out a show built around its non-holiday albums in the spring and summer. O’Neill is very particular about TSO’s live show, which is why he has been in the Omaha area since mid-October for three weeks of preparation and rehearsals. TSO has taken over the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs to build its impressive stage (O’Neill calls it the flight deck), set up its spectacular light show and test out the array of special effects that go into the holiday concerts. “We used to rehearse at the Lakeland Civic Center in Florida, but the arena, by about four years ago, the arena couldn’t support the weight of the rigs,” O’Neill said. Fortunately the recently built Mid-America Center was a perfect replacement. “It’s hard to find an arena where you don’t have to break down at least once or twice for a hockey or a basketball team coming through,” O’Neill said. “So we kind of lucked out up here (with MidAmerica Center). It’s gorgeous, the people are nice and it’s become our second home away from home when we go into rehearsal.” The holiday show TSO will perform this fall will be familiar in a major way to fans that have seen past productions. As in past years, the first set will feature a complete performance of the first of TSO’s trilogy of holiday albums, “Christmas Eve and Other Stories.” The second set will include material from “Beethoven’s Last Night,” “Night Castle” and perhaps the debut of a few songs from two of the upcoming rock operas, “Romanov and Kings Must Whisper” and “Gutter Ballet.” O’Neill said he considered switching to “The Lost Christmas Eve” rockopear for the first set of the show. But he was talked out of the idea by his booking company, William Morris, which argued that in tough economic times like these, audiences want something familiar. So “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” remained in the opening set. “We try to give the best of the traditional and the best of the new,” O’Neill said. “Trans-Siberian Orchestra is that type of band. We are owned by the fans. We’re here for them, and the minute we forget that, we’re not entitled to these platinum albums, we’re not entitled to sell over a million tickets every year, and the minute we forget that, that’s the minute we start to decline.” The Trans-Siberian Orchestra will play Miami on Friday, Dec 10 at the AmericanAirlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $38.50. For more info: livenation.com.
Page 26 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
By Tiffany Hanan Madera Artburstmiami.com
Living in Miami we are spoiled with the pleasures of nature and beauty unfolding. We are world-famous for our worship and dedication to the physical form, and yet we live in a complicated place — a dance of contradiction, struggle, and awe. Driving over the Macarthur Causeway, I remember water is a constant metaphor. It comprises most of our body, and hydrates our life story. Water is constantly dancing around us, moistening and heating our experiences navigating the city. Driving over the bridge, flanked by water on both sides, I imagine drinking a wave of ocean through my belly, undulating in my car seat, hoping to make traffic go by faster. I play with the idea of floating through traffic, bouncing and gliding like an old school weeblo. Choreographer Karen Peterson expands and explores these playful musings, in her show “Buoyant Dreams,” on December 11 at the Byron Carlyle Theater in Miami Beach. Pairing with video artist Maria Lino, they create a “mixed ability” choreographic piece where disabled dancers move through water on video and perform onstage in wheelchairs, with able bodied dancers in mirrored cohesion. Different choreographies elicit different moods using images of trees, sky, and projection over bodies moving together onstage. Liquid sounds envelop the stage like soft or crashing waves, chirping birds, or the clang of thunder. One choreography I especially look forward to is where the dancers perform with buckets and water onstage, using levels, spirals and lines, dancing through space like children on slip ‘n slides. The show also includes a new live jazz work, I will catch you, by choreographer Joanne Barrett, dancing live to the Wendy Pederson Jazz Trio. This section offers both choreography and extemporaneous, in-the-moment creation of dance and sound, in the spirit of jazz itself. Karen Peterson and dancers was established in 1990 and is a non-profit arts organization. Peterson graduated from the Boston Conservatory and has won numerous grants and fellowships. Karen Peterson Dance is the only Florida dance organization dedicated full-time to working with dancers with and without disabilities and has extensive outreach and programming to the disabled community. Peterson’s career trajectory reminds me of water itself; full of power and nurturing growth, feeding new worlds and nourishing the body in all its forms. Karen Peterson and Dancers celebrate their 21st season with “Buoyant Dreams” at the Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st St., Miami Beach, at 4:00 pm. and 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11.
Cinema
BURLESQUE
REVIEW
Wayward Souls By Ruben Rosario (ruben@sunpostweekly.com) Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void is a movie under the influence, a lurid head trip that whisks the viewer over Tokyo’s neon-lit streets and alleyways to discover a city that appears to remain perpetually stuck at midnight. It’s an evocative tour de force, one that’s ultimately undone by over-the-top soap opera histrionics and the director’s self-indulgent excesses. The two-and-a-half-hour opus, one of three new movies I’m reviewing this week, has been dividing audiences ever since its debut earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival. The Argentine-born, French-bred Noé has since trimmed the movie, but even in its current form it feels like a shapeless, oppressively dystopian blob. It intends to get you high but turns out to be more of a buzzkill. The film begins, promisingly enough, with a sharply edited opening credit sequence that flashes the names of the cast and crew in big, bold letters at lightning speed. This, the director proclaims, is an event movie, and thus he primes viewers for some visual fireworks. The uninterrupted twenty-minute shot that follows, which reminded me of those brain recordings in Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days, certainly doesn’t disappoint. We’re at a seedy apartment, not in the nicest part of Tokyo, and we soon realize: a) we’re looking through the eyes of a young American drug dealer; b) he seems obsessed with death (well, he must be, since all he keeps talking about is the Tibetan Book of the Dead); c) he’s going to get wasted, and we’re joining him for the ride. He lights up his pipe with what we later learn is a strong hallucinogenic, and psychedelic graphics fill the screen. Business is business, so young Oscar (Nathaniel Brown), accompanied by friend and mentor Alex (Cyril Roy), heads out to to make a “delivery” at a nearby bar. The scene ends with an overhead shot of Oscar’s body as TAMARA DREWE
it lies on a bathroom stall floor, and we experience the rest of Enter the Void from the point of view of the recently deceased pusher. (Think of what Lars von Trier would do to Wings of Desire and you get the picture.) At this point I was very much intrigued by Noé’s vividly realized images. Then the movie turns into a bad telenovela...really slowly. It seems Noé is dead set on telling the story of Oscar’s relationship with his angelic baby sister Linda (Paz de la Huerta), a bond that, wait for it, not even death can break! After losing their parents in a traumatic head-on collision (shades of Audrey Tautou’s character in The Da Vinci Code), Oscar and Linda make a blood pact to never be apart, even when Child Services has other ideas. These flashbacks would be conventional in just about any context, but coming on the heels of such a bravura opening sequence they feel especially clichéd. Noé continues to fill in the blanks. Once Oscar moves to Japan and finds work, he sends for Linda, who seems to always be carrying her childhood teddy bear. (“So innocent,” the director seems to whisper in our ear, “so corruptible.”) The wide-eyed naïf catches the eye of a sleazy club owner, who hires her as a stripper. While his sister’s away at work, Oscar goes to her room to sniff her panties (he really loves her, you know). Around this time he starts an affair with a friend’s mother, which provokes the film’s funniest outburst. (“Have you f***ed my mom?” Yes, really.) It’s hard to believe this is the same director who knocked my socks off seven years ago with Irreversible, a powerful revenge tale that, like Christopher Nolan’s Memento, unfolds backwards. The film garnered controversy for its bursts of extreme violence, as well as an agonizing nine-minute rape sequence, but despite its brutal nature, I never felt Noé was being exploitative for exploitation’s sake. Enter the Void, by contrast, amounts to an emptyheaded provocation, a giggle-inducing wallow in misery and despair that undermines its dazzling camerawork at almost every turn. The film climaxes with an endless foray into a seedy hotel in which we see couples having what appears to be unsimulated sex. “But wait, I’m getting to the payoff,” Noé seems to be saying. Forget it, buster. The light at the end of the tunnel arrives way too late in this act of visual masturbation. Rate it X for exhausting. Monsieur Horndog is not the only filmmaker letting me down
this weekend. I could not imagine my formative movie watching years without the talented Stephen Frears. In the eighties and early nineties he kept churning out one great film after another: Prick Up Your Ears, Dangerous Liaisons and The Grifters, to name a few. In recent years he’s become more of a hired gun, helming confident but rather sedate middlebrow entertainment like Mrs. Henderson Presents and guiding Helen Mirren to her first Oscar in The Queen. His later work clearly doesn’t excite me as much, but it still possesses a compassion and polished reserve that I find comforting. As I sat through the dark comedy Tamara Drewe, though, I saw Frears’s humanism curdle into mean-spirited cynicism. Based on a newspaper comic strip that was itself inspired by Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, it’s an ensemble piece that holds nothing but contempt for its characters and, by extension, the viewer. The setting is a writers retreat in Dorset, England. American scholar Glen McGreavy (Bill Camp), who is unsuccessfully trying to write a book on Thomas Hardy, has a crush on Beth (Tamsin Greig), who runs the facility with her husband Nicholas (Roger Allam), a successful crime novelist who’s cheating on her with a younger woman. Into this rondelay comes the titular character (Daphne Zuniga lookalike Gemma Arterton), once the town’s laughingstock for her Cyrano-sized schnoz, now back with a new nose and a glamorous journalism career to sell off her mother’s old house, which is being looked after by former flame Andy (Arterton’s co-star in this year’s Clash of the Titans remake). Tongues start wagging after Tamara starts dating a spoiled rock star (Mamma Mia‘s Dominic Cooper), which gets the attention of troublemaking teenyboppers/Greek chorus Jody and Casey. We’ve got the makings of a likable romp, right? Not quite. As the film progresses and plot developments continue to pile up (one of them is particularly hard to swallow), you get the sense Frears, working from an astute but nasty script by Moira Buffini, is observing these characters as if he were examining an ant farm with a magnifying glass. These, Frears observes, are selfish people, right down to the ones we thought would rise above such petty behavior. You just wind up biding your time for the unctuous, two-timing “Nichol-ass” to get his comeuppance, but when it finally happens there’s no one left to care about. And where’s the fun in that? Tamara Drewe left a sour taste in my mouth. The solution to this problem was simple: I went to see Bur-
lesque. Former child star-turned-filmmaker Steven Antin’s pairing of Cher and Christina Aguilera has been hyped as Showgirls‘s heir apparent, but the film actually plays more like a mash-up of Cabaret and Coyote Ugly. Fosse for the Glee crowd. If that sounded like a backhanded compliment, you’ve been paying attention. Xtina plays Ali, a small-town waitress who dreams of making it big, American Idol style. She takes all her possessions and takes the bus to L.A. The dance club that gives the movie its name ought to be a little dive-y, but like much of Burlesque, it’s just too squeaky-clean for words. This is where Ali hustles her way into working the tables with an eye toward stepping onto the stage. She befriends, then becomes roommates with Jack (Twilight‘s naughty bloodsucker Cam Gigandet), that cute bartender/songwriter who wears eyeliner but (gasp!) turns out to be straight. She notices there’s a band, but the dancers only lip-synch. You can see the Big Moment coming a mile away, but when it finally arrives, Antin infuses the star-is-born scene with a lively, let’s-put-on-a-show spirit. Like Aguilera’s performance, Burlesque is considerably stronger on the stage than off it. When she’s not doing one of her showstoppers, she comes across as an even more airheaded Jessica Alba. The film also benefits from a game supporting cast. Kristen Bell, as Ali’s boozy prima-donna rival, and Alan Cumming, playing the club’s doorman (willkommen indeed), are underused, but Stanley Tucci is, once again, a delight playing a variation on his Devil Wears Prada role. He’s repeating himself with style. As the club owner whose tough façade conceals a heart of gold, Cher only gets two musical numbers, but she brings an understated appeal to her scenes with Aguilera, a good thing, considering Burlesque gets unnecessarily bogged down by its half-baked romantic subplot. Could it have been sleazier? You bet. Could the claws have come out with more abandon? Sure. But Burlesque is still a winsome, disarmingly sweet showbiz fantasy. It delivers. Burlesque is currently playing in wide release. Tamara Drewe starts Friday at the Regal South Beach Cinemas. Enter the Void will have a one-week run in 35mm at the Coral Gables Art Cinema; for more information go to coralgablescinemateque.org. You might feel like taking a long shower afterwards.
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 27
GO! UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS
Social Basel By Maryanne Salvat maryanne@sunpostweekly.com
BASE PAINT TENTS During the week of Art Basel Miami Beach 2010, November 30 through December 5, join Fundación Manos del Sur and Step by Step Foundation, under the artistic direction of Antuan, as they unveil their latest collaboration, Base Paint Tents. The project will showcase an exhibition and cocktail event hosted by EPIC Residences on their Green. The project was conceived as a collaboration of international artists and nonprofit organizations to support the reconstruction of education in Haiti through art. The distinctive elements include creation and exhibition of the tents at a series of locations and then finally setting-up the finished tents in Haiti. Artists participating include: Antuan and Elba Luis Lugo, Pedro Barbeito, Jose Bedia, Edouard Duval-Carrie, Jose Garcia Cordero, Nicolas Leiva, Leonel Matheu, Ruben Millares and Antonia Wright, Gean Moreno, and Damian Sarno. On Sunday, December 5, FIU’s Frost Art Museum will host the Base Paint Models at FIU’s 8th Annual Breakfast in the Park. The event celebrates Art Basel Miami Beach 2010 with a complimentary breakfast that is open to the public. Festivities begin a 9:30 in the morning and will run until noon. For more information visit www.basepaint.org
THE MIGUEL PAREDES NATIONAL GALLERY On Thursday, December 2, Miguel Paredes, along with famed rock photographer, Danny Clinch will unveil several collaborative works featuring subjects such as Jack Johnson and the Beastie Boys. The event will feature complimentary cocktails by Dewars and beats by DJ Sam Popat. This event will run from 8 to 11 p.m. and will take place at the National Hotel. For more information visit www.miguelparedes.com.
ORIGINAL PENGUIN MIAMI’S 5TH ANNIVERSARY E!’s Michael Yo will host the Original Penguin Miami’s 5th Anniversary on Thursday, December 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. Complimentary cocktails and champagne will be served courtesy of 42Below Vodka and Korbel. Enjoy 30% off the entire store as you snack on Pirate’s Booty treats while local favorite DJ Dank spins great tunes. To RSVP visit OPGMIAMI@TARAINK.com or call 305.864.3434 x257.
ART BASEL AND ANGELIQUE EURO CAFÉ Angelique Euro Café is excited to bring a little piece of Art Basel to Coral Gables on Thursday, December 2, as they proudly showcase the original and uplifting art work by local Venezuelan artist, Valentina Ramos; which will remain in display through the 5th of December. Angelique invites its patrons to celebrate their one-year anniversary and enjoy an evening filled with art, wine and live music beginning at 6:30pm with the sultry notes of RK Duo. At 7pm, the Battle of the Grapes wine tasting will begin as Angelique highlights California’s other grapes. For more information visit www.AngeliqueEuroCafe.com.
CAFEINA PRESENTS: THREE STOOGES WE LOVE Cafeina invites you to celebrate Three Stooges We Love, a night of art, photography & the written word honoring Patrick McMullan, Brian Antoni, and Robert Chambers on Thursday, December 2, at 11 p.m. Guests will enjoy complimentary Solerno cocktails until midnight and music by special guest DJ Jeffrey Tonnesen. For one-night only, McMullan will showcase So80s on the garden wall, a compilation of classic photos capturing icons of that decade Madonna, Andy Warhol and Liza Minnelli. Antoni will also host a VIP signing of South Beach the Novel and will donate a percentage of book proceeds to The Trevor Project. And Robert Chambers will present a sculpture installation. To RSVP go to cafeina@taraink.com or for more information visit www.cafeinamiami.com.
BARBARA HULANICKI PRESENTS “FLASH” Internationally acclaimed fashion illustrator and designer, Barbara Hulanicki, will host her first-side exhibit at Calix Gustav Gallery. The show, aptly titled FLASH, will feature a series of colorfully infused images reflecting the artist’s life experiences as well as her wild and free imagination. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. The exhibition will be featured through February 4, 2011. To RSVP go to Hulanicki@TARAINK.com. Calix Gustav Gallery, 98 N.W. 29 Street.
STONE CRAB FEAST AT KITCHEN 305 Stone crabs lovers are invited to come dip and dance at “The Show” taking place every Friday at Kitchen 305 in the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort. The Show features weekly live entertainment to go along with an all-you-caneat stone crab feast for $42 per person. Make sure to get your fill in before the season for stone-crabbin’ is over! Just a “stones” throw-away from the ocean, Kitchen 305 will serve-up claws in batches of five, accompanied by a bowl of New England Clam Chowder and a Wedge Salad with Applewood smoked bacon. Endless refills are welcomed if there’s still room after the fresh bread and choice of two sides from another grand selection including rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, grilled Portobello mushrooms, charred-cheddar wrapped beefsteak tomatoes and Page 28 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
creamed spinach. For table reservations, call 305.749.2110.
ROOTS IN THE CITY FARMERS MARKET RE-OPENS Roots In The City Farmers Market will re-open for business on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at noon. Launched with the support of Wholesome Wave Foundation, the market debuted to national attention in April 2010 as the only wholly local farmer-operated market in Miami and the first urban farmer’s market in Florida to double the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (also known as food stamps) towards the purchase of locally-grown produce. Roots In The City Farmers Market is located in Overtown, at the corner of Northwest Second Avenue and Tenth Street, and will be open to the public every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. through early summer 2011.
411 Evening Under the Stars PHOTO: MAGICALPHOTOS.COM / MITCHELL ZACHS
Designer Roberto Cavalli
George Hamilton and Dr. Barbara Sturm
Emilio Estefan, Gloria Estefan, Roberto Cavalli and Deborah Cox
Roberto Cavalli, celebrating his birthday with his cake on the catwalk following his runway show
Alexia Echevarria and Herman Echeveria
Models on the catwalk at the Roberto Cavalli Spring 2011 Collection runway show in Miami Television show host Lili Estefan
Chairman, CEO and Founder of The Related Group Jorge M. Pérez and Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 29
The 411
Craig Robins, Mia Moretti and pal at the Soho Beach House
Craig Robins & Mathieu Lehanneur
Sabina Belli, Pharrel Williams, and Craig Robins at the Veuve Cliquot barbeque
COLUMN
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore maryjoshore@aol.com
Vanessa Kay, Donae Burston, Sabina Belli at the Veuve Cliquot barbeque
Mia Moretti at the Veuve Cliquot barbeque at Soho Beach House
Art Basel, the art world’s “Carnaval” disguised as an international art show (or vice versa) has arrived, with hundreds of events vying for space on our social calendar. And while the actual showcase technically runs from December 2-5 (what we like to call the “100 hour day”) the requisite art celebrations and inebriation have been going strong since last weekend. It seems there’s no end in sight- testing our endurance, social scheduling, and livers more and more each year (please let us know if any progress has been made with human cloning, oh, and add us to the transplant list.) The world’s largest and most important art show gets bigger every year, especially since in addition to Art Basel itself, Vanguard, Scope, Verge, Pulse, Art Miami, Aqua, Design Miami and over 70 other satellite fairs have set up camp all over town. Then there are pop-up shops and spas, such as Citrine by the Stones at Soho Beach House and the indulgent La Mer spa South of Fifth and new not-to-be missed restaurants, such as the Royal at the Raleigh, from John DeLucie, who owns NYC hotspots, The Lion and Waverly Inn, (we hear a reservation is harder to come by than snow on South Beach, but give it a shot!) Also “popping up” for this week only is Paris nightclub transplant, Le Baron, which once again takes over the Florida Room. Keeping the parties going late into the night are celebrity DJs such as Paul Oakenfold and Behrouz and Danny Tenaglia who will be spinning at WALL throughout the weekend and Kaskade at Arkadia. While giving you all the gory details about Art Basel happenings would require a forest’s worth of pages, we have surveyed some of our friends in the art and design worlds, along with a few of our favorite South Beach locals to bring you these Art Basel insiders’ top picks of not-to-be missed events during this week- in which surviving the fun is an art in itself. ROB BROWN, CEO AND TODD DAVIS, PRESIDENT- BROWN DAVIS “For sure a stop on the list is Maxalto Showroom in the Design District to view artists such as Donald Baechler, Julian Schnabel and many more-all benefiting ACRIA on Thursday. The most exciting part of Art Basel is opening night Vernissage and welcome reception at the W. Seeing the art and people is amazing. We have three major clients in town from around the globe who joined us this year. I love the pink snails and the way they make people stop and play. Konstantin Grcic, hot German designer is on
Mathieu Lehanneur at the Veuve Cliquot barbeque at Soho Beach House
Page 30 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
the scene check out his installation at the entrance to Design Miami. Check him out Thursday at 6 for his talk. Ceres by Lindsey Adelman has very, very cool lighting. It is wonderful to have Miami Beach at the center of the art world for one week.” MICHAEL CAPPONI, PRESIDENT, CAPPONI GROUP, (AND A MULTITUDE OF OTHER COMPANIES) NIGHTLIFE IMPRESARIO, PHILANTHROPIST “This year I am producing the Haiti Art Expo (HAE) which celebrates Haitian Art and aims to raise money for housing in Haiti. 100% of art sale proceeds will benefit the refugees and artists who have lost their homes in the tragic earthquake. The Expo will open with a bang Thursday night with an event presented by Plum TV along with its co-chairman Jerry Powers, Jeff Feldman and me. HAE will be hosted by Venus Williams, Haitian born World Welterweight Champion Boxer Andre Berto, and Fabrice and Patrick Tardieu, Haitian born founders of the fine clothing line Bogosse. I am thrilled by the overwhelming response we received, not only by the artists who want to support, but locals and celebrities who have reached out to help the cause. We are hoping that Haiti Art Expo will raise the necessary funds to replace the destroyed tents with sustainable housing for the entire Belvil camp. There is such a HUGE need since so many people and children who are without a home. The event continues through the weekend and will host SCOPE for Haiti, which is a collaboration between the SCOPE Art Fair and Haiti Art Expo. There will be a special reception for SCOPE VIP cardholders at the Fair from 5 p.m. 7- p.m. followed by a reception at Haiti Art Expo at 8 p.m. For more information, visit: scope-art.com MICHAEL GONGORA, MIAMI BEACH VICE MAYOR- THE COOLEST VICE MAYOR WE KNOW “Of course, I am most excited about the actual art fairs - Art Basel and now Design Miami - happening across the street from each other. It’s a very exciting year for art in Miami Beach. As far as events, I am interested in the event on Friday, Dec. 1st which leaves the Mondrian Hotel dock to Monument Island for an art installation. Since I have been involved in maintaining Monument Island for years
Michael Gongora, David Granoff, Edison Farrow at the opening of the Lord’s Hotel
I am curious to see the art installation there....and the great party sure to follow at the Mondrian. I am also most excited to have been invited to attend and participate in a private brunch with Isabella Rossellini hosted by the Wolfsonian on Saturday to discuss the premier of her exhibit titled “Seduce Me”. The Wolfsonian is also hosting a VIP event Friday evening to view the work.” D. ASHLEE HARRISON, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING FOR THE DESIGN CENTER OF THE AMERICAS (DCOTA) “Some of my musts include the ‘Friends With You presents Rainbow City’ on Thursday with the Pharrell performance, Nektar de Stagni’s market at her shop on 39th street, Cappellini event with Dror, and Fendi / Kenzo event with Vladimir Kagan. Basically Thursday is all about the Design District. On Friday, I’m headed to Land and OHWOW’s “The Island” off shore installation and to the Wolfsonian’s Isabella Rossellini’s “Seduce Me” opening. I also look forward to the annual artists’ breakfast with all of the museums at the Sagamore and the Wolfsonian’s private brunch with Isabella Rossellini and Bruce Weber on Saturday. TARA SOLOMON, NICK D’ANNUNZIO, PRINCIPALS, TARA, INK.: “The TARA, Ink. Art Basel event line-up for 2010, comprising 20 events, is the most exciting it has ever been. We love art and fashion, and they come together in the best way possible this Art Basel. The Vogue Lounge at The Raleigh, featuring Trina Turk and YSL Beauté, is sure to be a popular stop throughout the week, as will Miguel Paredes’ exterior/interior installation at The National Hotel. On Thursday night we’ve got an extremely full dance card – fasten your seatbelts, Baselites! Interview magazine has partnered with MoMA PS1 for a private dinner at Delano with Fendi Fashion that has even the most jaded Basel-goers buzzing. The Maison Martin Margiela art installation preview and a private viewing at Luxury Living with Fendi Casa and Kenzo Maison, both in the Design District, are must-sees. The same evening, in Wynwood, Calix Gustav Gallery’s reception for Biba icon Barbara Hulanicki’s highly anticipated “Flash” exhibition will draw fashion lovers en masse. PAPERMAG has topped itself once again, presenting a live performance by N*E*R*D in the Design District. Capping Thursday is a party we’re so psyched for: The Three Stooges at Cafeina, where art meets the written word in a special collaboration by our brilliant friends Patrick McMullan, Brian Antoni and Robert Chambers. Then it’s back to the Beach for Interview’s late-night party at Delano. On Saturday night, Miami’s demimonde will be cocktailing at the hot new Lords South Beach for OUT magazine’s private party. Crowning the weekend will be the Vogue-hosted Yves Saint Laurent fashion show on Saturday evening, held at the Ridinger estate, which is always one of Art Basel’s
Leonardo Davalos, Malinka Max, Michael Valdes, Pedro Maal at Lord’s
most coveted invites. And on Sunday night, we sleep (at least after “Punch Brunch” at Lords’ Cha-Cha Rooster and a nightcap at Soho Beach House).” MERLE WEISS, BOARD SECRETARY OF ART CENTER SOUTH FLORIDA “I would be remiss if I didn’t tell the world to check out our show in our gallery in Lincoln Road. Opening night begins immediately after the Art Basel Vernissage at the Convention Center. Also, my favorite event of the entire week is the brunch at the Sagamore Hotel on Saturday: yummy food, Bloody Marys, and tons of VIPs from the art world. A must!” MICHAEL VALDES, VICE PRESIDENT, SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY AFFILIATES “I’ve already attended several great events, such as Tuesday’s private book signing for Lin Arison’s book, “Feast for the Senses” at the $65 million Indian Creek Mansion (next door to Julio Iglesias’ estate). Michael Tilson Thomas (who did the introduction was in attendance) along with several VIP guests who included Mickey Arison (owner of the Miami Heat and Carnival Cruise Lines). The Art Basel Vernissage, followed by the special event at the New World Symphony (Frank Gehry designed building) and the Bass Museum reception were musts. Thursday will be my Design Miami day and I’ll be attending the Vernissage there as well as the official Sotheby’s party and several other events as the night progresses. Word to the wise: the secret to not getting caught in traffic is to stick to one side of the causeway per day.” BROADCAST, FASHION AND MUSIC PRODUCER AND PERMANENT FIXTURE ON THE NEW YORK SOCIAL SCENE, HEIDI KELSO, PRESIDENT, H.K. MEDIA GROUP “This year is huge. I’m tied up with a Kid Rock concert I’m producing but if I could sneak away, I would be attending the Paper Magazine / Tommy Hilfiger / AOL party hosted by Shepard Fairly with a performance by N.E.R.D.; London’s White Cube party at Soho Beach House; Andre Balazs’ US sea launch of The Acquariva at the Standard, and Le Baron is taking over Florida Room and I don’t think anyone throws a better party in Paris, Tokyo or New York than Andre Saraiva.” LOREN RIDINGER, SENIOR VP, MARKET AMERICA; LOREN JEWELS; MOTIVES COSMETICS; COLUMNIST, HAUTE LIVING; EDITOR, MYFASHIONCENTS.COM AND LORENSWORLD.COM: “The Rubell family collection is always a must and so impressive. I saw this last year and I was blown away. I am very close friends with Michelle
Vamping at the opening of the Lord’s Hotel
and Jason and am always amazed at their eye for art and how much they collect just for the love of it. The museum is spectacular and I am thrilled to see what they have been collecting. On Thursday I look forward to the W Magazine party at the Soho House (De Beers event), then I’m heading to the Paper Magazine party hosted by N.E.R.D and my good friend Pharrell Williams. Saturday’s Vogue party is for sure my favorite ending party for Basel, especially when it is co-hosted by my dear friend Eva Longoria Parker. Vogue does everything to perfection, this year we expect nothing less. Paris famed fashion house YSL will be displaying its new resort collection with special never been seen pieces, the collection is a true work of art and I’m honored to host the fashion show.
CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: International music and entertainment sensation, Timati, hit the Tuesdays at Delano party and Florida Room last Tuesday where he partied with Alan Roth, Tommy and Michelle Pooch and a bevy of Russian beauties. Diddy is scheduled to shoot a new music video with Timati, this week in Miami. Celebrity DJ Tracy Young wrapped up the grand opening weekend for the brand new Lord’s Hotel poolside by laying down beats for the “Punch Brunch” preview party on Sunday. Fueled by Punch Bowl signature cocktails, guests danced from early morning until sunset. Calvin Klein was spotted at Caviar Kaspia at the Webster boutique on Tuesday. Pharell was seen having a great time at the exclusive and fabulous Veuve Cliqout barbecue at Soho Beach House on Monday. Reality star and pop singer, Brooke Hogan, previewed the new Miss Yip Chinese Cafe locale at 900 Biscayne in Downtown on Saturday night with a handsome gentleman. Brooke, no longer a Miami Beach resident, had been patiently waiting the opening of the new location. The Miami Heat’s Jamaal Magloire, #21, enjoyed some drinks and snacks with friends at Miss Yip’s Downtown on Tuesday night.
PUT THIS ON YOUR RADAR New Years Eve is coming soon! The nightclub Wall and The W Hotel have announced that musical genius Drake will be performing live (outside around the pool) just after midnight! Music acts will also include beats by DJ Sinatra, DJ Phresh and DJ Jacomino. Nicola Siervo, Navin Chatani and Adam Albert have put together an amazing event. Tickets are on sale now and, no doubt, will be sold out soon. Early warning… go miami2011.com if you want to be a part of this party!
www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, November 25, 2010 • Page 31
Style INTERVIEW
Q&A with KeoK’jay By Jennifer Fragoso Rachel Faller redefines the business of fashion by forming KeoK’jay a brand that empowers women with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia by providing them with purpose and prosperity. The result is a positively chic eco friendly line that you will feel proud to wear and more than happy to buy. Where does the name Keokjay come from? What does it mean? KeoK’jay means bright green or fresh, in Khmer. At first I thought it meant blue, and I liked the way it sounded when I was first learning the language. But later, I realized that blue and green are sometimes interchanged in Khmer. What drew you to Cambodia? Initially I was invited to go to Cambodia by a friend who was interested in starting a business there. I fell love with the country when I went on my first trip in 2007. The colors, the textures, the personality, the culture and the rich history of textiles were things that engaged me initially and still continue to do so. How did KeoK’jay come to fruition? After the first trip in 2007, I applied for a grant to research traditional textiles, fair trade, and weather fair trade was really a sustainable solution to some of Cambodia’s challenges or not, through the US government’s Fulbright program. At the same time I intended to help this friend start her business by hiring and training women as well as coming up with designs for them to make. Later she decided not to continue forward with the business idea and I decided to take it on myself. I changed around the vision from one that was based entirely on exporting to something that was more locally rooted, starting out selling at local boutiques, and gradually building up to opening our own shop, to starting to take export orders. I also brought on a Khmer manager and another sewing trainer as well as a designer from the US, Genny Cortinovis. Genny recently moved to Cambodia and has worked on some of the designs for our spring/summer 2011 collection. Can you explain how you lesson environmental impact through the production of these handmade products? All of our products are either made from recycled materials or natural materials. We estimate they are about 95% sustainable, because we use some zippers, thread, and paints that don’t fall within this category. We buy second hand clothes, and often use ones that no one else wants, to create many of our garments. We also use some scraps that are garment factory off-cuts. Through these products, we are not creating additional waste to add to the planet, but instead creating beauty out of what some might call trash. We also use fabrics that are woven locally by hand, and are energy neutral this way, and are also dyed with natural dyes. The dyes are made from non-toxic materials that are from Cambodia. Some natural dyes use toxic heavy metals, but the dyes we use are both non-toxic and are made from all Cambodian or recycled materials. Locally collected plants, leaves that have already fallen on the ground, lemon juice, palm sugar, old rusted iron and soy milk are a few of the items that we use to make our dyes. Our products cannot in themselves lessen environmental impact, but they make much less have an environmental impact then products that are not attempting to be friendly to the earth. Thus, buying products which are nearly neutral in terms of energy and resource consumption instead of those that are not sets an example that fashion and the planet can co-exist, and that in fact fashion can create positive change by providing jobs for those who really need them. Do you realize how important your efforts are or do you feel daunted by the magnitude of plight you see around you? Definitely both. The needs are so obvious in Cambodia that it is hard not to be overwhelmed, but also it is easy to see positive results of what we do, in tangiPage 32 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
ble, measurable terms, including more children who are in school, mothers who have gained weight and health back, and improved sense of well being and self-worth. So of course, it is worth it even if we can see this change in just one person. How to you teach these women to make these unique handcrafted items? Initially I began going the women’s houses each day and starting to teach them the skills they would need to make our project. I would assign work to each of them based on the skills they already had, their ability, their physical constraints, and their living situation. For example, a common side effect of the HIV medication is eye problems, and occasionally blindness. Therefore, some of the women don’t have great eyesight so we give them jobs that don’t require as much detail work. Not all of our staff members could have a sewing machine in their home, so we have to come up with processes they can do without a sewing machine. Now, we have a sewing center and shop where we have weekly meetings, and they bring the products they have been working on that week. We talk about them, and if there are any issues, we might re-teach them. They also help and teach each other. Additionally we are training some of the women to take a stronger role mentoring and teaching the others, and we also have a sewing trainer now, who specifically helps with the sewing machine training. Is it difficult to get women to trust that you are looking out for their best interests? I haven’t had this problem because I work with a non-profit hospital called the Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE who recommends patients to me that they work with. They already have a good relationship with the women, and because of this the women have trusted me as well in this sense, though it always takes a while for people to fully trust you. Do you work with other charities or organizations in the area? As I mentioned earlier we work with Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE and we try to partner with as many craft groups as we can. We sell products by a couple other groups in our stores, and we also buy locally produced materials from other fair trade groups as possible. We want to support this kind of network of people so that it will grow stronger as a whole. How does it feel to know you are often times helping to save the lives of women and children everyday? On a day-to-day basis much of what I do is pretty mundane. It’s not as sexy and exciting as people think fashion and non-profit organizations are (or should be) but it’s really about doing all the little tasks that need to get done that no one else is going to do. But sometimes in all those details, from buying fabric to sorting through old clothes to working on a website to re-organizing vintage buttons to teaching someone how to clean a floor properly, it is easy to lose the big picture, which is why we are doing all this. However, talking to the women every day reminds me why we’re doing all this. And every Monday at our weekly meeting, I am reminded of how important this work is when I see the women talking about the hope they have for their children or how much their health has improved. How does it make me feel? Of course, it makes me feel amazing and proud, but even more so it makes me feel grateful to be part of a team of people who have created all of this, and for the women who have put themselves on the line for the sake of their children and a better future. What can fans of the KeoK’jay brand do to help this worthy cause besides buying your products of course? Well, we are working on getting our collection stocked in US boutiques, so if you know a local boutique where you would buy our clothes from or you think matches our style, please let them know about us! This is always very helpful. Additionally, when buying your clothes think about where they come from. Do your research about which companies and which countries have better standards of labor, and when all possible buy fair-trade and green. This will greatly affect the larger community that we are connected too, which will in turn help the women of KeoK’jay and many others like them. Log on to keokjay.org to see the beautiful work these women produce and tell your favorite retailer you want KeoK’jay in their shop. Also available online at .lotusjayne.com
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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Page 33
Sex COLUMN
Dumping Dynamics By Dr. Sonjia Kenya
Sonjia@drsonjia.com Are break-ups allowed over the holidays? Growing up, my older brother told me the time between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day is officially “no break-up” season. Big brother explained that it’s tough to dump someone any time of the year, but it’s a thousand times worse when a special occasion is involved. Awed by his romantic expertise that three years of seniority afforded him, I asked, “Does dumping someone hurt as bad as getting dumped?” He said, “How would I know? Boys don’t get dumped.” Now you understand why I thought I was making history when I dumped Edward Gregorio just before Christmas break in the sixth grade. Of course he was all wrong for me from the beginning. When he asked me to be his girlfriend, he said, “Well, Laura Sanchez is already taken, so I like you now.” As you guessed, his affections for Laura constantly got in the way of true love but that’s not why I dumped him. I broke it off because he kept pressuring me to try French kissing which was a bit gross to my 11 year old self (but something Laura was very good at). Prepubescent pride kept me from telling Edward why we had to go our separate ways, but it didn’t stop me from learning three important things about love at a very early age: 1) big brother isn’t really right about romance (or much else), 2) boys do get dumped, and 3) rather than wait to be dumped, it’s better to dump someone as soon as you know he likes Laura more than he likes you. While I had legit reasons for dumping Edward, I also experienced “dumpers remorse.” I missed him a bit over the holiday break from school and fondly remembered all the times we played kickball and he purposely didn’t catch my air-balls so I could kick a homerun instead of an out. I recalled the cookies he gave me at lunch, while mom banned me from sugar. I missed his daily phone calls and even his clumsy attempts at French kissing. All these happy memories made me appreciate Edward in a new light and I felt really bad about dumping him right before Christmas. To make up for it, I got him a cool present (which I can’t remember) and was excited about going back to school so I could win him back. Maybe our love deserved a second chance; maybe he would forgive me for dumping him.
No such luck. While I spent the holiday break reminiscing on our love, Edward spent the time being mad at me and figuring out my faults. He told me I was a bad singer, a terrible kickball player, had out of control hair, and was a very mean person who didn’t know how to kiss. Sadly, he was right on all accounts. While this was hard for my 11 year old heart to swallow, I have since learned that, regardless of age, most dumpees and dumpers act just like Edward and I did in the sixth grade. People who have been dumped immediately feel the pain of rejection. It hurts like hell for awhile but eventually the dumpee begins to despise the person who dumped them. Friends and family encourage this growing hatred by continuously spouting phrases like, “You deserve better!”, “She wasn’t good for you anyway!”, “He’ll never find anyone like you!” The healing process requires the dumpee to think about their ex’s faults and all the reasons the relationship would have eventually failed, had they not been dumped first. In many cases, the dumpee knew the relationship was already over, but didn’t have the guts to end it. They get mad at their ex-mate because deep down inside, they know they should’ve been the dumper, not the dumpee. The dumpee chose to suffer like a prisoner trapped in a bad relationship and their cellmate, the dumper, chose to break free. And although the dumper usually feels pretty good after breaking out of a bad relationship, this person is also more likely to miss their ex-lover after the initial thrill of freedom. Usually, the dumper begins to feel bad about hurting their ex’s feelings and the guilt leads many dumpers right back to their ex. Too bad the dumpee already hates them by the time such remorse rolls around. Remember Edward Gregorio? Whether dumper or a dumpee, there’s definitely dumping etiquette to follow. If you’re planning to dump someone, here’s some tips to reduce the likelihood of your tires being slashed. How to Dump People get mad when they’re dumped by surprise. Rather than cheating in public or impregnating someone accidentally, the best way to break up is having an honest conversation with the person you don’t want to see anymore. Chances are they’re
Page 34 • Thursday, December 2, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com
also frustrated by your relationship problems and have also considered calling it quits. Try to schedule this conversation as far away from a birthday, holiday, or funeral as possible. Emotions multiply during special occasions and sometimes it is kinder to suck it up for a few extra weeks than ruin Christmas vacation for everyone. Consider it volunteer work for someone you once loved and try not to blame them when it’s time to leave. If you can’t explain your reasons for breaking up (or have none), simply say, “I need some time to work on myself.” Explain that you are getting to know yourself better and need some time alone to figure out how you want to grow. By the way, this excuse works in almost any quitting scenario (leaving a job, moving away, dropping out of college, etc..) Even if they disagree with you, they will eventually respect your (feigned) honesty. While it’s easy to hate someone who lied, cheated, and kept secrets, it’s hard to be angry with someone who is upfront and puts their personal growth first. Who hates Ghandi? As the dumper, this will be an awkward process but the sooner you do it, the sooner it ends. Rip that band-aid off! This allows you to walk away with a clear conscious but you must walk far away and never come back. It is irresponsible to continue banging your ex-lover after you’ve said good-bye. They will mistake your temporary affection for love. And when you are finally ready to leave, it will be quite difficult because your tires will be slashed. How to get over being dumped If you’ve been dumped and have not vandalized any property yet, you’re still a candidate for proper break-up training. The first thing you want to do is accept your ex’s decision not to be with you. Do not call, beg, or invite them over. (Repeat this phrase three times if needed.) This is called stalking, or in nicer terms, desperate. This sad behavior repels potential new lovers and makes you even less attractive to the person who has already dumped you! Please leave your ex-lover alone because one day (hopefully before the restraining order) you will regret your pitiful behavior.
Rather than plead with the loser who used to be your lover, try to get back on track by examining your life from five perspectives: home, health, social, spiritual, mental. Which of these areas needs work? Is your house a wreck? Do you need to take better care of your body? Does your social life suck? Are you a hater? Is your mind rotting because you haven’t learned anything new in decades? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve got some work to do before your next relationship. Nobody wants to be with someone who lives in a crappy place, doesn’t take care of their health, has no friends, exudes negative energy, and is mentally stale. But everybody wants to be with the person who lives in a nice home, maintains a healthy body, has a fulfilling social life, a positive spiritual outlook, and is growing intellectually. So become that person. The best way to get over a break-up is to take steps towards becoming the person you always wanted to be. While any improvement helps, starting a new exercise program is one of the quickest ways to feel better after a break-up. Your body produces endorphins through exercise which naturally make you feel happier. After a couple of weeks, you’ll look and feel better than you have in years. You’ll even look forward to running into your ex so you can show off your better body! I highly recommend kick-boxing following a split because you can imagine your ex’s head as the target which inspires extra energy behind each kick and conveniently burns more calories without breaking the law. Joining a new gym is also a great place to meet new people who will reduce your urge to slash tires. The holidays are a tough time for being alone and many get stuck in a rut, pondering past relationships gone wrong. But this is not attractive and you will be alone during the next holiday season if you spend this one lamenting over lost love. My girlfriend Redhot and I were at the bar just last week (surprise, surprise) and a man pursuing her babbled on and on about his recent divorce. No matter how many rounds of drinks he sent, we couldn’t stop feeling sorry for the guy which is quite different than attraction. Rather than help him romance Redhot, I referred him to a therapist. Single people, this is not how you want to be treated at the bar. We are all most attractive when we are passionate about life and excited about the future. Get energized about who you are becoming and others will be attracted to your energy. Rather than spend the season in sadness, take time in December to plan who you will become in 2011. When you go out, tell others about your plans and dreams so they can get excited with you (and maybe ask you out!) Will you learn a new language? Find a church? Discover kite-surfing? Join one of Miami’s co-ed kickball teams? I hear Edward Gregorio is still playing.
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