Company Loves Misery

" Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"

Emma Lazarus

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Are you one of the hundreds of artists or 501Cs whose ideas have been rejected and denied funding by philanthropic behemoths nationwide?

Not ready for prime-time? No Problem.

Congratulations to all for there is now a place where your ideas can be shared with other losers whose bad luck has trumped their talent.

It's OFFICIAL Swampspace Gallery announces:

The Swampspace Arts Challenge 2011.

Here is how it works:

When you submit your ideas to any competition nationwide,

you can also copy/paste them in the comments box right here at this Swampspace post.

We will publish all submissions in the hopes of garnering popular support for your idea by way of reader feedback.

What you need to know:

If you are 50 years of age or older, you will be treated like a very impotent person by sheer nature of your protracted suffering for arts sake. If you are between 29 and 49, you will be considered an emerged artist and held to public scrutiny.

All other entrants are also welcome in our effort to build an anthropological repository via this casual survey of individuals in the Miami Arts Movement .

Our mission:

Swampspace Gallery exists to encourage individual participation in the advancement of the contemporary art by maintaining a visible presence in prime real-estate. Swampspace is a non-commercial entity dedicated to the dissemination of empowering principals for unrecognized artists seeking solace.

No idea is too small or defeat too big... so your comments at swampspace are a welcome treat.

The caviat:

Just as with the FB decency policy, we will not include really, truly offensive material.

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Congrats to YOU,

everyone is a winner at swampspace.

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wiki-KIWI-bonga

Artic Attire Required

Winter in South Florida is our pay-off season. Day temperatures are tolerable and the cool nights are divine. One can easily spot snowbirds who flock here to get away from global warming by parading around our artzihoods in tee-shirts while locals dress conversely in bundled garb that suit their thinned blood. Where else but in the swamp can we enjoy art mid winter al fresco.

Legendary Delaplaine and Norma Jean

During the latest Art Crawl, at the newly minted KIWI Gallery in Wynwood, it was easy to tell "whos who" but the pressing question was "who is what".

Fame by Frame

The inaugural exhibition at this latest of bandwagon galleries is titled Warhol + Indiana, the fine art photograph by William John Kennedy of pop art giants in their early days when everyone was undiscovered and really really interesting. Four decades later Kennedy has compiled a picture story in black and white and read all over. In my small mind Andy is an art god... Indiana not so much.

Here is a portrait of the very Kennedyesque William John back when film was king and cool came from within not without.

Kennedy's work chronicled his times with uncanny sensitivity and honesty, as did another great photographer Bruce Davidson.

2011 Kennedy still kickin' it with our very own voluptuous art world ambassador DM Baptiste.

Wizard of Gloss

To get the party started local SOBE legend Louis Canales brought us Joey Arias of Billy Holiday channeling legend. Joey is an old pal and when he taps his 6 inch heels three times, party goers are transported to her Kansas, a place where dreams come from.

Real Girls Crispi, Merle and DM..

Mrs. Swampthing shares beauty secrets with the hired help.

Joey Arias hams it up with incurable gallery goers.

While Wynwood wallows in the sultry excesses of popular attention and illusive revenue , it should not be unsettling to observe the now reliable barometers of gentrification. The scripted stages pique predictably in an ever shrinking cycle aptly heretofore unnamed. I call it YesInMyBackyardism.

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ready, set, LaunchArte

The Miami Design District Greens is hosting a open-air street scene for day-time wanderers.

Stroll among the Artistic Vendors and munch from a selection of popular Food Trucks, every Saturday from sunrise to sunset.

My rooster may be MIA but the Launch Arte Market is here to stay!

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Young Arts 2011

Heady Hitters

With regard to art, one could argue that Miami is still in a gestative stage, but you would not know it when visiting the Martin Z. Margulies Warehouse. Margulies is one of the few paleontologic collectors responsible for the oft indescribable Miami Arts Movement. He is a savior of the swamp.

Medicart

The collection is awe inspiring with a wealth of art spanning decades. This scene of the "superhero nursing home" is one of my all time favorites and rather poignant as i grapple with my own aging mother.

Crowd Pleasers

Recently Marti's Warehouse was once again the site for the gathering of interested parties from the annual Young Arts Week courtesy of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts.

Silhouettes of Smiles

And what a week it was for 150 high school seniors from across this great nation. Each year the best of the best are brought together to celebrate their achievements and usher in the next generation of artist, writers, musicians, performers and photographers. They all stay at the airport marriott for a week of performances and exhibitions that are real crowd pleasers. They also "compete" for the prestigious Presidential Scholars Award.

Wellspring

So into the tunnel of infinite possibilities and promise we go.

Here are just a few vignettes from the 2010 finalists visual arts exhibit.

Swamperfect

This photo 100% dreamy.

Points of Lumens

The NFAA Young Arts program and the Margulies Collection are a very good fit.

As the night wore on the lights were dimmed to a twinkle and the comfort seeing firsthand the manifestations of a collective effort in the part of key individuals that has enabled Miami to morph into an Arts Awakening for the betterment of our community beams like a beacon.

Phallic Foundations

Margulies is on of the Cultural Pillars that buttress the Tropical Lean-to that is Miami.

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December Art Crawl

Friends of MAM

The Miami Arts Movement is in no apparent rush in the aftermath of Basel 2010. Like Russell Crowe in the film "a beautiful mind" our bewildered community has morphed into a schizophrenic prodigy. And like any good cypher, decoding the cryptic crossword puzzle that is the Miami Arts Movement will take a Mt St Hellen of hackers. Simply put, is it possible to formulate a cohesive analysis from within? I don't think so.

Design Desert

This post may be a bit tardy but what's the rush when the mayhem and frenzy of ArtWeek 2010 gives way to tumble weeds and dust bunnies of the swamp.

Wreck the Halls

Wynwood Second Saturday was a scuttle of locals and first-time art enthusiasts of inditerminate origin. The wandering crowds behaved predictably with the now scripted kabuki that galleries foster. There were some notable observations and anomalies worth e-ink. Here goes.

Stranger than Faction

The caliber of street art has risen to the level of intrigue with mind-bending monumental sanctioned murals.

Dorsch Doors

While several of the blue-chip were predictably closed for the Artwalk, others were opened in what can be characterized as auto-pilot openings.

Mash Up n Down

There is something captivating around every corner. With no shortage of talent and a willing mass of property owners eager to avoid getting bombed, murals are going up constantly.

Going Golen

The Harold Golen Gallery is a precious rhinestone in the pirates booty of Wynwood galleries. I love Harold's keen eye for the best low-brow stuff available. He is a soldier and an admiral in the cultural war.

Sinatra Smarts

Great new york city vignette mural at the Goldman wall, can't say who did it?

501 See

The Catch is a not-for-profit collaborative endeavor brought to us by a group of very enterprising DASH seniors. Well worth the visit on the next go-round in January. Here are some scenes from the grand opening of the CATCH...

Angels with dirty faces, the Kids are all right.

Decaff Comish

The Question is, How did they manage to get off-duty Commissioner Sally Heyman to park her coffee truck out front? She has a commendable voting record and reps my district w likeminded principle so I would do an entire post on this but best not to rattle the forces that be. Suffice to say for a lady that peddles my all-time fave elixir, she has a big problem w second hand smoke... even in windy wynwood outdoors. The truck and it's trafficer could use a bit of paint-staking upgrade, if you know what i mean.

Spino enjoys a cup of java with gallery goers.

Butter did good with this whimsical piece. again who did this?

Kill the Book

The "book tree show" though very impressive on the level of ambition and panache, is particularly disturbing for anyone who actually respects the bricks and mortar of literature. This is a disturbing show that relies heavily on the demise of literacy in the age of information. If these popular works are an attempt to put humpty-bookty back together, then it fails not just environmentally but also mentally responsibly. I actually like the assemblages but left the moneyed gallery with a sense of morbidity for intellect in general.

OMGallery

This place takes the cake. You know the routine, intrepid venues lay the groundwork, flashy vapid bandwagoneers follow.

Food Truck Art Mess 2010

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Mrs Swampthing Approved

Grolsch, USA

Proud Sponsor of the Swampspace Gallery

Wishing You a Merry Holiday Season

The proprietor would like to thank the Grolsch Girls for their visit,

making the Kissing Booth Show a smooching succcess.

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