Art Wynwood returns for the first time since pandemic. Here’s what you need to know
We survived Art Basel Miami Beach’s 20th birthday last December. This Presidents’ Day weekend, it’s another Miami art fair’s turn to celebrate.
Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair, returns for its 10th edition at One Herald Plaza Thursday through Sunday. It’s the first time the fair is running since 2020, when the pandemic started.
Julian Navarro, the Art Wynwood director, said top galleries, collectors, curators and art aficionados from around the world are excited to return to Miami’s arts community and warm winter weather after a two-year hiatus.
“We are very happy to bring the fair back to the market,” Navarro said. “With everything that happened after the pandemic, it was very difficult to bring the show back together, but we have a great selection of galleries this year.”
The artwork on display ranges from modern graffiti art to traditional work by the masters. The fair features more than 50 South Florida and international galleries from countries including the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, France, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Miami-based Goldman Global Arts Gallery will showcase surrealist and colorful work from big name artists Leon Keer, Hebru Brantley, Dan Kitchener, Kai, and Okuda. Coral Gables’ own Cernuda Arte will show pieces by legendary Cuban artists Wifredo Lam and Carlos Alfonzo.
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When you’re done checking out world class art, you can gawk at some ridiculously luxe yachts in the same afternoon. The fair is happening at the same time as the Miami International Boat Show on Biscayne Bay, which will be between the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways. If you don’t get your art fix at Art Wynwood, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival is also this weekend. (Our condolences in advance about the traffic.)
Art Wynwood kicks off Thursday evening with a VIP Preview. For the first time in the fair’s history, the VIP Preview will benefit The Bass, a contemporary art museum in Miami Beach.
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“We are delighted to partner with Art Wynwood,” says Silvia Karman Cubiñá, the executive director for The Bass. “The fair offers a vibrant platform for international art enthusiasts and collectors to discover emerging contemporary artists and exciting new works, further positioning Miami as a hub for visual arts.”
The fair will also take time to recognize the achievements of Kelly “RISK” Graval, a Los Angeles-based graffiti artist who is credited as a founder of the West Coast Graffiti movement.
RISK will receive the Art Wynwood Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for his contributions to the graffiti art form. The award has previously gone to Mel Ramos, Martha Cooper, Shepard Fairey, Logan Hicks and Ron English.
RISK was a “problem kid” growing up who liked surfing instead of going to school and drawing waves on his desk instead of paying attention in class, he said. One day, a student who moved from New York introduced him to the world of graffiti, and he’s been hooked ever since.
He was the first to paint full-color pieces on the Los Angeles freeway, sparking a local movement, and has expanded his art practice to different mediums. RISK’s latest outdoor mural — complete with images of the Buddha and butterflies — will greet fair attendees at the entrance.
He said he’s proud to see how widespread, respected and accepted graffiti has become as an art form and humbled to receive a lifetime achievement award.
“I’ve always set out with this goal of having street art, graffiti art, being a normal genre in the world and not something that was outcast. That was my whole plan as a kid, and that’s happened,” RISK said. “For me to be recognized, personally, I never expected that. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It’s a tremendous honor.”
Art Wynwood 2023
When: Opening Night VIP Preview: Thursday, Feb. 16: 6-10 p.m.
General Admission: Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 19: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: The Art Wynwood Pavilion, One Herald Plaza @ NE 14th Street, on Biscayne Bay between the Venetian Causeway & MacArthur Causeway, Downtown Miami
Info: General admission tickets available at www.artwynwood.com/ticket
This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
