MiamiNights - Miami Night Clubs, Nightlife

Last night was pretty fucking insane. The parties were great even if the turnouts weren't stellar. Poplife at White Room was packed! I mean it was impossible to move and the line for the girls' bathroom was about a 30-minute wait. Bronques of lastnightsparty.com did make an appearance, and I took my opportunity to chat with him. He's a super nice guy and seemed pretty happy to be documenting Miami's Downtown scene, probably because his last few Miami galleries have all been in and around South Beach. I told him I was glad he was back to doing what he did best: taking pictures of camera-obsessed hipsters. He did take quite a few pictures of me, some of which in ordered me to look angry, which isn't hard for me to do, people are always pissing me off. Another where me and my friend Berna posed, er, well, I guess you could call it seductively.

Oh and word to the wise, a cardigan paired up with Miami humid does not equal fun times not matter how good you look. I learned that last night.

God, if you miss the Wynwood Art Walk this Saturday, you should seriously just shoot yourself because you are such a fucking loser. This Saturday is shaping up to be one of the craziest Second Saturdays since, well, Basel. Add to the list of must-do the Museum Quality exhibition at Bas Fisher Invitational. It's an exhibition of the works of Alvaro Ilizarbe, who is best known as the guy behind Freegums, which if you've ever been to any of Miami's "hipster" parties, you always see a sea of Freegums T-shirts everywhere you turn (you know you are!). I ain't hatin' though, the designs are sweet.

Anyway, this is gonna be one heck of an art/dance party because Chicago Ghettotech DJ Funk will be on hand to provide the sounds while Bronques of LastNightsParty.com will be on hand to snap pictures of all you fuckin' whores out there. Which, let me interject here: I know there are a number of you who go anywhere Bronques goes 'cause you think you aren't shit unless he takes a picture of you. Get over it, you're yesterday's news five hours after he posted up his gallery. Really people!

Back to talking about the event. It should be a blast and the after party it at ze Poplife (I like saying that in a French accent for some odd reason). And yes, camera whores, Bronques will be there as well. I leave you with a viral commercial (?) for Ilizarbe's Freegum brand done by and starring Bronques, of course.

I haven't been this fucking excited for a Wynwood Art Walk since probably Basel. Saturday, Miami Art Space will be hosting Hexagon (a hex is gone), a collective exhibition featuring Friends With You, Bhakti Baster, Jose Mertz, Kiki Valdes, Purvis Young, Phillip Toledano and 1st Ave Machine. Friends With You and Baxter will be doing an interactive dreamworld playground, which if you've NEVER had the chance to play in our of FWY's playground, it's probably the funnest time you'll ever have during an art exhibition.

The exhibition is brough to you by arc. and sponsored by Hennessy, Media Stage, Bawls Energy Drink, Open Zine and Leemer. And in case you don't know where the space is located, it's at 244 NW 35th St., Miami. Also the afterparty is at Poplife at White Room. Can't wait for Saturday!

Miami Fashion Week begins with the designer + guest reception/official kick off party at Gary Nader Fine Art in Wynwood. By invite only, I definitely can't get in, but wish I could (secret tips anybody??) All the fashion exhibits will be held this year at Soho Studios on 21st Street & 1st Avenue in Wynwood (The space where PULSE was held Across from Charcoal Studios) starting tomorrow (Wednesday, April 9) with the press conference and lingerie showcase.

Surrounding the event are slews of chic afterparties/ridiculous soirée's and pop up events which I hope (srsly) our blogger crew gets their hands on. Hopefully I get at least a taste of how the fashion scene throws it down. I find fashion often to overtake the execution of idealizing beauty much more so than much of the fine art today, that is supposedly meant to do so. Damn artists.

As it would seem, there is a growing amount of distaste for Valentine's Day or really any prepackaged American hallmark holiday. At least for me personally, I am constantly reminded of our calendar status by whatever seasonal crap they are selling in the third row at Walgreens. Every year I try to remain just a tad closer to oblivion of USA pop culture and its soul sucking-ness. For real, you don't get this crap most elsewhere on earth. I think its for the better.

My generation (at least the smarter ones) have become starved of a pre-established rich cultural environment, we are driven to find philosophical diversity and spiritual enlightenment everywhere we can (read: Internets), because we sure as all fock don't get it from that gift card that perfectly expresses they way I feel about a girl or how much I care about your birthday. Jesus, how will she know I want her to get better soon? We -- or at least me an my contemporaries -- have been left no choice but to identify microscopic cultural niches that actually benefit the growth of the individual. If I didn't have my artwalks, potlucks, drum-n-bass scene, emerging bike culture and design software, I might just have to explode myself. The only alternative is to join the mindless drones following whatever Viacom Top 100 songs/products/fashions you just can't live without. Keep your chocolate hearts, just show me some humanity please.

But hey, maybe I'm just sweating cynical bullets because I am sans-date this evening. In which case, I offer those in like the following:

Click here to read full article..

As always a nice post of pics and commentary on the monthly art walks courtesy of Critical Miami:

Blackbooks' spectacular show at Spinello - no stencils, all wood cuts. With the help of a computer and laser, images are precision-cut out of the top layer of a piece of painted wood. The results tend to speak for themselves, and note that this technique gets extended into sculpture and other media with, presumably, the use of a jigsaw.

I know, we went through this dance already in this post and got plenty of comments defending gentrification and disputing it. But it's always interesting to revisit the situation and see what developments have occurred since that last post. On Saturday a group of concerned Wynwood citizens gathered to discuss the lack of affordable housing and made a call for unity to do what no one in this city has yet to do, actually get affordable housing.

I think what's interesting about this meeting is that the organizers aren't necessarily against the improvement of their city.

Miami En Accion member Norma Magarin said she and fellow activists are not opposed to Wynwood's growing.

"We're not opposed to pretty streets, to galleries, to malls and to lots of condos," she said. "But what about us?"

And I think that's what a lot of people who previously posted comments on my last post agreed. Gentrification can't be stopped. I think we can all agree on that, however when you ignore the needs of the people who already live in the city that's where I think things need to be done. The city should look to improving and beatifying the area and balance that with accommodating the people who have lived in the city for generations. We are in the midsts of spending millions on a port tunnel, a baseball stadium (don't get me started on that shit), and a tram system on Biscayne. Yet the city has overlooked the needs to provide affordable housing to the cultural backbone of Wynwood, it's residents. Why is it so difficult for the commissioners to get past providing lucrative contracts for their buddies and to start caring for their constituents? I'd love to hear other thoughts.

[Herald Article here]

The art walk is tonight. If you haven't been yet: a) you're probably quasi-retarded; and b) you should be put out of your misery. The walk starts at 7 p.m. and official end at 10 p.m., but I've seen events last until midnight. I leave you with a video done by Plum Miami Beach about the gallery walk:

The Herald has one of their typical anti-development, one-sided articles about the troubles facing poor Wynwood residents who are faced with rising rents as a result of gentrification. Property values have skyrocketed in the past four years as art galleries have streamed in to fill the numerous raw industrial spaces found in this cool neighb. Midtown Miami's development hasn't helped either.

Read on for more savage, uncaring, free-market ranting.

Update: See how they do it in Brooklyn, where condo buyers have banded together to exert pressure on real estate developers.

Click here to read full article..

Okay, well I put that rather crudely, but that's the gist of the New York Times article published Sunday that basically tells me what I already know: Miami's art scene is alive and well whether Basel is in town or not. The author has a rather odd fascination with prostitutes and crackheads, referring to them liberally every time she mentions Wynwood. We get it. Wynwood is Miami's crack den filled with art galleries. However, the author does hit in on the nail when recommending travelers to come after Basel when there is still plenty of great works of art to be seen and at the same time avoiding those Basel headaches like the velvet ropes and hordes of people.

Several of my favorite area businesses also get shout-outs like Domo Japones, Circa 28, White Room and Lost & Found Saloon. She says about Circa 28:

Even on nights when there are no receptions, the art party rages. At midnight on a recent Friday, a crowd had gathered at Circa 28, a chill bar that opened in Wynwood in December. It happened to be during the Art Basel fair, but there was not a dolled-up socialite or dark-suited corporate sponsor in sight. Abstract paintings hung crookedly on the walls, and young artists sat languidly under a bookshelf — in marked contrast to the hedonistic, bottle-service hangouts of South Beach. Outside on the deserted sidewalk, a truck pulled up and opened its flatbed to reveal a portable art exhibit and D.J. booth that began to play lounge music.

Soon people trickled out of the bar, beers and all, creating an ad hoc tailgate party. A police car was parked a block away but seemed uninterested. A good clean party is tolerated here, almost protected, in a neighborhood with a history of more serious crime.

Young artists? At Circa 28? Oh, I think she means the American Apparel employees in tight jeans and outdated sunglasses. Same difference, right? And oddly enough, Overtown/Wynwood mega-complex Karu & Y doesn't get mentioned. Are we over Karu & Y already?

[via Critical Miami/Nefarious Girl]