yigal ozeri at art miami — Yigal Ozeri, New York-based artist paints women in hyperrealism style.

cesar santos in art basel miami — Painting by Cesar Santos, Cuban-American artist

Art Miami & Context Art Miami 2018: realism painting & much more

Generating insane foot traffic, both Art Miami and Context Art Miami are two art fairs I visit during the Art Basel week in Miami. In December Miami overflows with tourists, curators, and art collectors, visiting over 20 art fairs in just one week! If you decide to take part in this event, you can buy tickets online and see all of the offerings beforehand. Context Art Miami (adjacent to Art Miami) features more contemporary realism art than its counterparts and thus interests me more than other art fairs. The art fairs represent both American artists and international ones alike, including galleries from China, Korea, and Europe.

One of the reasons I go to these art fairs is inspiration. What I find interesting is to look at innovation in art materials use, textures and design. Sometimes, I don’t really care about a particular artwork, but its innovative combination of materials or subjects feeds up my creativity. I also enjoy seeing the excitement and commotion around the arts, which is rare in Naples, Florida.

Salustiano at art miami 2018 — Salustiano

elisa anfuso — Elisa Anfuso, Female Italian artist painting personal stories in realism style.

Another reason for many artists to see the shows is to network in the arts. I must say that most gallerists are very busy at the art fairs and hate to be approached by artists when they try to sell exhibited art. Art fair participation costs run in many thousands of dollars and gallery representatives are there to work. So if you’re an artist, be respectful of the gallerists. Yet, if you’re there to show your work, come in early before the opening when the crowds are not there yet and the gallery owners are more inclined to meet you in person. Parking would be much easier as well.

The art fairs show a lot of abstract art and painting but also include large-scale portrait photography and 3-D sculptures. Art crowds often gather around animated paintings or video paintings, lenticular photography and lenticular painting (see the video) or art that plays with perception, examples of which you can watch in my video. Also, depending on a person’s taste the roundup of art like you see here is vastly different in social media. Those who have a minimalist aesthetic post abstract/minimalist art, and figurative realism artists like me post representational art.

art miami 2018, spoke art — Spoke Art gallery having a blast selling art at the fair in Miami. | This was the busiest gallery by far, selling limited edition prints like hot cakes!

art miami 2018_ron isaacs — Ron Isaacs, acrylic on birch plywood construction | Halfway between painting and sculpture, the artist creates 3-D wall art that explores a relationship between life, nature and memory.

3-D sculpture @ Chase Contemporary played with my perception of reality big time.

Address: Art Miami + CONTEXT Pavilions, One Herald Plaza @ NE 14th Street, Downtown Miami, FL 33132

Check out visionary art for sale

Art Basel Miami Beach is one of the largest art fairs held in the country every December. These art fairs also include Aqua Art Miami, Art Miami, CONTEXT Art Miami, Art Spot Miami, Design Miami, Form Miami, Fridge Art Fair Miami, Pulse Miami, Scope Art Show, Spectrum Art Fair and many more!

Art Miami and CONTEXT Art Miami are two of the art fairs shown under the umbrella of the Art Basel week in Miami Beach that I visit. Unlike last year, this time many galleries have emerged representing figurative realism. Also, there were more Asian galleries as well as galleries showing photography. Let’s dive in.

Art Miami and Context Art Miami at Miami Art Basel Week 2017

This video is a visual roundup of Miami art galleries, international galleries, 3D art and figurative realism art in Art Miami 2017. You’ll find the images and artists’ names in the article below.

Figurative realism artists and galleries

Brad Kunkle

In Brad Kunkle’s figurative paintings the feminine is symbolic of the intuitive that helps us connect to our purpose. By teaching us to study and to interpret artwork, the artist wants us to be more conscious of life and intuition and to feel the magic of life through his paintings. Brad Kunkle depicts women in a palette of warm browns set against the shiny silver leaf to express his idea of female softness and confidence.

To learn more: bradkunkle.com

Yigal Ozeri

Yigal Ozeri’s figurative realism is so stunning, it takes a while to believe that these are realistic oil paintings. Born in Israel in 1958, the artist works in New York creating large-scale paintings of women set in lush landscapes. The cinematic quality of his work forces us to stare and study every inch of the oil painting to believe that these are in fact realistic paintings. The artist is represented by Zemack Contemporary Art Gallery.

Clio Newton

Born 1989, Swiss artist Clio Newton creates hyperrealist, gigantic drawings of women in charcoal that are larger than life. The artist captures women with unbelievable anatomical accuracy in black and white that become towering statements of the artist’s talent. to To learn more: www.clionewton.com

Alonsa Guevara

Alonsa Guevara, Fernanda’s Ceremony, 80×32 in, oil on canvas | Anna Zorina Gallery, NY.

Originally from Chile, Alonsa is one of young figurative painters who shows her work during the Miami art fair. Alonsa’s fruit portraits are about desire. The desire to move people. Paintings of nude women that are often self-portraits are mixed with lush fruit and flowers that represent the fertility and life, mystery and birth.

To learn more: www.alonsaguevara.com

Mr. Brainwash

If you wish to understand how this street artist Mr. Brainwash made a name for himself and sold art for millions without any previous knowledge or background in art, you must watch the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, 2010. His work continues to appear during the Miami art week to capture the art enthusiasts.

Mary Jane Ansell

Mary Jane Ansell is a British artist, who presents figurative realism in a new way, mixing up the baroque influences with military costumes and emotion. She creates the narratives around strong women that appear lost in their own quietness and self-reflection.

Mike Dargas

Oversized, hyper-realistic paintings of German artist Mike Dargas depict women’s faces soaking in either chocolate or honey. Discovered on Instagram, the artist often exhibits at the Opera gallery now. To learn more: mikedargas.com

FABIEN CASTANIER gallery is one of the Miami art galleries that shows work at the art fairs as well. The male sculpture is by Mark Jenkins and Speedy Graphito is on the walls.

Bernardo Torrens

A self-taught Spanish artist paints female nudes in monochromatic colors. He is represented by Louis K. Meisel Gallery.

Carlos Rolon

Carlos Rolon, decadence upon decadence, oil and gold leaf on canvas. Born in Chicago, the artist paints stylized yet delicate floral compositions heightening the baroque luxury with shiny gold leaf.

Fernando Botero

Colombian artist Fernando Botero is one of the most popular representational painters and sculptors today who is known for his humorous ‘fat’ figures that are also expressions of political criticism.

Marco Grassi

Playful and colorful, figurative realism art by Marco Grassi is a visual treat. He’s a popular contemporary artist often shown at big art fairs internationally. These portraits of girls have freshness and vigor heightened by the gold leaf shine.

Silvio Porzionato

Italian artist Silvio Porzionato paints large-scale portraits with amazing skill, dragging paint across the background to reveal the humanity of the face and hands.

galerie bhak_art miami 2017 — Korean art gallery – galerie Bhak at Art Miami Beach 2017 | Oil on Aluminum, Scratching

Bringing Korean artists to the Miami art fair, this art gallery is a pleasant surprise. Figurative realism art becomes a lot more than painting where non-glamorous people star in paintings made of scratches and aluminum.

Face, Oil on Aluminum, Scratching, 259 x 200 cm, 2016

Face, Oil on Aluminum, Scratch, 259x200cm, 2016, detail

3D art, sculpture and animation

In the video you see some animation paintings/digital media represented by the Priveekollektie Contemporary Art and Design gallery located in the Netherlands. In Bloomed wall, we study the movement of nature reminiscent of the Dutch still life painting in a series of ‘paintings’ that play animated flowers, birds, and more.

Flutter-Hologram-Pendulum-by-Dominic-Harris | represented by www.priveekollektie.art In this 3D Hologram two butterflies fly inside a jar when exited by the movement around them. They sit down at the pendulum, which represents life hanging in balance.
To learn more: www.priveekollektie.art

Carole A. Feuerman

Carole Feuerman, Survival of Serena, hyper-realism sculpture, lacquer on epoxy resin with Swarovski crystals, variant of 3, 250 lbs, 81x31x37

American artist Carole Feuerman belongs to the Hyperrealism movement making life-like sculptures. She casts real people to produce sculptural hyperreal artk that symbolizes strength, survival, and balance. To learn more: www.carolefeuerman.com

Tiny nails map out the painting’s surface of this female face with thin threads moving in various directions to make up the tones.

Josepha Gasch-Muche

German artist Josepha Gasch-Muche makes glass sculptures from razor-sharp industrial liquid crystal display glass pieces! She breaks and arranges thin sheets of glass into strands to make geometric shapes. The artist is presented by the Heller gallery at Art Miami 2017.

Metis Atash

B.1979, German artist Metis Atash comes from the consultancy business in Germany to become the creator of sculptures that represent the duality of life and beyond. To learn more: longsharpgallery.com

Peter Anton

Peter Anton is a popular sculptor whose obsession is chocolate, ice cream and sweets! To learn more: www.peteranton.com

Liquid Art System

Photography

Jeff Robb

British photographer Jeff Robb experiments with three-dimensional imaging by taking pictures of the female nudes frozen in action and placing them in his lenticular photography. The lenticular photographs give us a mirage of volume and slight movement of a figure depending on the spectator’s point of view.

Ruud van Empel

This is one of few photographs that stood out from a crowd of paintings at the Miami art fair. The unusual part is seeing a black kid set in a beautiful, not diminishing way. And even more surprising part is that the artist is white – Dutch photographer Ruud van Empel. A child with mesmerizing eyes doesn’t really exist because the artist’s pictures are multilayered images. Photoshoped from many photographs, these black girls look like painted figures – symbols of childhood innocence. This deliberate deconstruction and reconstruction of digital imagery gives the art a mesmerizing quality.

To learn more: www.ruudvanempel.nl

Javier Bellomo Coria

Javier Bellomo Coria is an Argentinian artist who finds his influences in photography and architecture to create figurative paper sculptures. Realistic portraits look like gigantic puzzle paintings seen from the distance, yet when you walk around one, you find another image – a landscape printed on the other side of the artwork. The multi printed image is cut into numerous pieces and assembled again to reveal human fragility and multiplicity.

To learn more: www.javierbellomo.com

javier bellomo coria_art miami 2017 — A close-up view

Russell Young

Russell Young, Marilyn, acrylic screen print with diamond dust, Femme Fatale series. Russell Young’s oversized and glamorous depictions of iconic celebrities and figures are chosen based on a personal tragedy of each celebrity. Death, addiction or other fatalities brought them down only to glamorize their status even more. Just like Warhol, the artist knows how to attract attention to his work, combining the diamond dust with the iconic imagery everyone is more than familiar with.

This painting concludes my explorations in figurative realism at the Miami Art Basel Week 2017. Hope you like discovering new figurative painters and gain some insight into contemporary Miami art scene and beyond!

Veronica Winters Painting

Connect to your light with visionary art. Unity through beauty with the divine.

Tag: Art Miami

Art Miami & Context Art Miami 2018: realism painting and more