Miami’s Art Week is taking on the dimensions of Christmas. It’s not even Thanksgiving and the advertisements for Christmas are abounding. Art Week falls annually during the first week(end) of December. And the local community is gearing up, openings and unveilings are filling our days and evenings already.

This past week, Constant Companion and I dipped our feet into a few of the early shows. It was a nice mix of something old, something new. Our agenda for the next few weeks is quickly filling up.

Something new was a short term exhibit called Home / Land, Contemporary Art from Israel held in an area known as Ironside, an eclectic, creative district filled with a variety of showrooms, studios, and restaurants, including architecture, interiors, furniture design, boutique retail, and visual arts. Located in the historic Upper Eastside alongside the railroad, Ironside is also an unexpected and delightful green environment of trees and outdoor pathways. In a county short on canopy and green space, Ironside’s developers planted a collection of rainbow eucalyptus trees along with poincianas, live oaks, coconut palms, climbing jasmine, creeping fig and multi-colored bougainvilla.

A double-sided segment of the original Berlin Wall repainted by Thierry Noir during Art Week 2013, greets you as you enter the European-style village complex. The Berlin Wall has been a prominent icon, thus its pieces hold a special place at #MiamiIronside and reflect the core values of our community: freedom, unity and strength.

Hidden on a back wall were several pieces by the French street artist Space Invader (see 10-23-2023 post).

The exhibit Home / Land brought together a collection of artwork by Israeli artists. The marketing of the exhibit emphasized that “the diverse works of these artists … represent the beauty of the land and the strength and resilience of a nation.” We are in a time that is beyond difficult in this geographic area. If only the work of artists such as these could serve as a resolution.

I was drawn to the work of local artist Amy Gelb who captured the landscape and the kaliniot with photographs printed on organza. Other artists in the exhibit captured images of the kaliniot or red anemones found in the Negev.

Something old was a stop at two of the works in this year’s No Vacancy, the 5th annual juried art competition sponsored by the City of Miami Beach and the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority. The works of local artists are placed in historic hotels across Miami Beach btween November 14 and December 12.

Constant Companion and I stopped at the two northernmost No Vacancy outposts as we returned from our excursion across Biscayne Bay. The International Inn designed by architect Melvin Grossman in 1956 is a document to Mid-Century Modern architecture and the Sherry Frontenac designed by Henry Hohauser in 1947.

Haitian American artist Asser Saint-Val’s “Aquatic Incursion-MHEDRAYNGT” is a series of sculptural installations integrated into the hotel’s architecture. His sea life-inspired structures create a surreal, otherworldly aesthetic that contrasts with the iconic art deco buildings of the city as they invade the built environment.

Their underwater quality is supposed to evoke a sense of wonder as viewers reflect on the role of humans in climate change.

Next stop was the Sherry Frontenac one of Hohauser’s later homages to Art Deco architecture with a spin on a nautical theme.

Patricia Cooke’s “Anondyne” is a suspended series of quilted figures that recreate a view of the intricate mangrove root systems. It is another artistic observation of climate change with we who live here face.

The Sherry Frontenac is one of the architectural documents to Miami Beach’s history. Nestled in the breakfast room is a small collection of vintage photos. Terrazo floors are one of the historic characteristics, including the hotel’s name captured at the entry.