about the whole "art" thing

everybody likes art right? The whole problem is finding a way to tap in, and it almost always feels like the people of the art world aren't necessarily interested in making it easily available. Sure, the first Friday Art-Walks are a great way to start, but what about the rest of the month? To me it's all to much especially during Art Basel when yes, the very best in the world soak up our sun, and our local market is flooded with foreigners.
Luckily, we have an insider here at miami nice who tips us normal folk off to whats going on in the world of pastels, mixed media and site specific performances. Katia works at the Bas Fisher Invitational, the gallery that hosted the "Weird Miami" exhibit we covered over the summer, and she gave us the scoop on what the staples on the local scene are up to amidst the madness:

• Jim Drian is in a solo show at locust projects that looks amazing! It's called "Saturday's Ransom" we had DASH students come help with the walls. 

• There is a small solo show for Dan Milewski at Dimensions Variable next door. 

• At Gallery Diet there is a solo show for Abby Manock that should be great. I'm biased and think everything will be awesome because I work with most of these artists and at Gallery Diet. 

• I'll be working the NADA, New Art Dealers Alliance, and the Pulse Art Fair which should be a blast. 

• The Bas Fisher invitational booth will be selling ten print box set with artists prints by Olaf Bruening , Jim Drain, Naomi Fisher to name a few. 

• Gallery Diet having a exhibition booth at Pulse at the Ice Palace. 

• There is an exhibition at the delacruz collection for Christy Gast.

scissors and glue

I conveniently skipping the whole Basel thing here on miami nice because we're popping down today, but I thought I would share a few things that have been hard to ignore.

As a sucker for documentaries, especially really low budget ones, and an insane addiction to movies (especially terrible ones like the Venetian Pool dance sequence in From Justin to Kelly. Anyone?) shot in Miami- this seemed right up our alley. It's called Scissors to Glue: The Miami Project:

Read all about it on the New Times.

why yes, you are

...because only in Miami would someone mysteriously print this on a window in little white stickers on 6th and 12th in downtown.

probably the only bar in miami you have to google to know how to spell

the nickname for Bougainvillea's, Bougie's, really grosses me out and I prefer to say Bougainvillea- but if you're texting your friends like "Yo, let's meat tonight at boganvi... bougaun... boogon.. forget it Bougies" I understand.

Bougainvillea's is the type of bar that people in Miami like to complain that we don't have enough of. It's a dive bar in a pretty little wooden cottage covered in the namesake flowers. What better way to take advantage of ridiculous drink specials and chug beers while listening to a just-ok cover band and playing ring toss than inside a quaint little cottage right down the street from Sunset Place.

Plus, who doesn't like a place with a good enough sense of humor to frame this:

the party where I saw everyone I've ever met. almost.

you may have read the interview with Gaudi Castro the party promoter/planner/type of guy that can bring out a whole night of live music and everyone in everyone's extended social circle the night before Thanksgiving. If you didn't, you have probably heard about his Rock and Wobble before the Gobble Gobble through word of mouth- annnnddd if you haven't, thank god you're reading miami nice so you can pretend like you were there.

 Chris Cab

Before I tell you about the live acts, I think I should let you know (like a good snarky blogger) that if I wanted miami nice to really get big (and bad and really not nice) I could have snapped some covert iPhone pics and posted a worst dressed list as long as your screen. But, this is miami nice- so I'll stick to covering arts and culture events and only sliding in my snarky commentary on girls who show up in groups dressed all in leopard. Contributor S.Darna seriously turned to me and asked if there was a theme she didn't know about.


On a more positive note- let's talk about ArtOfficial. Google them, MySpace them, illegally download their music- no wait, actually pay for it, because it's rare that an act so mainstream appealing and genuinely Miami can get a crowd of otherwise Rihanna club bee-boppers bopping to a blend of mixed genre rap. jump on the ArtOfficial bandwagon and claim you knew them first (if you went to Columbus you probably did, the trombone player is the band teacher- Mr. Cooper).

Grand Central is the kind of venue that can be easily transformed. I've heard that it's been a food festival of local restaurants, indie rock and electronica concerts, and I can imagine that there are some nights it looks like the most standard of standard of Miami clubs. I'm willing to bet that on a night you have absoluetly nothing to do there's some kind of crowd there doing something.

All in all, it was a great alternative to the usual botella popping pre-Thanksgiving night and I'll Rock and Wobble (seriously, there was a lot of wobbling involved) next year. 

a note to la moon

dear La Moon (you know, the Columbian hot dog place),
All I wanted was a perro Colombiano smothered in all eight artery clogging sauces in unidentifiable colors, including the one that looks a little too much like Nickelodeon slime, at about three o'clock in the morning and the wait was half an hour- for takeout. HALF AN HOUR for takeout. It's a hot dog. they churn that shit out in thirty seconds on the street in New York.
I wasn't asking for much, even though some people in my party were going to order the one with chorizo and quail eggs on it, all I wanted was a plain ol' perro before I thought too much about it and changed my mind.
Big kiss on the cheek (that's nice of me right?),
miami nice

Above photo from New Times- where it was named one of 100 favorite dishes.

ohhhhhh, this makes sense

can someone please identify what the hell this building is doing on 1st and 20th Street in the downtown area? Please.

pepper's first birthday

miss Pepper, our partner boutique of Pepper's Picks, is turning one year old! And they're celebrating with a party where there will be tons of gifts. They're asking you to bring in unwrapped gifts for the kids over at Miami Children's Hospital AND they're giving you 20% off and "complimentary cocktails, munchies and goody bags." Aren't they nice? So stop by, buy (using our holiday gift guide, duh), and say happy birthday to Miss Pepper!

community partnership for the homeless

every year my family and I go to the Community Partnership for the Homeless on Thanksgiving morning with my dad's Coral Gables Rotary Club and serve lunch- then we feel guilty about only doing it once a year, but that's still better than nothing right? The Community Partnership for the Homeless is the type of place that really deserves to have really awesome juice pouring volunteers like us every single day.
The facilities are separated by family style and single and the people that work there give great tours and are proud of their beautiful facility located right in downtown. The mission of CPH, as I understand it is to take in people who are just out of luck; on the brink between down and out and just getting by. If you have a guilty conscience like me, I couldn't recommend a more worthy place to donate your time (or your stuff!).

viva espana y balenciaga

most of us like to think that our family is from Spain- as was evident all over Facebook this summer when every status read something like the title of this post, but without the Balenciaga tagged on. Well, if you're a Spaniard, at least on Facebook, you should probably know a thing or two about the greatest Spanish designer of all time- Balenciaga. Luckily, Hamish Bowles of Vogue put together an exhibit in New York on Cristobal Balenciaga and his influence from the Spanish monarchs. Given all the tabloid excitement about William and Kate this seems like a more interesting way to celebrate those people who get tons of jewels and get to do nothing: