TFW: You’re For Real Over Art Basel

Last year we lamented the Art World Spring Break that is Art Basel, and unsurprisingly, this year the focus remained on pretty much anything else BUT the art (see this utterly riveting article “In Miami, Booth Furniture as Compelling as the Art” in the New York Times). Add to this year the eerie and uncanny feeling that we were experiencing more of the week via Instagram than IRL and you find there really is no need to make the trip. You’ve heard it all already– it rained a lot, someone was stabbed, and the US’s biggest art mall remains unfazed.

So why write about it at all? A fair question, unfortunately without an answer other than to highlight what WTT? found compelling and noteworthy. (Oh yeah, and for the photos. Mostly for the photos.) If it makes you feel any better, we actually decided to bring the WTT? column back after a letter from Duncan and the stirring Homeroom program, “Self-Portrait in a Kanye Mirror” last Tuesday at the MCA (more on that later), so we’ll try to keep this one brief.

Highlights: The schadenfreude I experienced when the “monsoon” (in my mom’s words) literally rained on everyone’s Basel parade. Did you come here to “work”, or what? Also, The Littlest Sister Art Fair (and panels) at Spinello, Anselm Kiefer at Margulies Warehouse (a seriously WTF moment of awe), Coral Morphologic’s installation at SwampSpace, bbgrl Sofia Leiby’s exhibition at Michael Jon, the multicolored breakfast at The Sagamore Hotel (what was up with that art tho?), ceviche, and nearly everything at the Artist-Run Satellite fair in North Beach (hey, not mainland, but at least it’s north of Arthur Godfrey). Snacks.

Also was very feeling Martine Syms thoughtful, haunting “Art on the Move” project, NITE LIFE, at Locust Projects and on buses and signs around Overtown (pairs excellently and unfortunately with the news that David Beckham is building a soccer stadium there after richer neighborhoods turned him down. “This will be the most responsible stadium development in Miami history,” said no one truthfully ever.).

Last but not least, Rashad Newsome’s weirdly under-attended and overly-awesome “King of Arms Miami” Parade in the Design District on Tuesday, Dec 1st. The FMU musicians were rad, Newsome’s lambo was out of control, and the voguing group from NY brought it despite the lackluster crowd, comprised of what seemed like more cameras than people, a pissed off looking Jeffery Deitch and our small group. The annual TM Sisters beach hang on Monday night. Oh, and one more, the performances at Vizcaya!

Fashion World Unrelated to Real One

Walking into the tented entrance of SAIC’s THE WALK felt stepping off the rainy downtown street into another dimension. Maybe we picked the wrong art world to focus on? This was unlike anY “opening” we’d been to before. There were like 6 different types of hors d’oeuvres, multiple bars with at least not the cheapest wine option, and, shockingly, people both above AND below 26.5 years of age.

We saw a woman wearing a beak on her face like it was no big deal, and all levels of over done. In this overdressed scene, the opening performance by Claudia Hart felt lackluster, especially at the beginning when the dancer closest to me was off her mark, ruining the projection illusion. We were into the concept: put voguing dancers in wild cutout outfits that serve as projection screens, but it somehow fell flat.

Fortunately the eleganza returned for the student presentations. Sophomore presentations, while restricted to a single piece with white and gold coloring, certainly ranked amongst the most exciting offerings of the evening. While we are impressed with pretty much anyone who can thread a needle, we have to say that Kellia Yao, Michel ‘Le Forrest, Yalin Zhao and Dave Klibanoff (who’s face garment seemed to totally disregard the palate) made us the most excited for 2017’s show.

If you were looking for a capsule collection, THE WALK is certainly not the place. The Swarovski crystal accents were about the most casual part of the show (and that’s to say, not casual at all). The juniors were just as over the top and Mady Berry’s gigantic cactus knitwear complete with fur draping and a flower on top pretty much stole the show. Franky Tran’s train with two male attendants was a cherry on top. From our seat in the back of the tent it was hard to see the details of the designs, but we knew when the audience was pleased by polite applause and literal oo’s and ahh’s coming from the front rows.

Finally, it was time for the main event. No, not the post-show snacks (though we’ll get to that), the senior presentations. Really there were just two collections that really gave us life. Kaleigh Moynihan’s collection, Davinia Francois, was hands down my favorite. From the first note of “Tip toe through the tulips,” you could tell it was going to be something else. And it was. Aside from showing a strong vision, Moynihan was the only student to use her own models, breaking the “walking stick” template and using real people of various shapes and sizes, including one model who was completely swallowed by a garment that appeared to have wheels or be robotic. The gender bending of the garments was effortless, unlike her colleague Carly Callis, whose blonde wigs seemed forced and awkward. Most importantly, as artist/model Amina Ross and the other likely artists on stage ‘tiptoed,’ they genuinely appeared to be having fun. The boob pockets, the “I don’t know” cape, the floral pasties, I could go on.

The only other senior to really make me swoon was Fransisco Gonzalez. His Clairvoyance collection was equal parts space sportswear and Mickey Mouse. The fact that I’m from Florida might have something to do with my affinity for the mouse, but the way Gonzalez wove the characters into the not-quite ready-to-wear pieces in his collection felt like something we would totally try to pull off.

After the last presentation, and the real Diane Pernet was presented a “Legend of Fashion” award, the entire tent moved across the street to the Harris theater for a reception where you could see a creepy Pernet’s effigy designed by local drag queen, Jojo Baby (who was looking quite dapper and carried a Pernet Barbie-sized doll). The reception was nothing if not elaborate. I gagged over Moynihan’s models and tried to work up the courage to talk to the young designer with daises in her hair, while spraying down my sushi with perfume bottles full of soy sauce (least practical vessel). I sampled the “couture eggs” (weird) and ate endless dumplings while trying to balance my dirty martini (the bartender had said, “I hope you like it straight up”).

To be fair, it was a fundraiser to support student work and scholarships at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Regardless, it was shame to have to leave the fashion world for the real one.

If you wanted a spot on recap of the best of the fashion show, you’re in the wrong place. Check out Isa’s “Best of” for the Reader.

Reading is Fundamental

Think of this as your month in review.

• Now Here, Here Now
  Eric Asobe on being connected virtually and physically to the world of art and art in the world. With a dash of summer thrown in for good measure.
• 
• MarKEt/Foward and Nikki Johnson at the Pfister Hotel
  Sid Branca’s long-awaited recap on the MarKEt/Foward is an outsiders view of an insiders symposium.
• 
• Studies of Exhaustion
  Jacob Wick continues to interrogate what he finds phony, this time intertwined with Filipídicas, Vega Macotela’s first solo show at Galería Labor in Mexico City. Find out why Wick believes Macotela’s exhibition is a “step in the right direction.”
• Window Shoppers
  Erin Leland has the most interesting conversations. Eavesdrop on her and curator, Andrew Blackley’s, afternoon of window shopping that merges seamlessly into Blackley’s work on Keith Haring and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
• 
• Paris on the Prairie: Part I
  The Ladies Almanack has taken up residence on our blog as they prepare to begin the second phase of shooting in Chicago. Find out more about the project here and look for more updates throughout the month of June.

T around Town

It’s Spring and Chicago is awakening! The warmth is warming the ‘lil ‘ol Florida girl’s ice heart. So much happened this past month, check out what you missed below!

Clothes Don’t Make the Artist

In the words of a great man, “ATTN FASHION CLUB”. This seasons’ looks are something to get worked up about. Here’s a rundown of some favorites:

Chuy buttons are totes trending. This rainbow version is particularly stylin’, but will Chuy stay en vogue post April 7th?

Friend of WTT? and riso printers alike, Clay Hickson, is exploding the apparel game. Nothing is making me more excited for Summer than these hottie bathing suits by Clay Hickson for Leilanni swimwear. On the more affordable end, Editorial Magazine also recently released a t-shirt and sweater designed by Hickson. If you’re like me and can’t get enough Clay, the Tan & Loose proprietor is opening the third edition of Tan Lines on April 17th at Solid State.

Boys from Miami (and their strange apparel choices) just make my heart melt. Domingo Castillo and Rob Goyanes are a modern day Don and Pancho, Sacco and Vanzetti, Ru and Michelle. Fashion is all about attitude, man. Scope the cuties and their adventures Goyanes’ piece for the Miami Rail.

As die-hard anti-pajamas-in-public advocates, we hate to admit that sweatpants are having their day in the sun. We couldn’t deny it anymore after attending Joshua McGarvey’s opening at dfbrl8r on the evening of March 14th. McGarvey greeted each person who entered the space with a child sized pair of blue sweatpants, while the rest of the gallery space was strewn with piles of pants and the vestiges of their making. Wake us up when this sweatpant nightmare is over.

Reading is Fundamental

Think of this as your month in review.

• Why Do I Give a Shit about Art
  Can’t get this thought piece from resident writer, Jacob Wick, out of our collective hive mind. Please send any and all answers to badatsports@gmail.com. CC Wick.
• 
• Five Steps to Performative Lectures at Defibrillator
  Sid Branca brings us deep into her brain during the closing performances for Thomas Friel and Dao Nguyen. We can’t wait to see what Branca brings back from her trip to Milwaukee to cover MarKEt/FORWARD.
• 
• Echo: Jackie Saccoccio at C v. D
  Kevin Blake’s poetic and effervescent review of Saccoccio’s opening muses echos themselves and on the paintings as dialogue between the artist, the viewer and the artists again.
• Double Duty in Atlanta:
  Eric Asobe asks “If someone slips on a banana peel in a forest and no one sees it, does anyone laugh?” in his review of Pratfal Tramps at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Meanwhile, Meredith Kooi got “Lifted” in her interview with community organizers Clint Fluker, Nasim Mahboubi Fluker, Miriam Denard.
• 
• Mobility in In the Absence of a Body and Cuban Virtualities
  In her first post for the blog, Vanessa Gravenor asks “Is liberation a blessing, or a curse?”. Turns out when you’re talking about Cuban artists the answer isn’t very simple.

Header image features work by our newest most favorite artist, Mika Horibuchi, in her exhibition View with a Room with work by Dan Rizzo-Orr at Heaven Gallery. Killer exhibition. On view through May 3rd.

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