Arts

Another week stuffed with art

The London Police “Samurai Girl” at FAAM Urban Art Week.

We can fairly call this mid-February period a mini Art Week – and really not so mini. Art Wynwood returns to Midtown, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival dominates further south, and Second Saturdays are in full swing in Wynwood – and they all are taking place over the President’s Day holiday and Valentine’s Day. In the bright sun of South Florida combined, they give this week a festival feel.

The main event will be Art Wynwood (Feb. 12-16, www.artwynwood.com), with 70 international and local galleries and a number of special projects, including a couple of street art exhibits. So not surprisingly, several blocks down and focused entirely on graffiti-inspired work, will be the FAAM Urban Art Week, taking place on the same dates (www.faamiami.com). This will include interactive events (live painting, panels, film and music) along with the art, and culminate with an auction where some heavyweights of the genre will be on the block: Banksy, Ron English, Shepard Fairey and Keith Haring. Many of the names featured in the FAAM fair already can be seen on the walls of Wynwood.

Painting of Wendy White at the David Castillo Gallery.

Painting of Wendy White at the David Castillo Gallery.

On those same nights, many of Miami’s galleries will be unveiling their latest shows, both in that neighborhood and in the ever-expanding places where we find art. For instance, the wonderful painter Wendy White will get a solo show at the David Castillo Gallery on Miami Beach on Friday night. These new works are grouped together with the title “12th Man,” with a theme of the connection between art and athleticism (the 12th man refers to the football lingo of the power of the extra “12th fan,” the audience that adds to the winning abilities of the 11 players on the field).

Down in the Grove during that fair, a brand new gallery will open its doors: the very intriguing Clyde Butcher Gallery. The famous Everglades photographer has a studio out in the river of grass, but this will be the first in the city to be dedicated to the artist’s work. The inaugural exhibit (which opens during the day on Friday at 2 p.m.; [email protected]) will highlight his wilderness photos from all across Florida, from the Keys to the Panhandle.

These are just a few examples of art day and night from Thursday through Monday, in a mid-winter break bursting with art.