When Worlds Collide: YoungArts kicks off Miami Art Week
A One-Two Punch of Stellar Art Exhibitions
With lifelike chalk moldings of Leica cameras, keyboards, microphones, Goodyear tires, telephones and teddy bears, Daniel Arsham’s interactive exhibition entitled The Future Was Written at YoungArts on Tuesday night gave you a chance to decorate the walls with abandonment. The young and old picked up pieces of chalk off the floor— where I witnessed a gentleman picking up a full size basketball made of chalk, and inscribing his name on the blackboard wall that fully encompassed the first floor at the YoungArts Gallery. Mazdack Rassi, whose wife is the beautiful Zanna Roberts Rassi of the Project Runway TV show, was seen getting into the fun of it all by taking a selfie with a youngster with a Blackberry made of chalk.
Creative ideas and inspirational quotes from the guests flowed onto the blackboard walls – everything from “Reve,” which means “dream” in French, to “Turn dreams into plans”, to spaceships, blossoming flowers and self-portraits. People rewriting their words in even thicker chalk in hopes they were everlasting on the chalkboard. Many found this event very therapeutic, as it gave a freedom to anonymously express what we are often afraid to express out loud. Because of it, I’m thinking of installing a ceiling to floor blackboard in my home. A must visit for the kids and the young at heart.
In the adjacent building called the YoungArts Jewel Box, was the installation by British artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien’s commission for the Rolls Royce Art Program. To enter the event, one walked down a black runway carpet, with stunning Rolls Royces delicately framing you on both sides of the aisle leading you to the Jewel Box building. When I got off the elevator, I noticed the “who’s who” of art patrons at the event including Sarah Arison, Daniel Novela and Amy Rosenberg. Once inside the room, the seventh floor’s famous stained glass windows were darkened into the background, and the video installation across 15 screens by Isaac Julien entitled “Stones Against Diamonds (Ice Cave)” was brought to life, engulfing the viewers into a magical world of sea and serenity. The blackened room popped with video images of frosty white and seafoam greens and blues, moving at a slow, calming pace. It was easy to let your mind wander to a far away place for a few minutes, only to get back to reality quickly and realize you’ve got a ton of amazing events to attend, artwork to buy, and people to see during this fabulous art-filled week in Miami.
Both the Daniel Arsham and Isaac Julien exhibits at YoungArts are open to the public through December 6th.
Until next time. Basel to your heart’s content. Xoxo
Allison
Allison Weiss Brady handles marketing for celebrities and non-profits. She is active in many organizations in South Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania including Big Brothers Big Sister, The Community Coalition, Voices Against Brain Cancer, Gene Spotlight, The Barton G. Kids Hear Now Foundation, and one of her family’s foundations Say Yes to Education, which recently partnered with Quincy Jones. Weiss Brady and her husband Chip Brady are members of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and Weiss Brady is a member of the Vizcaya Preservation Luncheon Founding Committee. She on the Board of Advisors at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice and she’s the only female on the university’s Football Board. Weiss Brady was also the sole recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s 2008 Young Alumni of the Year Award, and serves on the Overseers board for the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
