My Virtual Garden: Art Palm Beach

This is a different fair from last week's "Palm Beach Contemporary and Modern."

This was held in the Convention Center and was a well organized presentation by

a number of galleries and also individual artists.

Opera Galleries, which have 12 branches worldwide, had a large presence. This large

wooden "Head of Vivianne," was by Manolo Valdes of Spain.

Romero Britto, probably the most famous and successful artist in Miami, had a large booth

just of his works - paintings, prints, and sculptures, all in the Pop style.

This is "Paradise," in his style of strong black outlines and areas of flat color

with no shading.

All of these works are by Britto, including the Flamingo and the Apple.

"Big Smile" is by Romero Britto, a Brazilian/American artist.

Marc Sijan and Duane Hanson. "The Gallery Guard" in polyester and fiberglass is
by Hanson in his super-realistic style, and the "Noart Safe" on the wall is by Sijan.
There are fake ingots of silver and mirrors inside.

The "Godfather of Op Art" was the Hungarian / French artist Victor Vasarely.

This is a perfectly flat piece of canvas, but painted in an illusionistic manner so that

the shapes seem to be bending and the canvas expanding.

Amelia Pelaez of Cuba painted this "Still Life." Her use of black lines and glowing

colors makes the painting look almost like a stained glass window.

"Punching Bags" by Antuane Rodriguez, adorned with the faces of political leaders and
dictators. Visitors were encouraged to work out their frustrations on the bags.

Damien Hirst. "Psalm 121." Butterflies, Acrylic, and Paint. England

Mr. Hirst purchases exotic butterflies from dealers, arranges them in patterns on a

board and glues them, then paints around them, and finally seals the whole with a

layer of acrylic. They make fascinating geometric patterns.

Close-up of above work by Damien Hirst.

Jeff Koons. "Split Head Rocker Vase." U.S. Pop Art Porcelain

I had seen other examples of this work before and did not care for it; but this gallery

took the time to explain it to me. Mr. Koons was first married to an Italian actress and had

a son. A bitter divorce took place, and the lady disappeared with the son for almost a year

before Jeff could find his son. He was very distraught. In happier days, his son had

especially enjoyed playing on a rocking horse with a horse's head. When Jeff finally

found his son, he gave him another hobby horse, this is the form of a cow. The sculpture

recalls the terrible split in his life and that of his son, and also the flowers of hope.

Jeff Koons. "Yellow Balloon Dog Porcelain Plate Gilded." U.S.

Jeff became famous for his 15 foot high Balloon Dogs made of mirror-polished

stainless steel. This is a smaller version in gilded porcelain.

Mauro Peruchetti. "Jelly Bean Family." Italy. Cast resin.

This fair had more glass art than I have ever seen before, and the best was in the Habatat

Gallery of Detroit. Marlene Rose made these two pieces in sand-cast glass. You make the

mold in sand, then pour in molten glass and let it cool. The window in back looks like a

Japanese painting, and the Buddha head in front is from an old tradition.

Another glass artist, not with the gallery, was Steve Cox, who is from Wisconsin.
He is currently working with these playful figures, part abstract and part biomorphic.

Bennett Bean. "Gilded and Painted Earthenware." U.S.

This is actually a three-piece work which can be taken apart and assembled in

various way. The clay is formed, a slip is applied, and it is fired. In several subsequent

firings, Mr. Bean paints, uses wax resist, and gilds the earthenware.

Alex Katz is one of the most prominent artists in the U.S. This is a print

entitled "Pink and White Impatiens." Katz has developed a style of

simplified forms and large flat areas of color. This about 6x4 feet

Andy Warhol. "San Francisco Butterfly." Silkscreen

Warhol did a series of images of "Endangered Species." This is a rare butterfly

which is found only in the San Francisco area.

Reza Baharvand. "Yellow Alert No. 7." Iranian
Reza has painted a number of exotic and colorful butterflies and
even added glitter to the surface. But when you look closely,
you see that the body of each is a bomb or a missile. The
contrast of the delicate beauty and deadly weapon is jolting.

Alex Katz. "Ada in a Red Hat." Print 5 ft high

Katz' wife Ada has long served as his model.

Veronique Guerrieri. "Lapidou / Big Rabbit." Bronze, painted white. French
Veronique lives in Nice, France, and attended art schools at the Louvre and Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris. Her sculpture combines humor, whimsy, and an aprpeciation
of childhood. The "Rabbit" has become one of her major characters.

Kaith Haring. "Barking Dog." Print

Mr. Haring and his graffiti style are always well represented in art

exhibits these days. Keith began by spray-painting walls and subway cars,
where you must work quickly to avoid arrest. So his forms are simple,
direct, and strong - easily seen and recognized from a distance.

The most famous of the glass artists at the show was Lino Tagliapietra, the great

Italian master. His main studio is on the island of Murano in Venice, but he also works

several months of the year at the Museum of Glass in Seattle, where he is now.

Jaehyo Lee. "Abstract." Korea

Mr. Lee takes a piece of wood and burns and scorches the surface.

He then hammers nails into the surface and bends the nails, as you can see

in the detail below. The nails and screws actually stand up a good inch above

the surface, which becomes an abstract pattern or an animal's pelt.

Jaehyo Lee. Detail of above work.

Ilhwa Kim. "Seed Universe." Rolled Hanji Paper

Ms Kim in a Korean artist who uses the traditional craft of Hanji, paper folding and

rolling, to create larger works..

Ilhwa Kim. "Seed Universe." detail

Kim calls each of the elements above a "seed," and each is hand-made by rolling the

Hanji paper and then hand-dying each piece, and finally gluing them to the surface.

The works look like views from a space station.

Luis Jimenez. "Seed" Steel with Auto Enamel." U.S. Miami

One day Mr. Jimenez picked up an acacia seed which had fallen from the tree in his yard.

He was fascinated by it - the complexity and yet the unity. The seed inspired him to create

a series of steel sculptures, abstract, yet organic.

Jacques LeBescond. "Middle Heart." Bronze France

These beautiful forms, in large size or small, are meant to be outdoor scultures.
Notice the heart of negative space between the two heads.

Donald Sultan. "Black Poppies." Steel with Auto Enamel.

Mr. Sultan has long painted large, simplified flowers, and he now creates them in

steel to be placed outdoors and enjoyed.

Andy Warhol. "Four Flowers" print. Pop Art

Andy made many versions of these flowers in many colors. They are silkscreen
prints, so he could easily change colors and make many different versions.

Peter Bremers. "Medallion for Nature." Cast and Cut Glass. German

Frank Hyder. "Janus Project / Movable Museum."

These large inflatable figures all have two heads, like Janus. Hyder is hoping other artists

will create some more of these and join him, and then travel around the U.S. setting them

up in different cities.

Alex Bernstein. "Ice Blue." Cast and Cut Glass

Glass can be worked in many ways - blown, cast, cold, polished and cut, etc. As light

passes through, it is changed by the glass.

The plaza in front of the Convention Center had a number of steel scultures by

the featured sculptor, David Haley.

Nancy Callan. "Immersion." Blown Glass, black with whites canes. U.S.

Cristina Ferrer. "Incision." Steel Venezuela
These pieces are all loose and can be rearranged in any form you want. They are
cut at the bottom, so they fit over one another. I made a couple of different
arrangements. Each was "my" work of art.