MIAMI—A generation ago, graffiti and street art were considered a plague on neighborhoods. Today mural artists are helping to revive and beautify communities. The Wynwood Walls project is a model example—an oasis in the middle of the Wynwood Arts District where the facades of six buildings serve as canvases for artists from around the world
The mural project was created by Tony Goldman in 2009 to showcase the best “street” art ever installed in one place and increase pedestrian traffic in the warehouse neighborhood where many art galleries are located. Jeffrey Deitch, now director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, co-curated the inaugural year of the project. Situated on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 25th Street, the Wynwood Walls complex includes two restaurants—indoor/outdoor spaces where murals dominate the decor.
All photos by Arts Observer
Above, Wall by Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles, USA). Top of page, Off 2nd Avenue, an archway welcomes visitors to The Wynwood Walls complex.
Detail of Shepard Fairey wall shows the artist signature wheat paste work.
Futura (New York, USA) created “a contemplative landscape with a sense of movement and rhythm.”
A painted deer near the wall by Futura.
HOW and NOSM (USA) are twin brothers (Raoul and Davide Perre) from Germany based in New York. For Wynwood Walls, they used their standard limited color palette andcreated “a world to explore, built around the theme of homing pigeons, which are bred to carry messages and find their way home.”
“33 Women” by Ryan McGinness (Virginia Beach, Va., USA) 2010. The mural is a part of his “Women” series which is on exhibit at Charles Bank Gallery and Gering & Lopez Gallery, both in New York through June 30.
RETNA (Los Angeles, USA) is known for his signature lettering. Installed in 2011, this mural spells “sacred dance of memories” and “salva los espiritus santos” (save the holy spirits).
The Wynwood Doors project was not accessible when Arts Observer visited. This image what photographed from behind a fence. Started in 2010 in an adjacent lot that was previously a dump, 15 roll-down metal gates were installed on blank walls to create additional canvases for murals.
Nunca (Sao Paulo, Brazil). On The Wynwood Walls website, he explains the mural thus: “My work centers around the changing, mixing and invasion of one kind of culture by another, and especially the interaction of old and tribal ways of living and the modern way of life.”
Detail of mural by Brazilian artist Nunca.
Facade of Wynwood Kitchen & Bar at Wynwood Walls.
“Allegory of Florida” by Stelios Faitakis (Greece) 2009, draws a “visual connection to classical frescoes, Byzantine art and the Middle Ages.
I visited the Wynwood Walls on 3/29 and parked across the street from the Wynwood Bar. DO NOT GO HERE. Did you know that there have been 12 Vehicle burglaries since 3/25? I’m not from Miami and was visiting for Easter Weekend. We were excited to see this place. I parked my car at 11AM and could see my vehicle practically the whole time. I was out of my car for 15 minutes. My car window was busted and everything was taken out of my back seat. We called the police and the police tried to say that we were followed from our hotel, 30 MILES AWAY! After doing some research, this WHOLE area is crime infested. The police don’t seem to be doing anything to fix it and the neighbors tell you the same thing ‘you were followed’.
—————–USE EXTREME CAUTION. ——————
If I can be vandalized within 15 minutes at 11am on a Friday morning…Anyone can. I want to do everything I can to help people protect themselves from this area. I understand that police can’t be everywhere at once, but if I can find online within 10 minutes that its crime infested…how did the cop NOT KNOW!?
http://www.crimemapping.com/
Address: 2550 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami Fl