Mayfair Hotel presents tribute to cultural pioneers

Last year's Art Basel Week kicked off with a much talked-about tribute to Miami pioneers - alongside the city's new cultural visionaries - with the retrospective of visionary artist Martin Kreloff's 1976 “Miami Says Art” (which 36 years ago brought together the city's then up-and-coming arts luminaries to look into his camera and exclaim “ART”). 

During last year's Art Basel week, Kreloff reunited cast members from his original 1976 show alongside Miami's current crop of cultural champions, all coming together to help create a new time-capsule honoring Miami s evolution, and providing a window into the city's bright future as an art destination. The photos and resulting artwork have been kept under lock-and-key for a whole year, and the much-anticipated installation will be revealed for the first time at a preview reception for the media on Monday, December 2, at noon at the Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove.

MIAMI SAYS ART 2 features a wall series of portraits by Kreloff, featuring some of the origin 1976 cast along side Miami's new museum directors, gallerists, performing arts leaders and directors of cultural institutions (all once again looking at the camera and proclaiming “ART!”) . Kreloff has also collaborated with Miami artist Gustavo Oviedo on a black-box installation featuring video, projections and sound art, “Art Euphoria” melding photos, original artwork, video and sound recordings for an experiential walk-through time capsule.

The original cast included so many well-known figures such as Martin Marguiles, Judy Drucker, Gloria Vanderbilt and Charlie Cinnamon to name a few.

Presented by The Mayfair Hotel & Spa Miami, MIAMI SAYS ART 2 ushers in Art Basel Week 2013 and is on view Dec. 2-8, 10:00 am-8:00 pm (free and open to the public) at the hotel's exquisite Palm Terrace, 3000 Florida Avenue.

The artist Martin Kreloff says: “After many years of living and working on the West Coast, Miami welcomed me back with open arms, as if it was urging me to return home ... and what a homecoming it has become! From the sleepy burg I first encountered when I moved to Miami in 1967, the city has exploded into a vibrant and vital cultural destination that pulsates with the glow of a world class art scene."