Art Basel descends upon Miami during December every year. The international showcase of prestigious galleries that takes place in the Miami Beach convention center has grown into something much bigger than anyone could have imagined a decade ago.  Thanks to the many pop up shows, events and other gatherings that take place in numerous galleries and temporary spaces throughout the city there is much more to see than just what happens at Basel HQ. If you want to rub elbows with wealthy collectors and see a Picasso hanging next to what is probably an overhyped contemporary artist then you can head to the convention center. But if you want to see work by emerging artists or artists that do compelling work outside of stuffy galleries then head to the many pop up shows happening in Wynwood, the Design District and downtown Miami.

Most of my time was spent around Wynwood Walls where all week long the air was filled with spray paint fumes and every single wall seemed to be getting a fresh makeover by world renown street artists and muralists. Scope, Juxtapoz Magazine and the Cruz Diez Foundation has some great shows this year.

Art Basel is something everyone should experience whether you are an artist or not. Hopefully I will get to do it again next year!

Performance Art at Art Basel, Miami Beach Convention Center.  

Sculpture Art at Art Basel, Miami Beach Convention Center.

Street artist Scott Addis using his own material concoction to sculpt faces on palm trees in Wynwood. 

El Chavo del Ocho in Wynwood. 

Earlier this year for SXSW ReCreate 17' I teamed up with three other talented artists, J Muzacks, Helena Martin and Gage Kelsey to pay homage to a very important film in the history of Anime: Ghost in the Shell. A live action version of the film was released later that month to mixed reviews. Oh well, at least they tried I guess.

Every year 30+ street artists, writers and muralist gather for ReCreate at The Hope Outdoor Gallery to give the place a complete makeover with new art. From sun up to sun down, we worked tirelessly to put our mark on those walls. None of us get paid to do this, we simply love to paint. HOPE and SPRATX organized the entire event and provided the artists with food from Cane's Chicken, live music and water. 

Check out a few pictures from the event below and a video recap as well. Till next year!

Photo Creds: @_storyoftheeye_ , @knowatx

List of artists in slideshow: (Instagram Handles)

@uloang @lenatx @jmuzacz @gagekelsey @random.direction  @daddyotis  @mila_sketch @codyschibi @jiminai @marvriley @mezdata @slokeone @zuzubee @mikejohnstonartist

Live painting, Mr. T and transcendental art. Yup, those were among the many things you could find at our art show for EAST this year. Mike "Truth+ Johnston, Rex Hamilton and myself put up our art in a 100 year old house where we split up one of the walls three ways and got to painting.

The two weekend art extravaganza we call E.A.S.T. is organized by Big Medium every year. Over 500 private studios, galleries and temporary art shows opened their doors for two full weekends. For art lovers it is an intimate experience where they can see where artists make their work and have conversations with the artists themselves. The types of art you get to see vary widely, from sculpture to photography, painting and even performance art. As an artist I really value this opportunity to meet people and have conversations with other art lovers.

Big thanks for Dwellstronger for hosting us. Check out the awesome stuff they do at: www.dwellstronger.com

Till next year!

To me photographing your work properly is just as important as doing the work, specially when it is a mural that will likely be covered up in just a few days. I look for strong compositions that convey a sense of scale by either including figures in the image or architectural features that are easily recognizable. I always shoot in RAW to allow for easier editing my gear includes a tripod, 2 lenses, a flash a camera remote and a Nikon 5200. This light set up gives me versatility to handle to just about any situation. 

The mural above was painted at the HOPE Outdoor Gallery in Austin. It is a great place to paint and it is open to the public. Although only pre-approved artists are allowed to paint there, there is no one to enforce the rules most of the time so the droves of onlookers also bring their own spray paint. The result is anyone and everyone paints when they go there and usually a freshly painted mural will get covered up by random scribbles. Some see that as a negative, but I enjoy the impermanence of this place. Which is why it is so important to make sure you photograph anything you do there really well for it may not be there tomorrow.

For this photograph I partnered up with Kendra Gorleski, a local Austin photographer. I posed in front of the picture with a torch in hand, set the camera to the lowest ISO, 5 second shutter speed and a 25 f-stop. The picture was shot in RAW to allow for easier editing afterwards in Lightroom. One big challenge was getting the focus right while it was pitch black. 

Aside from the settings however, composition is also very important. We wanted to convey a sense of scale so having a figure in the picture was very important. We used a singular light source to create an eerie feeling and the deep shadows around the edges work to focus the eye on the mural. One thing we couldn't solve was how to keep the torch from getting blown out. Next time we will try bracketing some shot and layering them in post-production. 

All in all we are happy with the result and can't wait to see what the next mural is and how it will be photographed.