Art Basel & Wynwood Arts District | MIAMI, FLORIDA

I would say this to any artist: 'Don't be repressed in your work, dare to experiment, consider any urge, if in a new direction all the better.' Photographer, Edward Weston

Having spent all of last weekend visiting the galleries and exhibitions that were a part of Art | Basel, the annual international art show here in Miami, I came away feeling deeply inspired. Hundreds of artists and their thousands of artworks, all in three days- now that's a seriously humbling and introspective experience. It's encountering new and international art that encourages us to explore new concepts, color palettes, compositions, ways to see and even live. I left with a mind full of ideas, a heart full of spirit and over a hundred iPhone polaroids. Here's a little taste of the many works that were on view from such diverse artists as Shephard Fairey, Agnus Martin, Kehinde Wiley, Man Ray, Ged Quinn, Arnold Newman, Miguel Paredes, Jean Arp, and of course my favorites Robert Rauschenberg and Edward Weston.

MiMo's Vagabond Motel | PERSONAL WORK

I've decided to start taking my camera along with me when I am out on a drive, after all, I do live in a city rich in architectural history and visual diversity. I often drive down Miami's Modernist hictorical district along Biscayne Boulevard, commonly known as MiMo, and imagine the mid-century neighborhood during it's heyday- the now litter-laced overgrown lawns as once precisely manicured landscapes accenting the once bright, neon-lit archictectural splendors that now rest as muted, peeling pastel facades.

The old 50's drive-in Vagabond Motel is one of my favorite MiMo spectacles. Designed by Robert Swartburg, whom also designed Miami Beach's famed Art Deco hotel (also one of my personal favs) The Delano.

I was halfway through a doorway to document the interior spaces when I noticed a signs plastered to the walls warning that the building was unfit for entrance and quickly decided it would be an all-exterior shoot. I was not trying to get a tetanus infection or have my MarkII swiped!

Looking through a window, MiMo's famed relic, the Coppertone sign, made an appearance in the frame. 

What a benefit it would be be to have this site, and the many surrounding, renovated to their original state. It's rumored that Frank Sinatra frequented this $3/day getaway!
Vintage photos courtesy of ModernMiami.net