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Miami Art Week 2015: Olek, Swoon, Olivia Steele, AIKO, and Boxhead in Wynwood

When Rumney Guggenheim debuted his namesake New York gallery back in October, covered here, he followed in his great-grandmother's footsteps and chose a core group of young talents. Those artists included an internationally celebrated group of women: Olek (HF Vol. 29), Swoon (HF Vol. 36), Olivia Steele, AIKO, and Boxhead, whose personalities are as vivacious as their artwork. Rumney Guggenheim has brought them to Miami Art Week where they are exhibiting at the gallery's SCOPE Miami Beach booth and in a special exhibition curated by Art Bastion gallery, which celebrated its opening with a lecture and private reception last night.

When Rumney Guggenheim debuted his namesake New York gallery back in October, covered here, he followed in his great-grandmother’s footsteps and chose a core group of young talents. Those artists included an internationally celebrated group of women: Olek (HF Vol. 29), Swoon (HF Vol. 36), Olivia Steele, AIKO, and Boxhead, whose personalities are as vivacious as their artwork. Rumney Guggenheim has brought them to Miami Art Week where they are exhibiting at the gallery’s SCOPE Miami Beach booth and in a special exhibition curated by Art Bastion gallery, which celebrated its opening with a lecture and private reception last night. While the front of the gallery is decorated by the rainbow-colored designs of Boxhead, inside, the exhibit is featuring new paintings and drawings from Boxhead, Swoon, an installation by AIKO, feisty crocheted word-art by Olek, and neon light art by Olivia Steele. When we took a look behind the building, we found Boxhead still working between rain showers on a massive new piece that covers the entire back facade. Take a short walk around the surrounding area, and you will also stumble across AIKO painting a mural throughout today and tomorrow, as well as her previous installments at the Wynwood Art Walls. Take a look at our photos from the exhibition below, on view at Art Bastion gallery at 2085 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL through February 6th, 2016.


Olek and AIKO having fun in front of Olek’s “#Shit” piece, at the opening of their Pop-up exhibition.


AIKO, with her installation at the Rumeny Guggenheim curated Pop-up exhibition in Wynwood, Miami.

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Swoon and Monica Canilao are two artists who are well known for their epic installations and mixed media pieces that utilize debris that they have collected and rebuilt. We first featured Swoon's work in Hi-Fructose Vol 36, and have featured Canilao's dreamy works on our blog, each unique for her use of media and techniques, but sharing a quality that makes us reconnect with things that are "lost and found".
While some artists view yarn bombing as purely decorative, Olek (HF Vol. 29) often swathes objects in crochet to draw attention to important socio-political issues. Known for the outspoken messages in her large-scale, colorful work, she was recently invited to create a piece in New Delhi, India for the St+art Delhi street art festival. For her canvas, Olek chose one of the local homeless shelters called “Raine Basera,” which provide people with temporary lodging overnight. With the help of legions of volunteers and donations from Indian fashion labels, Olek beautified the shelter with bright yellow, purple, and red crocheted fabrics that evoke India's famously vibrant textiles. Though it's visually alluring, the piece ultimately imparts a sobering message about the reality of poverty in New Delhi — and many major cities around the world.
Street art has been criticized for being a boy's club, so for the few internationally-prominent female street artists out there, it has been vital to foster a sense of camaraderie across national borders. This May, StolenSpace Gallery in London brings together two prolific artists, Olek and Miss Van, for two side-by-side solo shows that are in direct dialogue with one another. The two artists are long-time friends and admirers of one another's work, and though they have been included in many group shows and street art projects together (during Miami Art Basel last December, they created neighboring artworks in the public art nexus Wynwood Walls), this is their first joint gallery project.
Hi-Fructose readers need no introduction to the plethora of artists and galleries that were featured in this year's installment of SCOPE Miami Beach. Known as the biggest worldwide professional show of modern art, 2015 marked the fair's 15th anniversary. Despite heavy rains and winds that led to water seeping into the fair's signature white tent, attendance was higher than ever- roughly 49,000 attended compared to last year's 45,000 attendees. Take a look at more of our highlights from SCOPE Miami Beach after the jump!

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