Teenage Graffiti Artist Israel Hernandez-Llach Dies After Being Tasered by Police
Young graffiti artist Israel Hernandez-Llach dies in police custody. Miami Florida.
Police in Miami Florida were called to the scene of an abandoned property, where 18 year old graffiti artist Israel Hernandez-Llach was trespassing. When Israel did not comply with the cops orders, he was tazered by one of the officers. Hernandez posed no threat to the officers or other individuals and thus should not have warranted the use of this “non-lethal weapon”. Soon after Hernandez died of cardiac arrest that was caused by the 50,000 volts entering his body. Many questions arise from such a scenario but the primary one would be concerning the probable legality of tazers. It seems that because they are not considered lethal weapons; people (or law enforcement) may use stun guns more freely when they,as officers, are not even in any danger. “Lurch attempted to run past the single officer to escape arrest.”
The second problem lies in the gray area where graffiti belongs in the art world. The huge variance in styles and talent create quite the spectrum of different people who call themselves graffiti artists. Taggers and low skill graffiti artists are the usual suspects who we see simply tagging their nick name or some phrase on the wall. It is done to mark their ‘territory’ like a dog’s marking of a lamp post and almost all the time this is the vandalism that we see on our local businesses or homes. These practices alienate the other graffiti artists or street artists that we see, the ones who invest time and effort into developing an idea then laying it out on a wall or interesting location. Often innovative spray painting styles or stenciling is used alongside an image that has a purpose or message to convey. Some graffiti art is used to commemorate a fallen friend or convey an irony in society. Hernandez seemed to primarily belong to the more developed graffiti artist category, his pieces of work resemble large bright murals with moderate detail. These works could be used for advertisements or as a form of decoration for local businesses if concluded properly but since graffiti artists are usually all categorized by society in the same group, this obviously leads to prejudice, further alienating decent graffiti artists like Hernandez who use abandoned buildings as their canvases consequently being labeled as criminal artists . No one forced Hernandez to break the law by defacing private property, it was his own will.
My points are that the expectations that culture creates for people seem to shape their fate more than people think. Maybe if graffiti art had an understood place in society as advertising or just art most of them would not have to resort to being classified as mere taggers. That the use of a known deadly weapon by law enforcement to secure an arrest for a minimal nuisance violation is an excessively lazy and inhumane policy for the edit… “professional law enforcement”, written on all of the patrol cars of Miami Dade County.
Miami Beach Art Basel 2012.
Design by Snarkitecture Projects.
Snarkitecture is a collaborative work Art incorporating architecture, exploring and experimental with the element off surprise working within existing spaces or in collaboration with other artists, architecture and designers.
Snarkitecture was established by Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham and is represented by Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 VIP Reception from left to right, Annette Schönholzer, Norman Braman, Matti Herrera Bower,the Mayor of the City of Miami Beach and Guy Morin at the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach 2012.
Opening Day for the Art Basel Miami Beach 2012. Dec 6-9 Miami Art reviews 12/11/12
Thursday morning.
Chairman of the Miami Beach Host committee for Art Basel 2012 is Norman Braman, the county’s most popular and dynamic figure talked about the international reach he personally has witnessed. Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower was delighted to have Collins Park active encouraging the Art Basel crowd to explore. Guy Morin, Canton President of Basel_Stadt and Jason Chandler, UBS committed to the audience the expansion of the Art Basel market with an all year presence on Miami Beach announced by Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler. It was an exciting start to the event and Miami officials were beaming to host this very lucrative and culturally prestigious show once again. The layout, sections and comfort needs fit well into the Miami Beach Convention Center and finding an alternative venue on the Beach would be hard. Mr. Norman Braman is correct in praising the lift the region has with the Basel partnership, Miami was also ready for a major art show or Biennial at the end of the 90’s. Now our region will have the Asian art market to attract visitors and investors.
Matti Herrera Mayor of Miami Beach, at art basel Miami Beacg 2012 Photo by Ana Bikic for Art reviews Miami 2012
South Florida is blessed with warm sunny climes when the rest of the world is either beginning to shiver or tired of it.
Miami Beach’s artistic history continues by hosting Art Basel for another decade.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 – Art Reviews Miami 2012/13
Interview with Monty Trainer, The President of the Coconut Grove Art Festival
At his Festival office in the Mayfair, Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida.
There is less than one week to go until the 3 day art festival that lines Coconut Grove’s Biscayne Bay parks. Feb 19 to 21. The No.1 Art Show of the Decade 2000-2010 USA and No.1 Art show 3 yrs running according to the Sunshine Artists Rating. The Coconut Grove Art Festival has coincided with the Miami Beach Boat Show on the same weekend for decades, both events have complimented each other in providing a whole weekend of entertainment for art collectors and boat owners escaping from the winter chills of the north. A -“This year’s 2011 festival poster by Artist Guy Harvey is very iconic and beautiful, have you printed enough of them? ”
M – “Well we have made 3,000 copies and they are available now through the Festival’s website. We started selling them four weeks ago, a day after the unveiling party and sales are going steady.” A- “How is the Festival Art Gallery related to the Festival Art show, is it an independent project?”
M- ” Oh no, it’s very much part of the Coconut Grove Art Festival, it’s an extension of what we do, it puts us in an all year round program for the young local talent we have.” A- ” Many people have been so impressed with the drawing and subject matter the Gallery has shown this year.”
M- “Yes, we’ve been working with the New World School of Arts and the Florida International University Art School. We also have been working with the Miami Dade CountyMagnet School Programs for highschool artists too. This is an ongoing project that the Festival is involved with.”
Interview with Monty Trainer, The President of the Coconut Grove Art Festival photos and interview by Ana Bikic
A- “It certainly is helping to promote high quality artists emerging locally. The Festival is one of the longest running shows in the country, this is the 48th year, how did it get started? “
M- ” It started in 1960 when Charlie Cinnamon was asked to help out the Coconut Grove Playhouse advertise a french play called I’m in a duce. The play had a scene with French art on a clothes line, Charlie and a few friends did a display on the side walk to help the playhouse. It was a side walk art show of only a few artists to start. Now the Playhouse is closed and we’re still open.” A- “How old were you when you became involved with the CG AF? ” some ers and errs…
M-”I had just finished college when the CGAF started in 1963, I opened the Monty’s Restaurant in 1969 and by the 70’s I was a sponsor. I’ve been involved for nearly 33 years since.”
Monty Trainer is a great example of community involvement. He has gone from event sponsor to board member, 2 years chairing and the past 5 years as the Coconut Grove Art Festival President. In addition to this Monty also sits as the Chair for the New World School of Arts Executive Committee where he can be found at least once a week at the School. He says it’s quite an endeavour.
M- “The NWSA is supported by three entities; the MDC, the MD school system and the University of Florida who issue the Bachelor of Arts degrees to the one thousand student body. I represent the U F and we all provide the funding for the entire NWSA together.”
Monty is extremely proud of the success of this local young artist alumni who are going onto the Bill Battle NY dance school, Martha Graham etc with over a 98% scholarship support. It is their ability to succeed in the auditions besides having good SATs that he accredits the schools success in educating so many of our artistically talented. I comment that the success in the visual arts is due to the dedication to traditional learning/teaching. Monty explains about a recent experience.
M-“The National Foundation for the Arts had over 200 school kids work at the Marty Marguilles Gallery for a week recently, you ought to have seen it, unreal, they really open up their minds, I don’t know where they get it from, we might not like it for our homes but this is the next century art.” A-“What would you define as the difference between Art and Fine Art? “
M-“That’s a tough question, you know, there’s art but there’s two sides to it. Fine Art has at least a 200yr old history behind it and the eyes of the beholder . How has it stood time? is it a time factor only and who’s to judge the quality? Michelangelo, Picasso, who can judge that? You tell me.”
Coconut Grove Art Festival Poster 2011 by artist Guy Harvey
A-“Yes, the eyes of the beholder, over time, or Art verses artistic or icon verses entertaining? The crisis of the economy has been terrible, we’ve seen many galleries close.”
M-” And yet the big auction houses like Sotheby’s have done very well. It’s a hedge on your investment, if you feel that a piece of Fine Art will not decrease in value it probably won’t, it’s not like the stock market after all, generally fine art only increases in value.” A-” Why is the Festival slightly smaller than several years ago?”
M-“The Artists asked for a more focused and art conscious audience. The Gating of the event has reduced the number of visitors but increased the artists sales. Folks were coming for food and refreshments and to listen to music, like a beer bust. The $10 gate charge helps keep the focus on art.”
Monty Trainer At the Annual Coconut Grove Bed Race 2010 Photography Ana Bikic
A-“As a No.1 Arts show in the Nation, how do you see the CGAF reacting to Globalization and art relevance ?”
M-”One of the important factors we have is a very strict jury system, it’s a blind jury, they do not know who the artist is, the work is juried solely on its own merit. Of course we are lucky to have Lilia Garcia run the system, she was the Miami Dade Schools Art director for years and is extremely well-respected. The jurors are chosen from the Museums, Art Schools and Galleries from the region. We have a different jury each year and yet we still get a 30% new artists for each annual event. So our relevance is most accredited to our strict jury system, I think that this has helped protect the show and give it artistic value. Of course you need good jurors too. I don’t get to know who’s in the show until the computer adds up all the scores each artist has been rated on.” A-“In recent years we have seen a prolific number of art shows crop up locally and internationally, how does the Coconut Grove Art Festival compare?”
M-” Locally we are still the most important, we are an art show, others are more arts and crafts orientated. We are subject to National art organization’s ratings like the Sunshine Artist Mag. { 40 yrs old}. The Art Basel is a Gallery show, although it represents over a 1000 artists.”
Monty Trainer Coconut Grove Arts Festival 2011 Photography by Ana Bikic
A ”it’s not juried. Are the Festival’s Gallery artists given an opportunity to be in the Coconut Grove Art Festival GAF 2011?”
M ” They most certainly are encouraged to submit an application but they are subject to the exact same process of jury as everyone else.”
We are interrupted by the Grove’s Police lady on a bike, Suzi, just checking in to say Hi. although Coconut Grove was the first settlement of Miami the City over 100 years ago, the Grove is essentially still a village community, with local friendly police, by their first names.
I comment to Monty about this family feeling the Grove has.
M ” Actually I really want to promote this situation we have, on the shore of the Bay, The Coconut Grove Village is a bay side community, I want the Art Festival to help celebrate what a great artist community we have here. Along with the fact the Art Festival has been voted the best of the decade Nationally and at No.1 for the last 3 yrs. Coconut Grove lost many of its artists to Miami Beach for lower rents years ago, then they moved to the Wynwood and now that’s expensive too, it’s difficult for artists to sell and eat, let alone have a $5000.00 studio bill.”
Monty Trainer and Festival Staff Fall for the arts 2010 with Patricia Dahne board member of the Coconut Grove Art Festival Photography by Ana bikic
Maxoly Art Gallery 2011 Miami at Art Fairs International Art Fairs
Cuban Art Maxoly Art Gallery at Miami Art Fairs International 2011
At the Miami international Fairs MIA-Art Fairs 2011 Maxoly’s Art Gallery was positioned at the entrance to the show, Little Havana Calle Ocho’s oldest Art Gallery.Maxoly Fine Art Gallery first opened to the public in 2001 at 810 SW 16th Avenue, it was the first Cuban art gallery in the heart of Little Havana. By 2003 the space had expanded to the adjacent corner location, 1600 SW 8th Street, today also call the home of Latin Art Core.
Padura painting was commanding attention immediately entering the show.
Art by Miguel Padura Maxoly Art Gallery At Miami Art Fairs International Fairs 2011
This is one of Padura best paintings and it visually dominated the entrance.
Art by Miguel Padura Maxoly Art Gallery Miami Art Fairs Internatinal 2011
Maxoly is a Miami knowledgeable Fine art dealer with a varied range of Cuban masters in his collection.
The International Show was enjoyable simply because there were so many good galleries from around Miami to see under one roof. Opening night was packed. Great start for the Miami Art and South Florida Arts 2011 Calendar.
Coconut Grove Arts Festival Poster 2011 by Guy Harvey
Coconut Grove Art Festival Poster 2011 by artist Guy Harvey
Congratulations to the Coconut Grove Festival Committee and to Marine Artist Guy Harvey for this year’s Festival Poster.
South Florida’s favorite Art Festival in the Grove is introduced by one of South Florida’s favorite Artists. This title for Guy Harvey is testament to the tens of thousands of people who wear his prints, enjoy his murals and sculptures everyday for years. After a summer of devastating pollution in the Gulf that has threatened the whole coastal regions of the State, the Coconut Grove Art Festival has chosen Harvey’smarine life symbols as emblematic concerns of us all. Environmentalism has long been a traditional content of Florida’s artists since the pioneer days of Audubon. Harvey’s colors, details and movement of his subjects are admired and totally sympathetic, his style is beautifully executed and acceptable. He has inspired many other artists to use the beauty of Florida’s marine life and fauna, leading the way as an environmental Fine Artist.
The Miami Art scene waits to see what The Coconut Grove Art Festival’s 48th edition will birng in Febuary 19th to 21st., of 2011.
The video shows many photos of the New Worldmural‘s making before it was hung in Miami’s Freedom Tower in 1988. The mural depicts Juan Ponce De Leon and the Tequesta Chief, spanish galleons,mermaids and the new known world. The mural celebrates the date 1513 and Miami as the first discovered settlement by the Spanish explorers. 2013 is Florida’s 500th Anniversary of this historic. You are invited to watch the video and read further on the website. Many residents of Miami Dade County are waiting to see how the MDC, National Landmark Freedom Tower’s New World 1513 Mural will be presented as a main celebrative art work for the Florida Quincentennial Anniversary in 2013. Some of the artists are still based in South Florida and they are still working towards bringing awareness about this important historic date for our South Florida community, State and Nation too.
The Freedom Tower is open to the Public and it is free to visit the mural that hangs in the main hall. Enquires for the artists can be made through the website or 786 239 0126 to leave a message.
Miami Art Reviews 
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