Scott Campbell, Noblesse Oblige, 2011, Cut uncut US currency sheets, copper box, 21 x 25 x 18.75 inches

Tattoo artist Scott Campbell has migrated his etchings from skin to galleries – OHWOW inaugurated their new space yesterday in Los Angeles with a show of Campbell’s new work inked on the insides of ostrich eggs and stacks of paper money, using styles of vanitas imagery traditionally associated with the arena of tattooing.

Campbell, who is probably making a mint through his recent collaboration with Louis Vuitton, had enough currency on hand to carve a skull from $11,000 of uncut sheets of US dollar bills. The show, titled Nobelesse Oblige, signifies the artist’s pride in his blue-collar heritage, and plays with the idea of what is precious by removing value from social currency or placing value on the artefacts of common trade (by gold plating copper plates made with his tattoo gun).

© Scott Campbell, Courtesy of OHWOW Gallery

This Spring Campbell lent street cred to the more up-market LV luggage with delicate Asian style renderings of figurative dragons on bespoke leather bags. His collaboration though with LV began long before on the supine back of its Creative Director, Marc Jacobs on whose skin he’s etched such endearing icons as bull terriers and the face of Elizabeth Taylor.

Louis Vuitton and Scott Campbell inspirations for 2011 Spring Collection

The LV brand motif on a pig hide - © Wim Delvoye - Art Farm, Yang Zhen, 2005, 140x100-cm, tattoo on pigskin-tanned

This will be the third space opened by OHWOW founders Al Moran and Aaron Bondaroff’s following Miami and New York, where they had also opened a soho bookshop.

Scott Campbell speaks on his LV collaboration (below):

Scott Campbell, Noblesse Oblige, March 19, 2011 – April 22, 2011, OHWOW, 937 North La Cienega, Los Angeles, CA 90069

Rendering for MAM Museum Park Nightview

Miami Art Museum, Bay View

Miami’s contemporary art museum, Miami Art Museum, contains a limited but engaging collection of modern art pieces – but with the new crowds descending upon Miami during Art Basel week and the growing scrutiny of the city’s art patrons – there was pressure to expand its collections into a new facility that will house world-class exhibitions and enhance Miami’s profile as an art destination.

The new Miami Art Museum, which will anchor the 29-acre Museum Park, will be designed by Herzog & de Meuron, and is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new site overlooking Biscayne Bay, at the edge of the beach, will create a new architectural icon for the city. During Miami Art Basel a huge fund-raising event was held at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami for the $131 million construction cost of the new museum.

Miami Art Museum-South Elevation View

Rendering for MAM and Musuem Park

The building will consist of several transparent levels with an overhanging canopy perforated to allow light with columns of lush vegetation to create a garden-veranda with many layers of tropical plants. The canopy will be a green roof that moderates the temperature of the building, similar in concept to Renzo Piano’s living roof for the California Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco.

Herzog & de Meuron, known for their Bird’s Nest stadium at the Beijing Olympics, were also enlisted in Miami for the new 1111 Lincoln Road, development in South Beach’s Lincoln Mall – the open architecture was described by Jacques Herzog as being “all muscle without cloth.” H de M’s designs are known for their simple geometrical forms which enclose smooth seamless interiors. An example of this architecture would be, my personal favourite, the Prada store in Tokyo.

PRADA Store Tokyo by Herzog & de Meuron, photographed by Iwan Baan.

Nothing could stop Art Basel from having another successful year in Miami. Not a recession, not adverse conditions—though heavy rain and flooding destroyed a few works of art—could keep the droves of people from returning to south Florida and jamming the aisles of all participating spaces and the streets of the Design District.

What felt like most of Miami—and New York, LA, and Europe’s art communities—flocked mostly to the Miami Convention Center in search of fine art and design. The more adventurous patrons made their way across the causeway and back to the mainland.

Comparing SCOPE to Art Basel at the Convention Center is like comparing the Uptown and Downtown scenes in New York; they’re total opposites. For those who have never been, Art Basel is made up of several different parts: Art Basel, SCOPE, Pulse, Art Asia, and the bevy of neighborhood galleries that fling open their doors during the week and curate exhibitions of their own. Truth be told, these are often the most interesting shows to experience, as they have no preconceptions and are akin to Dash’s old shows at Deitch circa 2005: completely uninhibited.

New York Street Artist Judith Supine's Newest Work

One such show was “Art Whino,” which was held at Charcoal Gallery on 1st Avenue in Miami. A somewhat industrial and raw space, the exhibition was curated with the likes of Barry McGee and early Shepard Fairey in mind. Silkscreens as far as the eye could see, paired with stencils on canvas…on top of other stencils on canvas, chunky oils, and collages. Paired with knowledgeable curators and the artists themselves mixing with their constituents, it had a refreshing absence of the structured art-fair feeling.

"It's Better to Burn Out Than to Fade Away," at Charcoal Gallery's Art Whino

In the big top, Gagosian and Deitch were the undisputed heavy-hitters. Jeffrey brought out his customary big guns—Julian Schnabel, Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Keith Haring, Swoon, and Ryan McGuiness—while Gagosian countered with the likes of Richard Prince, Basquiat, Warhol, and Jeff Koons.

Barry McGee's "99 Bottles on the Wall"

"Aung San Suu" by Shepard Fairey at Deitch Projects

Jeff Koons at Gagosian

Stay tuned for more Art Basel updates throughout the week.

Art Basel Miami Beach 2009: The Eighth Edition of America’s Most Prestigious Art Show

From December 3 through 6, 2009, Miami Beach, Florida, will be home to the 8th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the international art show. More than 250 leading galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will take part. Chosen by renowned galleries of the Art Basel Miami Beach Selection Committee, the galleries will show works by more than 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Special sectors are devoted to very recent artworks, curated exhibits, performance, and art in public spaces.

This year, the layout of Art Basel Miami Beach will be extensively redesigned, including larger spaces for many galleries, and an innovative floorplan to maximize the visitor experience inside the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Art Positions sector, focused on special projects by young artists and galleries, formerly situated at Collins Park, will now be sited in the center of the Miami Beach Convention Center. Art Galleries, the main section of the show, will again feature the Art Kabinett program, which spotlights curated presentations in the selected gallery’s booth, while Art Nova will present new works by more than 170 artists.

The totally new Oceanfront exhibition environment will be created by an artist commissioned by Creative Time, the legendary New York-based public art organization, and host a daily program including the Art Basel Conversations, Art Perform, Art Video and Art Film. Presented in the public spaces between and around the Oceanfront and the Miami Beach Convention Center, this year’s Art Projects will connect the two main areas of the show.

For the latest updates on Art Basel Miami Beach, visit www.artbaselmiamibeach.com.