I wander inside and glance toward the bar, only to exclaim when I realize that the interior has been created by arguably the most famous street artist of our time, Shepard Fairey. The Rhode Island School of Design graduate, who was rewarded with a mid-career retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in 2009, is best known for the ubiquitous “HOPE’’ poster of the 2008 Obama campaign. The dazzling display of prints at Wynwood includes other iconic Fairey images such as Andre the Giant, veiled women, elephants, and birds in flight.
MIAMI - “This is Shepard’s first commission inside a restaurant,’’ says Jessica Goldman Srebnick, a co-owner, as she guides me out to the back patio where larger Fairey works can be seen sharing a long wall, the start of a street art museum coined Wynwood Walls.
It was Srebnick’s father, real estate developer Tony Goldman, who wanted to do something special for the start of Art Basel in 2009. Every December, the country’s foremost contemporary art expo comes to Miami, attracting artists, gallery owners, collectors, curators, critics, and art lovers of every stripe for its four-day run. Much of the action takes place around the Miami Beach Convention Center. Goldman wanted to bring the crowd into the emerging neighborhood of Wynwood, nestled between the Design District and downtown.
Inspired by the success of Art Basel since its inception in 2002, Wynwood has grown into a budding arts district. Well-known Miami contemporary art collectors such as Mera and Don Rubell and Martin Margulies created their own museums in the neighborhood to showcase their latest purchases. Gallery owners soon followed their cue, and today there are more than 80 art galleries in Wynwood. Many of the latest galleries and restaurants, like the David Castillo Gallery and Wynwood Kitchen, are on the stretch of 2d Avenue between 21st and 27th streets.
