MTAA’s latest “Over The Opening” event is tomorrow (Friday the 14th), so go check it out. This is the first one I’m going to miss, as we have tickets to a Charles Mee play.

On December 14, from 7pm to 10 pm, OTO is pleased to present Mike Koller’s “THE HOLIDAY REJECTS”

With the proliferation of video and photography equipment and even more so the availability and user-friendly nature of at-home post-production equipment and software, the do-it-yourself documentarian is a driving force behind all our familial interactions. The need to record, in detail, the various persons and their reactions to all the activities has increasingly become the chief activity itself. The time spent face to face becomes second to the execution of a thorough archive of the event. A smiling photo is more important than the argument it took to create it, the video containing each persons thoughts for the New Year takes precedent over the people themselves. In these ways the family becomes the discarded artifact of creating a visual history of events that are largely fictionalized or staged versions of an unknown third partyÂ’s expectations.

The Holiday Season, more than any other, creates a steady stream of videos and photos posted for all to see. Presented in a one night “X-mas Party” format are the photos and videos from 69 different family celebrations in a tribute to the discarded persons who were pivotal to their creation, The Holiday Rejects. True to the season, the party will feature food, drink and music to set the mood. Also featured will be three new animated video projections of a Christmas tree, a window overlooking a wintry landscape and the inescapable Yule Log. Come, imbibe, document, post.

Mike Koller is an artist and musician living and working in Brooklyn.

Go here for directions.

More coverage from Miami (and the Everglades) will be coming soon, but I wanted to point out this from the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Become a contributing artist to the Brooklyn Philharmonic! Create a video to accompany composer Randy Woolf’s piece, Try to Believe, and you could have your work displayed at the Brooklyn Museum with the Brooklyn Philharmonic!

Go here for more info.

David Opdyke
APR, 2007
site-specific installation with string and 822 paper airplanes

These three galleries have taken over an office building around the corner from Pulse and created one of the better art shows we’ve seen in Miami.

• Pierogi
• Ron Feldman Find Arts
• Hales Gallery

December 4-9, 2007

2010. North Miami Avenue (between NW 20th / 21st Streets)
      Entrance and free parking at rear of building on NW Miami Court

Opening reception: December 4, 2007. 3-9pm
Daily: December 5-8, 11am-8pm
December 9, 11am-6pm

The press release is here.

My photo above is of a work by David Opdyke. APR refers to Annual Percentage Rate, and the airplanes are made of credit card solicitations sent to him and his friends. His appearance in the show is via Ronald Feldman Fine Arts.

I’m no Paddy Johnson when it comes to covering the art fairs in nearly real time in Miami, so here are some quick recommendations without links based on what we’ve seen so far:

Go see James for info on ArtHaus.

Aqua (hotel version)

• Heskin Contemporary – large beautiful Jenny Laden painting on mylar, Julie Peppito sculptures and collages / drawings, Matt Fisher paintings
• Platform – William Powhida’s paintings and video, Carl Ferrero’s foot fetish watercolors, and Melissa Pokorny’s sculptures
• Road Agent – Ludwig Schwart’z video “Untitled (Zombies)” and Ryan Humphrey’s painted BMW hood
• Morgan Lehman – David Allee’s asylum photos
• Eyewash – large sculpture and drawings by Linda Ganjian
• Howard House – Cat Clifford’s videos and drawings
• CTRL – Laura Braciale’s paintings
• Ingalls – works on paper by Lucky de Bellevue, perverse drawings by Gustavo Roman

Art Now

• Tonkonow – Julia Oschatz paintings and video
• China Blue – Wang Qinsong videos and photography

Pulse

• Bank – Bari Ziperstein
• Winkleman – Sarah Peters’s “The Dreamer” is still available!; new Joy Garnett paintings
• Nathan Larramendy – fort photographs by Amir Fallah
• Schroeder Romero – more William Powhida, new color gouaches by Eric Heist
• Keith Talent – Adam Gillam sculpture

Charles Goldman, Dreamcatcher
(I don’t know what other artist’s piece appears below)

The vernissage of ABMB was a bit overwhelming, but here are a couple of things that stood out for me:

• Charles Goldman‘s works at Birch Libralato as part of the excellent Supernova section
• Videos and photography by Miguel Angel Rojas at Galeria Alcuadrado
• Ann Craven paintings and a multimedia installation by Valie Exprt at Gasser & Grunert
• Nedko Solakov‘s beautiful “f-ed up fairy tales” drawings at Arndt & Partner
• Matthew Monahan’s installations / sculptures at Galerie Fons Welters

We attended the press preview today, and were very impressed with the building. The work visible is

Matière Brute
Abraham Cruzvillegas
Found wood and sandpaper
27.5 × 56 × 4.125 inches

We were able to take photos as press, but their website says that visitor photography will not be allowed in the galleries. I hope that changes.