Romero Britto was recently announced as the 2013 Poster Artist for this festival. For those living under rocks or new to the business, CGAF is rated as one of the top shows in the country, consistently, year after year.
While the festival seems to be turning into more of a circus than an art festival, the quality of the art has always been top notch. While you may not like all the art, you can recognize the talent behind it. It is a joy to go early in the morning before all the commercial vendors get revved up and just wander among the booths.
CGAF used to have a poster contest each year. The winner received prize money and the unveiling of the poster is televised on the news and it is considered a big deal. Two years ago they picked Guy Harvey who is known for his game fish. I decried the use of someone who I had only seen on posters, drink cozies and t-shirts. I thought it was too commercial. Last year I admitted that I was hard to please because last year's poster was a beautiful painting, not poster type art.
So what is my "problem" this year? I enjoy Britto's whimsical art. He is all over Miami, on the sides of building, in front of buildings, on vending machines and in more stores than I can count. He does a lot for Miami also. He has a store as you are walking to the main entrance of the art festival.
Aside from the idea that the show's poster should be done by an artist actually juried into the show, this artist (as does Guy Harvey) has his worked manufactured by others. That is the antithesis of the CGAF. This is a show that won't allow prints. Believe me, I tried to get prints allowed years ago when I volunteered there. If this show has such high standards for its artists, why is it allowing commercial artists represent them with their posters?
Verizon vendors play loud music and yell into microphones, beer vendors hawk beer as if they were at a ball game and the poster is designed by an artist who sells manufactured product all over the world.
This is the 50th year of CGAF. The founders of the show wouldn't even recognize it.
Comments
I still remember the days when St Moe would anoint booth after booth... buying everything cash. The early days of Miami money laundering. My first memory of attending an art fair was the old Key Biscayne show... my mother exhibited her oils and watercolors next to the spin art booth. I couldn't believe the spin art demo... I must have been only about 6 or 7 years old. The spin art guy sold well, mom took nearly everything home again. I had a great time!
The pigs do fly at cocoNUTS-- sandwiched between the grove & St. Stephens is - First Stop at grove- A BUY SELL EXTRVAGANZA- fake oakleys, wallets, magnets, more slices to a pie that has lost it's true collectors of ART-Large 2-d, and Jewelry still do well- but BUY/SELL has fiqured a way to piggyback onto our ART FESTIVALS-
Ann ARBOR sold North Division street (right to the intersection of Liberty-state street show) to the same BUY/SELL promoter with 80 plus vendors- I have a buy sell friend who did over $12,000 in $20 items- pigs are flying- like there isn't enough crap to compete with in AA
The weekend before AA- Plymouth art fest- had two parking lots adjoining the show with the bs group- they are flying
Apparently many more of these tag-on buy sell areas are planned for 2013- maybe coming to a show any one of us is doing- AND YOU WON'T KNOW TILL YOU GET THERE- and then there is nothing to do-they got their permits etc.
Time to remove those rose-colored glasses- and somehow we best protect our turf- otherwise the buyers of real art become flea market clientele.
To protest by not participating - well there is always someone with something to pay the fees and take a space- many(NOT ALL) shows just want the money- Hopefully Quality art will prevail
Barry, I feel the same way about the Grove.
One of the reasons they gated it originally is that it was too popular for its own good. It became so crowded that you couldn't get near the artists' booths. Gating it not only earned money for the supposed charity (don't get me started on that) but was too keep the crowd to a more manageable level. The place was still packed. It was packed without zip lines, screaming vendors, and cooking demos. The main music act was at nite which kept people at the show longer.
IFEA and changing of a lot of the boardmembers have taken away from the artists at the festival. I once asked what it took to be on the Grove board and was told MONEY. Well a lot of people have more money than sense so take that for what it is worth.
The Grove people will tell you that the word Arts in the name of the show encompasses more than visual arts but culinary, music etc but that is just an excuse for what they are doing. As I said before, they should lower the booth fee, start an artist/residence program to offset the high hotel rates and make it a fairer playing field.
Sadly, pigs will fly first.
Geri, Baltimore and San Francisco!! Yawn...wake me when it's over.
I don't quite agree with Nels and Paul Flack about the Coconut Grove show.
Even though I criticize the show, I still love the Grove show, and hope that they start getting back to the thing that gave it, it's reputation, which is the great way they treated the artists and delivered with astute buyers. I'll be reading the posts on the appropriate web sites and listening in private to my friends who are doing it. The Grove show isn't going away and at amy moment could become the show it once was. It wouldn't take much.
Pat, I want to come to the Ft. Myers show but it is Super Bowl weekend and we have out of town guests. One of these days.........
Geri, If you come to Ft. Myers, look me up. I'd love to meet the infamous advocate for art fair artists. See you there Barry.
Connie, since I will be at both Islamorada and Ft Myers, you should come down. Then I could spend the whole time making you feel better.
I give them credit for maintaining the quality of the art but with so many other things going on at the festival, it would be nice if they lowered the booth fee in proportion to the lowering of the importance of the artwork. The food vendors could pony up more money, everyone has to eat. The beer vendors make a killing, especially when it is warm so they could kick in and if they are paying the food people for the food demos, that is crazy since they are getting all that free publicity.
Amen Nels Johnson, what tipos?
Please excuse the above, typos, some days my typing finger just misses the right letter. I know how to spell, but my finger won't complete the task.
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