An Alternative Showcase

January 21, 2008 6:49 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

On a night where the neon signs of the Art Deco hotels illuminate Ocean Drive, the creative efforts of artists provided the real spark.

A typical day on Ocean Drive consists of…well cars. Of course you’ll get to grab a bite, a drink and even soak in the scenery provided by the Art Deco architecture and the nearby Atlantic, but first you have to be lucky enough to find a parking spot and escape the clusterfuck that is traffic. However, this past weekend the cars that usually line the street were replaced by herds of people as Art Deco Weekend was in full swing.

A plethora of art, crafts and talent was on display offering everyone a variety of creative effort that lined Ocean Drive from 5th to 15th St. Art Deco weekend is like an urban gallery set in a tropical area for all to benefit from and for artists to articulate as paintings range from tropical landscapes to urban expressions, such as the art of Mariano Pilatti, a 22-year-old artist based in Hollywood.

Pilatti, who depicts his art as “street art but off the wall,” started off as a graffiti artist but decided to move his art onto a canvas. His portraits consist of notable figures such as Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud, each executed in spray paint.

“These are people that I like and have read,” he says.

Other head turning tents included Vintage Eyewear by Esther M. Harris, where a pair of specs from the 17th century can be bought for cool $900. However, Bruce Jefferies Reinfeld, whose photography is digitally tweaked, provided one of the most impressionable displays.

“I like to think of it as a mix between traditional photography and digital,” Reinfeld says. “Kind of like analog style in a digital world.”

Reinfeld’s photographs are in a variety of settings that range from the inner city to rural landscapes. The catch is that each is gray scaled but the artist tweaks the color of one characteristic in the photograph making it come to life.

The festival included lectures, films and music as a small music stage hosted bands that played a variety of jazz and R&B. The sounds coming from the stage had to compete with the other side of Ocean Drive as bars and restaurants such as Mango’s blared their own tunes to attract the many passing by.

As one side of Ocean Drive provided the art, the other provided restaurants and bars. Bars on one side (not to forget Palace Bar where a drag queen gave an unforgettable rendition of Donna Summer’s ‘Last Dance’ in the street for a small crowd), and art on the other, a perfect combination on a cool night supplied by this alternative event.

Ten blocks seemed like a limited space for the event, however, the amount of art and entertainment provided made those ten blocks seem like an endless showcase.