When last I left you, the grizzled, chicken-wing munching TUES and his little sidekick PALMS, were waving goodbye to LA in the early hours of a morn, and anticipating getting off the plane at the annual International Writers Convention (otherwise known as Art Basel).
Flying in over ocean, beach and palm trees, started to give a little buzz, and by the time we got scooped up from the airport by big ENUE and were riding thru Miami, we were well and truly hyped for the event.
For those who have never had the opportunity to visit this annual event, or have yet to become cynical and jaded, Art Basel is an eye opening, inspiring, humbling and downright fucking cool experience. Entire blocks of a suburban neighbourhood are turned into canvasses and eager writers from around the world roll into town to paint, exhibit, catch up with old friends and meet new ones.
Ironlak had an exceptional presence that you would have all seen by now with a massive, killer wall dominated by a crazy SOFLES character and burner pieces from the Family. Without humming the nuts too hard, to see SOFLES paint on this scale is always incredible. The sheer volume of paint he manages to apply to the wall in the time frame is impressive enough, then you look at it conceptually and the level of detail and its downright unfathomable. He is in a very rare stratosphere for sure.
Getting a bunch of the Ironlak fam together in any one place and time is always an great time, and this was no exception, but there was jaw dropping art happening around every corner, and travelling around watching it go down is one of the best aspects of the whole event.
A lot of the Ironlak related stuff has been shown on this blog previously, so I thought I would show some of the other flicks I was impressed by.
A word of advice if you plan to attend: If you want to paint a half decent legal spot, have your spot lined up well in advance. Most decent spots are long booked, and the ones that are free get snapped up real quick.
If, like us, you had a 3 namer spot promised to you by the ‘curator’ but he never turns up or lets you know where you can paint, you may find yourself frustrated and when that happens, you may find yourself in the dark at night with GESO and MUCH claiming a spot over the top of some street art.
On our final day in Miami, we met up with our mate Argenis, who splits his time between Miami and Ecaudor, and distributes Ironlak in his home country.
He was kind enough to take us out near his family home, to the Everglades for a airboat ride.
This was the kind of experience you just dont get elsewhere. Picture the most cliched, alligator swamp boat driving character you have ever seen on TV, and thought would be too over the top to be real….nah, they be real, and having one tell you bout gator tail soup and crack inbred jokes is a hell of an experience.
Look closely, you will see the gator chilling there.
Big TUESY kissed this little fella good bye, and we bailed straight to the airport with a buzz ready for the adventures that Chile would bring the next day…..
Lots more to come…
