Concurrent with Art Basel | Miami Beach 2010, The Arts Fund and W South Beach are pleased to present Never Say Never and The 6on12 Art Crawl at the W South Beach Hotel, curated by Justin Giarla of White Walls Gallery in San Francisco.  These two events will be the 2010 Miami convergence of artists working within varying facets of the Urban Contemporary genre including street art, graffiti and lowbrow. Exhibiting artists will include, Blek le Rat, Clayton Brothers, Eddie Colla, Kevin Cyr, D Young V, EINE, Rene Gagnon, Greg Gossel, Casey Gray, Jessica Hess, HUSH, Kofie One, LEBO, Pedro Matos, Aaron Nagel, Ferris Plock, and Dan Witz.   Never Say Never will be held at The W Hotel LAWN on Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5 and will be on view from 10 am-8pm on Friday and Saturday and 10 am-5pm on Sunday. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
 
Four of the exhibiting artists in Never Say Never—Kofie One, Casey Gray, HUSH and Eddie Colla, as well as Mindy Linkousand Robert Malmbergwill be showing their work at the W South Beach hotel’s 6on12 Art Crawl where the hotel will open six of its residences on the 12th floor to exhibit art works from some of today’s most exciting contemporary artists.  The artist salons will be open to the public on November 30 – December 5 from 12-8pm, with a cocktail hour each evening from 6-8 pm.
 
Highlights of the Never Say Never event will include award-winning filmmaker Adam Hootnickof Resonance Interactive an ARTS FUND company.  Hootnick will be on-site filming the artist salons in the W South Beach Residences.  On Saturday December 4, The ARTS FUND will feature LEBO painting live with Danny Teneglia and Behrouz at the WALL Lounge - W South Beach.
 
Additional information about featured artists and the producers of Never Say Never and the 6on12 Art Crawl:
 
In his quest for the order of balance, Augustine Kofie harmonizes opposing and contradictory dynamics by setting futuristic compositions against vintage earth-toned palettes creating complex formations inspired by modern architecture and formal typographical elements. His work has been exhibited internationally in New York, California, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The artist has been featured in Juxtapoz, The Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Project Room and Studio Voice.
 
Casey Gray’s paintings are multilayered and interconnected with imagery drawn from a symbolic system of meaning and associations pertaining to the turmoil of the human heart and the spectacled nature of contemporary existence.  The artist received his MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute this year.  His work is exhibited nationally and was included at the 2009 Scope Art Fair in Miami.
 
In an effort to transition street art practices to the studio setting, London-based artist HUSH creates a body of work that brings to light the essence of “action painting” and “pure expressionism” while continuing his examination of the vitality and transient nature of mark-making, tagging and graffiti.He has been featured in several publications including Street Knowledge (Harper Collins) and The Street Art Stencil Book (Laurence King Publishing), Huck magazine, Art Monthly and London’s newspaper, and The Independent (where he was recognized in their list of the “Top 20 Up and Coming Artists”).
 
Eddie Colla’s work is quickly gaining ground within the Bay Area street art scene.  His politically focused imagery has examined everything from California’s controversial Proposition 8 to the tragedy of surrounding the death of Oakland native, Oscar Grant. His work was recently featured in Steve Rotman’s book, San Francisco Street Art.
 
This will be the first project partnering between the ARTS FUND and White Walls Gallery.  ARTS FUND (www.ArtsFund.com) commercializes innovation in the high arts, pictures & social sciences. From offices in San Francisco, California Arts Fund general partners work closely into practice. Innovation within the Arts Fund is aided by computational information design principles amplifying vision & vantage. Housed within San Francisco Sentry Investments the Fund was borne into a long tradition of civic-minded high finance. Alongside traditional early stage venture capital investments the Arts Fund portfolio includes high art, film, music & design. In support of the portfolio Arts Fund general partners and trusted brands deliver a market, audience & infrastructure for patronage.
 
White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com) is the premier destination for Urban Art.  Combined with the adjacent Shooting Gallery, the 4,000 square foot space is one of the largest galleries on the West Coast.  Justin Giarla founded the gallery in 2005 with a commitment to further the Urban Art movement stemming from graffiti and street art.  Named for its plain white walls, the gallery takes a backseat to its real focus: the art.

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