Arts
Aventura Mall’s arts and culture program distinguishes the company from other developers. Its world-class collection incorporates a range of media, including sculptures, installations, and architectural designs by renowned international and local visionaries. Several of our artistic works are site-specific commissions created exclusively for a particular property.
Carsten Höller is known for large-scale artworks that draw upon amusement parks, playgrounds, and zoos. As an artist, he seeks ways to transform common expectations of social spaces by altering perceptions and creating unexpected sensations – both physical and psychological. Höller applies his training as a scientist to his work as an artist, concentrating particularly on the nature of human relationships. Promoting joy — or a feeling “somewhere between delight and madness” — was Höller’s purpose when he created Aventura Slide Tower. “The emotional state created by traveling down the slide is a unique condition and was once described by the French writer Roger Caillois as “a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind,” he says. “The slide can be experienced both by sliding down it or by viewing it from the outside with people coming down in it — which are different, but both powerful, experiences.”
The Aventura Slide Tower is open Friday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be closing April 28 for the season.
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THE HAAS BROTHERS,
Gorillas in the Mist
Twins Nikolai and Simon Haas draw upon their creative upbringing by an opera-singing mother, sculptor father, and actor brother, who taught them to write, sing, paint, and play music from an early age. Their art explores aesthetic and formal themes based upon nature, science fiction, color theory…even psychedelia. Their curiosity, visual perception, and clever use of multiple mediums set their works apart from the everyday. Gorillas in the Mist is a unique public work designed expressly for Aventura Mall. A whimsical fountain comprised of three large-scale bronze gorillas, four massive bronze trees and five hand-carved marble benches. The piece functionally circulates water, creating a space that is both peaceful and evocative. “Gorillas in the Mist is a portrait of the people we most care about,” say the brothers. “Less specifically in terms of actual people, but more of the roles that certain people can play: a partner, a good friend, and a child. It’s a fountain and a playground, built specifically with children in mind.” The Haas Brothers currently live and work in Los Angeles, California.
FRIENDS WITH YOU,
Rainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley is South Florida’s first indoor interactive playground created as a site-specific installation by contemporary artists. Inspired by a story of the artists’ creation, the playground is a magical dream world in which children discover Peekoo, the baby mountain, and his adventures with his new friend, Cloudy, in the magical Rainbow Valley.
NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS CARLOS ALVES & JC CARROLL, CINDY BECERRA, RACHEL LEE, JON MILLAN, ELIZABETH NEWBERRY MELANIE SARRIA,
Hello Sunshine
The design of the stairwell project was conceived by five college students from the visual arts program at New World School of the Arts. Under the direction of renowned ceramicists Carlos Alves and JC Carroll, the young artists collaborated to bring to fruition a work of art that depicts the tropical and welcoming South Florida lifestyle. The unique project features hand-made mosaic tiles of iconic Florida imagery.
TOM OTTERNESS,
Tree of Knowledge
Tom Otterness is one of America’s premier public artists. Otterness describes Tree of Knowledge as a “biblical/judicial mix of story and image.” In this sculpture, the serpent of knowledge entwines a bronze tree. The serpent eyes an owl judge, while blind justice weighs two small human figures. A possum engrossed in a law book hangs upside-down, oblivious to the drama surrounding him.
BARRY FLANAGAN,
Leaping Hare on Crescent and Bell
Barry Flanagan was an English sculptor best known for his bronze statues of dynamic, often monumental hares which spring into life, as well as other animals. This mercurial image of the hare has come to stand as a surrogate for human existence and our relations to the animal world. His work is held in public collections worldwide including the MoMA, Centres Georges Pompidou, and Tate.
JULIAN OPIE,
Suzanne Walking in Skirt and Top, 2005
Julian Walking in T-Shirt and Shorts, 2005
Julian Opie culls images from popular culture and transforms them into highly stylized digitized images. The artist also experiments with light and animation techniques to create “walking portraits” that are installed in public environments and interact with viewers going about their daily routines. His artwork has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions including the Shanghai Expo in China 2010.
WENDELL CASTLE,
Veiled in a Dream
With Veiled in a Dream, Castle experimented with innovative techniques and a interest in bronze to create a sculpture that provides visitors with both an object to admire and a chair on which to sit. The piece reflects Castle’s fascination with redefining the way design is viewed by exploring the sliver of creative space he discovered between furniture and sculpture.
TAKEAWAY
Tom Friedman
The second in a series of three pieces, Takeaway is a stainless steel statue standing over 13 feet tall and weighing nearly 1,200 pounds. It depicts a modern Hermes, the speedy Greek god of communication, humour, trickery and travel, running with a tall tower of takeout containers and aluminum pans balanced precariously on his head.
Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love
ROBERT INDIANA,
Love
Concieved in 1966 and executed in 1998, the red, blue and green pop art piece, with its signature tilted O is on permanent display adjacent to Aventura Mall’s Tap 42 Craft Kitchen + Bar. Indiana said: “The LOVE sculpture is the culmination of ten years of work based on the original premise that the word is an appropriated and usable element of art, just as Picasso and the Cubists made use of it at the beginning of the century.”
Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches Eye Benches
Louise Bourgeois,
Eye Benches
Considered one of the most revered artists of our time, Louise Bourgeois’s first exhibition of sculpture took place in New York in 1949 and she holds the distinction of being the first woman artist to be given a retrospective at the MoMA in New York. Her work is included in the collections of most of the world’s leading museums. The surrealistic Eye Benches appear to follow viewers with their disembodied gaze. Bourgeois has said, “Whether it is an eye that sees the reality of things or whether it is an eye that sees a world of fantasy…It is the quality of your eyes and the strength of your eyes that are expressed here. Nobody is going to keep me from seeing what is instead of what I would like.”
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DONALD BAECHLER,
Walking Figure
Fascinated by art created by the non-artist, Baechler imitates these naïve forms with a critical edge. In his Walking Figure, Baechler presents the image of a young woman striding forward as if caught in mid-step, the silence of her expression commands the space. Baechler’s work is included in the permanent collections of such prestigious museums as the Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Modern Art, and Guggenheim Museum, in New York and Centre George Pompidou in Paris.
DANIEL ARSHAM,
Columns
Daniel Arsham reworks the architectural and natural forms of our everyday experience into malleable and movable models with surreal and uncanny effects. In his site-specific commission, Columns, broken columns that replicate the mall’s architecture, appear to grow and erode simultaneously. Arsham has said his work “takes the everyday, the overlooked and used forms of our collective experience into consideration.”
GARY HUME,
Back of a Snowman
Abstract and figural at the same time, the snowman provides a witty commentary on the state of sculpture, Modernism, and Pop Art. Hume has described the snowman as “the perfect sculpture, viewable from all sides, immaculate from all angles.” Back of a Snowman was exhibited at London’s Royal Academy, the Irish Museum of Art, Germany’s Kunsthaus Bregenz, and New York’s Battery Park City.
JORGE PARDO,
Untitled
The 96 lamps in this site-specific work take the form of butterflies that are alluring, practical, and question the viewer’s definition and expectation of what is considered fine art. Pardo commented to The New York Times that he hoped the installation would make shoppers stop in their tracks, noting, “A lot of people want to take pictures of themselves in front of the butterflies.”
LAWRENCE WEINER,
All Within the Realm of Possibility
Weiner points to the actions and materials that people use every day; each beam in the work expressing a shift in mood and intention, and representing another stage in the equation that Weiner has set up. In describing the installation in an interview he noted, “It’s a matter (of) how we give value to things. Everything that can be admired is within the realm of possibility.”
CLAIRE FONTAINE,
Have Cake & Eat It
Paris-based artist Claire Fontaine’s work is a collection of neon, video, sculpture, painting, and text that often represents her political viewpoints and existential thoughts. She leans into her freshness and youth to represent her search for subjective emancipation. Fontaine’s whimsical sign reading Have Cake & Eat It suitably hangs in Aventura Mall’s Treats Food Hall, reminding visitors they can have it all.
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JAUME PLENSA,
Florida’s Soul
Jaume Plensa’s work integrates a wide variety of materials and he is inspired by spoken and written texts. Letters created from stainless steel form the framework of the contemplative figure in this sculpture and literally create a vocabulary of the body. Seated upon a rock, Plensa’s universal man, which the artist based on himself, reflects upon the world around him and invites viewers to create their own meaning.
ROB PRUITT,
The Andy Monument
Inspired by Andy Warhol’s art and life, Rob Pruitt created The Andy Monument as a tribute to the late artist. Pruitt’s sculpture adapts and transforms the familiar tradition of classical statuary. The figure is based on a combination of digital scanning of a live model and hand sculpting, its surface finished in chrome, mounted on a concrete pedestal. It depicts Warhol as a ghostly, silver presence; a potent cultural force of both artist and self-created myth.
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TAKASHI MURAKAMI & VIRGIL ABLOH,
Arrows and Flower
Arrows and Flower is a collaborative work by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and the late Virgil Abloh, who was the Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director. The work was exhibited in TECHNICOLOR 2 at Gagosian Paris. Murakami’s iconic, smiling flower motif is merged with Abloh’s signature four-point arrow logo. The fusion of each artist’s trademark iconography signals two different worlds coming together – the resulting artwork achieves a vision made possible by collaboration.
BRIAN BUTLER,
Paradise and Fries
Brian Butler takes local cues and reimagines them in a new and modern context. Paradise and Fries is a lighthearted play on Florida’s wild tropical climate, positioned in the immediate context of a food hall. Flamingos flex for cheeseburgers, while a gator balances a frosty shake. In this piece, flora and fauna are served with a side of fries.
NATE DEE,
Cherish Home
Focused on native Florida fauna and flora, this mural also highlights several endangered species, such as the Miami blue butterfly, Florida panther, Florida cone flower, and grasshopper sparrow. The title comes from a quote by Theodore Roosevelt, “Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
UGO RONDINONE,
Moonrise, East
Since 2003, Ugo Rondinone has created several series of masks that began on the wall and later morphed into large-scale figures. The 12-part group Moonrise, East are each titled January to December and represent the progress of the year, while the main title of the group refers to the rise of the moon, the start of night and the western sky.
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Brian Bress,
Chefs #4
Brian Bress has had solo exhibitions at various museums such as Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the New Museum, New York, New York among others. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Bress has described himself as coming to video with the agenda of a painter. His videos address the connections between film, photography and painting and the two dimensional picture plane these mediums share.
SNARKITECTURE,
Twinkling Snowfall
Aventura Mall’s Twinkling Snowfall invites shoppers to experience the sensation of being swept into the middle of a snow flurry. The piece features 4,000+ LED bulbs that appear to be floating down through the skylight of the three-story atrium near Nordstrom. The piece was created by Snarkitecture, a New York-based collaborative practice founded by Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen.
