Inspiration and Balance by Carole Feuerman

Balance, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

Balance, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

Almost 30 years ago I had a great encounter. My curiosity made me stumble into the ancient science of astrology, the universal language of time. The powers of the heavens and the majestic lineage of the stars made me jump into the most fantastic journey’s I have ever traveled in my life.

As I began to learn more about the movements of celestial bodies and their influence on our planet, the relationship between the mythology of transformation and the duality between form and shape became one of my artistic obsessions. The influence of these elements on our cosmic journey made me embark on a project that took many years to assemble. My goal was to establish a form to materialize the intersection between time and space.

The Hug, Bronze, by Carole Feuerman

The Hug, Bronze, by Carole Feuerman

Today, after many years of studying astrology and the principles and math behind it, I found reason to believe that everything that exists is a continual expression of universal evolution. Through astrology, I learned that there is a time for everything. For everything there is a time.  Just like in the Holy Scriptures, Astrology is all about a moment in time and the events that develop in those moments. “While doing time on planet Earth, I began to integrate my beliefs with my artistic talent”. Both Astrology and Art demonstrate how archetypal symbols can be applied to the deepest truths.

The ultimate goal is knowing that we are all connected one way or another. From the pairing of the tiny molecules to the ripening of our beings into a natal, there is a mysterious power of the creative that animates our lives from the beginning to the end. Everything we do can be creative if we open up our minds. Reconnecting with our original purpose and coming together as a network of artists, citizens, and before all, humans, we will be able lay the foundations for a better future no matter how uncertain the present is.

Grande Catalina, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

Grande Catalina, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

We can’t forget we are all celestial neurons capable of creating synapses that will lead to actions that can transform reality. Let’s create Art that thrives at each corner of our work to connect the dots, to inspire. A society moves forward, everybody will have the ability to create! That is something worth dreaming of.

The Art World Needs to Start Now: Make Your Voice Heard Through Your Art by Carole Feuerman

Hyper-realistic sculptor Carole A. Feuerman speaking on the importance of an artist's voice.

My desire to participate in this week’s art strike #J20 Art Strike is personal. Ultimately, I can only explain why it’s important for me and hope that preserving American Democracy will be important to you too. The #J20 Art Strike is part of a national day of actions planned for Inauguration Day. Resistance is a daily activity, not an event.

“Seen but Not Heard”, Resin, Paint & Mixed Media, by Carole Feuerman

“Seen but Not Heard”, Resin, Paint & Mixed Media, by Carole Feuerman

“Hear MY Voice”, Resin & Mixed Media, by Carole Feuerman

“Hear MY Voice”, Resin & Mixed Media, by Carole Feuerman

The Art World Can Create Change for the Better During the Trump Years

I am a hyperrealist artist known for my swimmers and bathers. My message has always been balance, peace, survival. I try to touch the world emotionally through my sculptures, to bring the world together. In the past year, I have become a political activist, writing letters, making calls, tweeting and posting on Facebook, and protesting.

I will be going to Washington with the woman’s march this coming Saturday.

My next sculpture will be carrying the message that artists can make a difference.

All people are equal. “Kendall”, Bronze & Lacquer “Yaima”, Bronze & Lacquer, Poydras Corridor in Front of The Civil Rights Courthouse by Carole Feuerman

All people are equal. “Kendall”, Bronze & Lacquer “Yaima”, Bronze & Lacquer, Poydras Corridor in Front of The Civil Rights Courthouse by Carole Feuerman

In the Next Four Years….

Artists and art organizations have the power to work for economic justice while dismantling white supremacy in the arts. A picture is worth a thousand words so do not be afraid to make yourself heard.

The “General’s Daughter, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

The “General’s Daughter, Resin & Oil, by Carole Feuerman

Please Do Not Cut Medicaid and Social Security

My mother, Sue Ackerman is on Medicare & Social Security

My mother, Sue Ackerman is on Medicare & Social Security

Artists Unite

800 Women Stand Together at The Brooklyn Museum

800 Women Stand Together at The Brooklyn Museum


 

 

Things I'm Thankful for And What I'm Looking Forward to In 2017 by Carole Feuerman

I have much to be thankful for and to look forward to in 2017. I'd like to share them with you.

I'm Thankful for - the gift of health and having all my senses. When I wake up every day and I can breathe, get out of bed, can see,  can walk,  can exercise, can talk, can listen, and can make myself vital, I’m having a great day.

I'm Thankful for- My family. I am so grateful that I have a large family and I get to spend a lot of time with them. When I watch my children and my grandchildren, I'm filled with joy. I am grateful for a loving husband to share my life with and his children and grandchildren. It amazes me to see how many special and loving relatives are in my life.

My Family in New Orleans in 2015

I'm Thankful for- My friends.  I love all my friends but there is a special bond I share with my artists. We see things in a different way and see things that others do not. Many of my artist’s friends were the 'different' ones, not always encouraged by their families so when we get together and share so many things in common it is a great feeling. We understand why we spend all our conscious time creating art, and some of us even spend our unconscious time creating art.

Friends at my opening celebrating at the National Hotel in 2016

I'm Thankful for- my talent. It's a gift when a person knows what they want to do and they can do it and even make a living at it.  When I come home from my art studio full of paint on my clothes in sometimes A smudge here in there on my face and hands my husband says to me I never saw anybody work so long and so many hours. I always say to him that the time I spend in my studio goes so fast. People go to psychiatrists, to ashrams, they smoke pot, they take drugs, they drink, just to feel the way I feel on any given day when I'm working in my art studio.

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I'm Thankful For The gift of sensitivity. As a young girl, I was criticized by my family for being too sensitive. Looking back at my life I am grateful for my sensitivity. This gift has enabled me to create art that touches people near and far. I am grateful for the ability to look at the world in my own unique way. As I have developed as an artist, so has my eye and sensitivity to subtle beauty.  I not only notice the obvious beauty like are amazing oceans, but I notice the simple things like water droplets as they come to rest on a person making beautiful patterns.

I'm Thankful for- My assistants and employees. I'm so grateful to have the best studio assistants that I've ever had in my entire career as an artist. I call us the A-Team. Has it been said " no man is an island" Having a great team to work with enables me to be a better artist. It's a joy to work in an environment where not only do I like everyone, but everyone likes everyone else in my studio. The talent in my studio is amazing and because of each person’s special gift and the way we work together, my art is the best I’ve ever made.

Feuerman Studio A-Team Annual Birthday Party, 2016

Feuerman Studio in 2017 Wishing All of You a Happy Holiday

I'm Thankful for-  my Art Studios and Art Supplies!  I love them and I need them to create. I'm sure, I have more art supplies than I need and yet every time I see things that I want to buy to make my work look even better I get excited. I have two art studios. One is in midtown Manhattan in the area called Nomad and the other is in Jersey City. I love my studios.  It is very important to have a special place to create.

New York Studio with Crates – Getting Ready to Pack

I'm Thankful for - Galleries, Museums, University Galleries, Art Parks, Cities, Foundations and Public Spaces. I'm grateful to have these things in my life. I visit them and appreciate all they offer. I love the exhibits I see, the interesting people I meet there, and the fact that I have a place to show my art where with broad visibility.

Eight Hundred Woman Artist Get Together At The Brooklyn Museum Stand Together

I'm Thankful For Collectors, Fans and Sponsors.  I approach my art by sculpting the subjects that I love but when a work of mine connects with someone and they are moved to have it in their home or museum, there is no greater feeling of satisfaction. I am grateful for the people who enjoy my work.

I'm Thankful for - Travel. It may seem odd but I love to fly. I can be in one place in the morning and the next day, halfway across the world. This brightens my life. I get to meet all kinds of people. It gives me food for thought and tools to create. I love to try new foods, look at buildings, understand history by walking through it.  looking it. I love being exposed to other cultures. I love the fact that in a few hours I can visit my children across the country. We are lucky to live in the jet age. When one thinks of travel, they also must think of the Internet. The Internet allows us to travel from one culture to another even faster than a plane. It enables me to have fans in every country, even countries I never heard of. It enables me to see the work of artists that I would never be able to travel to in one lifetime.

Getting Comfortable with A Glass of Champagne Before Takeoff

In one day, it will be 2007. Time goes so fast, and I want to make each precious moment count.

I'm Looking Forward to February 2017, thanks to the invitation of the Chashama Foundation, http://www.chashama.org/about/mission-history, and Anita Durst. I'm invited to have a solo lobby exhibition for the re-opening of the gorgeous glass building at 55 Broadway in New York City. I'll be exhibiting 28 sculptures from all phases of my career and showcasing my newest work state of never been seen before. I'm also making several artworks that will sell for under $500 so the public will be able to afford to collect a genuine Feuerman. The time and date will be announced.

I'm Looking Forward to my bucket list wish coming true** On the 11th and the 12th of May, 2017, I’m having two opening parties for my solo show in the outdoor park on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.  You can walk from San Marco or take the vaporetto to the Giardini stop to see the show. I have to thank Global Art Affairs Foundation and the city of Venice who have made this show possible. It will be in conjunction with La Biennale di Venezia – 57th International Art Exhibition.

Park in the Star Where my Solo Show Will be Held in Venice, Italy

I'm Looking Forward to the re-opening of the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan. I will be having the inaugural solo exhibition for the newly completed galleries in June, 2017. The Executive Director Gene Jenneman to thank for organizing the show. 

Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan

I'm Looking Forward to the fall of 2017 because I’m planning to have a solo show in an Art Museum in Argentina. This is the very first time I've ever exhibited in South America and I hear Argentina is a special place. More details to come when the exhibition is finalized.

Museo coleccion de arte amalia lacroze de fortabat

I'm Looking Forward to – More than anything else, I pray for our country and the world. My we have peace.

New Media Artform - Thousands leave Post-It Notes as Election Therapy on the NYC Subway Walls Encouraging Shared Thoughts

Before we turn around, it will be December again, but this time it'll be 2017, and I will be showing once again in Miami Art Basel. Since sculptures take so long to make, with each little detail being made from resin or bronze and fabricated to look real, pieces sometimes take up to five years to make. I've already started working on pieces for the future.

As I contemplate what I must look forward to, I am hopeful for my future to be filled with the happiness and my creativity to flourish. I hope to make my best work in 2017.

 

My Summer as Carole Feuerman's Intern by Carole Feuerman

This summer, I graciously accepted an internship at Carole Feuerman's Studio, the Second LSC,  in NYC. Beginning in May, I came into the studio 4 days a week, for about 8 hours a day. Having spent most of my summers life guarding or at camp, the 9-5 lifestyle was completely new to me. I embarked on this journey with no real expectations and an open mind.

As my last day at Carole Feuerman Studio comes to a close I can say that I have learned more here to prepare me for the art world than I have in any classroom (shh don't tell my professors). Carole is a seasoned artists whose knowledge extends far beyond making beautiful work. While interning, I got to work in a variety of jobs including fabrication, inventory, and social media. I am so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to learn directly from her as well as her extremely talented crew. I can not express how wonderful it was to work with such a skillfully diverse team of painters, fabricators, and assistants. It truly awes me how much this team is able to accomplish.

Couldn't leave without taking a few snapchat selfies with my girl, Kendall! Based on image the second image, maybe it's better if we don't swap faces...

 

Upon reflecting on everything I have learned during my time here, here are a few lessons that have stuck out to me:

 

1. Do not be tentative.

This one I definitely still have some work on, but while working in fabrication at the studio I learned how crucial it is to not be cautious. This is a lesson I plan to take back with me to art school and other facets of my life. It is important to take risks and make mistakes. Sometimes its okay to overdo something or even break it, it can always be fixed or done again. Its that extra punch of dark in the drawing or red pigment in the face that makes a finished piece.

2. The art world is always on the move.

One of my jobs while working here was to keep inventory of Carole's art and let me tell you there is A LOT of it. Carole's inventory always needs updating. Everyday we have sculptures being shipped and sold around the world. This studio's ability to manage Carole's extensive registry of art has been so crucial to her international success.

3. Take your inspiration and push boundaries.

Carole can draw inspiration from the most unexpected places. Sometimes its a simple object like a chair or mirror, sometimes its a person she meets, sometimes its a story she reads. Carole's mind is always on the move to do something new and unexpected. In her art, she looks to push boundaries, playing it safe is not her style. Whether its building a 4 ton bronze sculpture on 6 inch wrists that withstands earthquakes, or inventing a brand new technique to paint with bronze, Carole has the passion and drive to make her wildest ideas come to life.

4. Even the best artists need to understand business.

There is no doubt that Carole is an extremely talented artists, but what has impressed me most is her ability to manage her business. At the end of the day you need to sell art to make it, and Carole works with her galleries as a seasoned expert. While interning here I got to witness and partake in the behind scenes work that goes into Carole Feuerman Sculpture. There is so much more to being a fine artist than I had ever expected.

 

I'd like to thank everyone at the studio for all of their generosity in these past 3 months! I look forward to taking everything that I have learned with me as I venture back to St. Louis for my sophomore year at Wash. U! Over and out!

Carole, David and I Stopped by a photo booth today after a great lunch at the John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel!

 - Post by Dana Citrin

 


 

7 Things to Do in Chelsea by Carole Feuerman

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BEST OF NYC'S CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD
 


Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan running roughly from 14th to 34th street between the Hudson River and 5th avenue. Chelsea is most known for its distinguished art scene, which showcases some of the greatest artists in New York and the world.
 


1. START YOUR TRIP ON 24TH ST., THE HOME OF MANY OF NYC'S PREMIER FINE ART GALLERIES

Chelsea's 24th St. is a hub of some the world's best art galleries. Check out whats happening this summer by clicking on any of the galleries below:

C24 Gallery
Andrea Meislin Gallery
Andrea Rosen Gallery
Bruce Silverstein
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
Fredericks & Freiser
Gagosian Gallery
Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
Gladstone Gallery
Jack Shainman Gallery
Luhring Augustine
Lyons Wier Gallery
Marianne Boesky Gallery
Mary Boone Gallery
Matthew Marks Gallery
Metro Pictures
Mike Weiss Gallery
Pace Gallery
Susan Inglett
Unix Gallery


 Be sure to pick up a copy of this flyer at C24 Gallery! You will want to apply for the 2017 International Sculpture Day Exhibition presented by the Carole A. Feuerman Sculpture Foundation.


 If art isn't really your thing, do not fret! There are plenty of other  great things to do in Chelsea this summer. Here are just a few highlights:

 

2. TAKE A WALK THE HIGH LINE

No trip to Chelsea is complete without a walk on the highline! This 1.45 mile long park, built entirely on abandoned, elevated NYC train tracks, is the perfect place to enjoy the weather on a beautiful summer day. Visit the High Line for one of their special summer events which include, tai chimeditationstargazingOut of Line, and Up Late
Click HERE for more information


The High Line: 23rd St. to 34th St. in Chelsea, NY



 3. JOIN THE WORLD NAKED BIKE RIDE

The World Naked Bike Ride hosts a bare-all ride in NYC every year to bring awareness to the harmful pollution of motor vehicles. Join folks from around the world as they strip down into their "birthday suit" and bike around NYC to protest the world's dependence on oil and nonrenewable energy resources on Saturday, June 19th.
Click HERE for more information



4. EAT YOUR HEART OUT AT THE CHELSEA MARKET

A hot spot for foodies, this enclosed urban food market stretching a block long and a block wide is considered one of the greatest indoor food halls in the world. Be sure to check out the Lobster Place's famous Lobster Roll. Other popular vendors include Jacques TorresPeople's PopsDoughnuttery and Ronnybrook Dairy.
Click HERE for more information

75 9th Avenue (Between 15th and 16 Streets), New York, NY 10011  
Hours: Monday - Saturday: 7am to 9pm, Sunday: 8am to 8pm




5. EXPERIENCE THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Chelsea Music Festival returns June 10-18th celebrating "Gravity:350," in honor of Newton’s enlightening encounter with a falling apple 350 years ago. The festival features a variety of genres and musicians ranging from classsical to Jazz at many of Chelsea's best venues. It includes late night, day time, and open air events, as well as specific shows for children and families. The festival seeks to create an interplay between a variety of art forms, specifically visual, performing and culinary arts, so be sure to grab a delicious meal as you enjoy the music!
For Tickets and information click HERE




6. LAUGH OUT LOUD AT THE UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE THEATER

SNL Star, Actress, and Comedian, Amy Poehler Performing in ASSSSCAT 30000 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Chelsea.

See a comedy show at the famous, Upright Citiens Brigade Theater. Coming up is one of NYC's most famous improv performance, ASSSSCAT 3000, on Sunday, June 19. This show is known to draw big names such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz. The 7:30 performance will cost you just $10, but if you dont mind waiting on line, the 9:30 show is absolutely free (ticket distribution at 8:15 PM). Be sure to get on line early though because this popular performance tends to draw a large crowd.
Click HERE for more information


Upright Citizens Brigade Theater: 307 W. 26th St. New York, NY 10001




7. WATCH A MOVIE UNDER THE STARS WITH HUDSON RIVERFLICKS AT PIER 63

Watch the most popular hollywood hits on the lawn at Pier 63 with Hudson Riverflick's Big Hit Wednesdays. The season kicks off on July 8th, with MAD MAX: Fury Road, and will be showing movies every wednesday until August 19th. The best part is, it is absolutely free, including free popcorn! Movies generally begin at around 8:30 PM, be sure to bring a blanket, as chairs are not allowed on the lawn.
Click HERE for more information

Pier 63: W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011


Post by Dana Citrin

Feuerman and Her Swimmers are the Ultimate Globetrotters - Hong Kong! South Korea! Germany! Italy! Florida! New York! Louisiana! California! by Carole Feuerman

Monumental Quan, 2015, on display at Harbour City, Hong Kong

Monumental Quan, 2015, on display at Harbour City, Hong Kong

Feuerman’s very busy calendar for 2016 and 2017 follows on the coattails of very successful 2015 season, where Feuerman’s painted bronzes filled the landmark National Hotel in South Beach during Art Basel Week. Described in The Observer’s Winners and, um, Not Winners, of Art Basel Miami Beach 2015”, Feuerman’s Solo Exhibition, featuring the iconic Survival of Serena and The Golden Mean, was touted as being on the Bucket List of shows not to miss during the week. Rubbing elbows with celebrities, reporters, collectors, and gallerists, Feuerman’s work could also be seen at the art behemoth that is Art Miami, providing a hyperreal focal point amongst much of the conceptual work featured. If you happen to be in Palm Beach Florida, a must stop would be Gallery Biba on Worth Avenue.

After Feuerman’s showings at the star studded Art Basel and Art Miami Fairs, and after the crowds and tourists that had flocked to Miami left the “Magic City”, Feuerman’s work made the move to her next solo show at Markowicz Fine Art, in the Miami Design District.  The opening was fun filled with a Meet and Greet with Feuerman signing books and a special edition print as she celebrated at the opening. The show will be up through the end of the month. Debuting were her newest works, The Dancer and Dancing Hoop, along with her newest painted bronzes.

Never one to slow down, Feuerman has forged ahead, with multiple shows for 2016 and 2017.  Her sculpture Christina will soon make an appearance at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, February 11th with Timothy Yarger Fine Art.  She also has 2 Solo Shows in 2016, one at the Deland Museum of Art in Florida, on April 15th and the other in New York City at C24 Gallery, May 6th.  Feuerman will return to Europe, exhibiting in “Die Welt als Bühne | The World is a Stage”, at Haus Beda in Bitburg, Germany on April, 24th.  She will also solidify her position as a permanent fixture at the next Venice Biennale with a solo show in the park on the Grand Canal, called “Dancing on the Water”, courtesy of the Global Arts Foundation and La Biennale Di Venezia, sponsored by Aria Gallery, C24, and Peace River Botanical and Sculpture Garden.  Click here.

For anyone visiting NOLA, stop by and say hi to Feuerman’s Kendall Island and Yaima and the Ball brought to you by Sculpture for New Orleans. Perched on pedestals above Poydras Corridor, these two beauties will reside in the Big Easy through the Summer of 2017.

Antonio Budetta of Aria Gallery, in Italy curated,  “Sport del Bellessere, Personale di Carole Feuerman”, at The Civic Museum of Palazzo Elti of Gemona del Friuli, Italy up through February 21st, 2016.

Feuerman and her swimmers not only made a statement in the US and Italy in 2015, but also in Asia, with museum exhibitions in Hong Kong, Daejeon and Suwon City in South Korea. While she was in Asia, Feuerman was inducted into the International Sculpture Park Foundation. You can read about Carole’s involvement with the Sculpture Park Union here.

 

The International Sculpture Park Union welcomes new members from the USA by Carole Feuerman

Carole Feuerman of the Carole A. Feuerman Sculpture Foundation, along with Boston Sculptors Gallery members Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein, and Michael Manjarris representing Sculpture for New Orleans, were invited by Gertrud Aeschlimann of Art-St-Urban to attend the Changchun World Sculpture Park Conference held in Changchun China from January 10th to January 12th 2016 and to participate in the first plenary meeting of the International Sculpture Park Union. All four were inducted as new members of the Union.

Carole Feuerman with members of the International Sculpture Park Union

Carole Feuerman with members of the International Sculpture Park Union

The International Sculpture Park Union's objectives are to:

* To promote and facilitate cooperation between the private and public organizations which share common objectives with the association so that they can effectively cooperate in the global, national and regional level to discuss common problems and search for solutions;

* To strengthen the friendly cooperation and mobility between sculpture parks around the world to promote their development;

* To promote the exchange of information;

* To encourage and promote the creation of different studies aimed at improving communication and cooperation between sculpture parks.

Click here to read more about Carole's new role with the International Sculpture Park Union. 


Miami Art Week opens with a bang, Art Basel to follow by Carole Feuerman

IMG_7469.jpeg
December 1, 2015By Andres Viglucci, Jordan Levin, Siobhan Morrissey, and Jane Woolridge

December 1, 2015

By Andres Viglucci, Jordan Levin, Siobhan Morrissey, and Jane Woolridge

Carlos Lamas, looks up at Carole Feuerman's City Slicker at Art Miami as it opened its doors in Midtown.

Carlos Lamas, looks up at Carole Feuerman's City Slicker at Art Miami as it opened its doors in Midtown.

Size may not be what matters most in contemporary art, but when it comes to the 2015 edition of Miami’s Art Week, the sprawling pageant that for six days every December engulfs the Beach, Midtown and Wynwood in a mind-boggling tumult of art gazing and acquisition, not to mention partying and rubber-necking, it matters quite a bit.

Big art, big ideas, big crowds and big price tags were everywhere in abundant evidence on Tuesday, the traditional starting bell for the scads of satellite fairs and ancillary events that orbit around the official Big Show, Art Basel Miami Beach, which won’t open until Wednesday morning to an invitation-only crowd.

But big did not need to wait for Wednesday. Tuesday’s openings by themselves offered an exhaustive, and exhausting, panoply of what’s hot and cool in the contemporary art market, a range of art that ran from the sublime to the, perhaps, ridiculous.

In the sculpture garden in front of the Art Miami tent, the first mate of the week’s art fairs, the VIP swarm — 11,000 were invited, and most seemed to show up — was greeted by a 16-foot bronze spiral by American Gino Miles. Inside, they found a piece by Briton Damien Hirst, dead butterflies in a ring six feet around, for $950,000, and more blue-chip works than ever, including a massive, nine-foot-plus kinetic sculpture by Alexander Calder, for $12.8 million.

Nearby, on the edge of Midtown Miami, stood an illuminated 50-foot-tall dandelion sculpture by Robert James Buchholz installed just for the week. A couple of blocks north, Snarkitecture’s four curling, 30-foot-long “candy cane” sculptures in fiberglass and foam — 75 times longer than an actual candy cane, the artists proudly note — occupy a chunk of the reborn Design District’s Palm Plaza for the holidays.

Just to the west, at a Wynwood Walls expanded with a new garden and new graffiti-style murals, some 200 guests, including street artists from Latin America and Spain, gathered for what Jessica Goldman, daughter of the project's founder, the late Tony Goldman, called “a big family dinner.” Four new murals, including one of enormous floating Greek Gods, by Spanish artists Piki & Avo, and another of giant hands, by German artist Case, hovered around them.

Down the block, art dealer Gary Nader hosted dignitaries to his Wynwood gallery to celebrate his soon-to-be Latin American art museum.

“This means that Miami will be taken to a whole new level that we’ve never experienced,’’ said Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado.

Not far from there, at Miami Dade College’s downtown campus, performers swam in a 4,500-gallon tank installed in a plaza, undertaking mundane daily activities underwater — a foreshadowing of life in the coming Holocene era, after climate change and sea-level rise have conquered the world, courtesy of director and media artist Lars Jan.

There were some big stars in attendance —Sylvester Stallone swung through the VIP opening at Design Miami, little sister to the Basel fair, while Basel frequenter Leo DiCaprio got a private preview at Art Miami, his first time there. Also in attendance: Developer Jorge Perez. He stopped in at the Pinta Miami fair, in Wynwood, which features Latin American art — including an installation by Carlos Martiel that consists of one live naked man, lying motionless at the base of a flagpole, his neck bolted to the ground with a metal collar. The Mexican flag initially flying atop the pole was later changed to a Costa Rican flag, and will be changed continuously throughout the exhibit.

An elderly woman gave the naked man a thumbs-up, but he just blinked.

The naked man wasn’t for sale, but plenty of other art was. Despite economic softening in Latin America, a principal source of art collectors for Miami’s fairs, and turmoil over migrants in Europe, Art Miami was mobbed —fair director Nick Korniloff said the number of requests for VIP credentials this year exceeded 2014’s, and he expects to surmount last year’s total visitor count of 82,500.

Some art was already selling big. At Pinta Miami, Bogota gallerist Luis Angel Parra said he sold two sculptures by Colombian Hugo Zapata for $50,000 each. And to judge from asking prices, gallerists came to Miami with big expectations. At Art Miami, an Andy Warhol flowers painting was going for $6.5 million, and a rare 1980s collaboration between Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat for $3.4 million. An unusual 1960s painting by Alma Thomas that graced the cover of her 1972 solo show catalogue at the Whitney Museum, the first African American female artist to be featured there, was going for $950,000.

By Sunday, many fairgoers may be ready for the perfect gift, courtesy of Paris-based Galerie Kreo, at Design Miami -- the chance for a soothing bath in a boat. Studio Wieki Somers created the “Bathboat” tub, with a white ribbed interior and honey-colored outer shell that resembles one of those highly prized handmade boats. Only 30 were made, plus one prototype, from oak and red cedar.

Their scale may not be monumental, but the price of a soak will be. They sell for $50,000 each.

Miami Herald Staff Writer Nicholas Nehamas and Herald Writer Jeffrey Pierre contributed to this report.