wynwood miami protests police brutality + fatal incident of delbert 'demz' rodriguez

designboom — driving out of the design district and into wynwood and taking a break from goings-on in south beach — snapped a few photos of new street art.

in the wynwood arts district of miami, graffiti artists from all over the world have been covering walls – sometimes invited, sometimes not – with murals ranging from traditional lettering to themed designs. the wynwood neighborhood gradually began to decline about 50 years ago (when a railroad strike cut off its warehouses) but in recent years has metamorphosed into a unique outdoor museum, made up of wide blocks with little street traffic. lined with alleyways, the urban site is home to thousands of art enthusiasts who converge during the city’s annual event, the art basel miami beach fair. the miami art week draws both new and famed street artists to paint, sponsored with free paint, a wall and a team of assistants to undertake big projects. one local developer commissioned nearly three dozen artists to cover wynwood walls.

shepard fairey and cleon peterson — ‘power’ and ‘glory’
image © designboom

shepard fairey and cleon peterson collaborated on a mural titled ‘power’ and ‘glory’, covering four walls of a building in the wynwood district of miami during art basel miami beach. the outdoor work combines fairey’s floral patters with peterson’s signature figures. see more images of this project at fairey’s obey giant publication.

shepard fairey and cleon peterson — ‘power’ and ‘glory’
image © designboom

‘it’s not the same wild west it once was,‘ shepard fairey said. ‘but I have always been a populist. I love the idea of democratizing art. wynwood is a template, and there are lots more walls out there.’

wynwood miami protests police brutality + fatal incident of delbert ‘demz’ rodriguez:

on friday, december 5, thousands of protesters marched through wynwood and blocked traffic on I-195 to protest police brutality (following the ferguson and eric garner protests) including the killing of a young graffiti artist named israel ‘reefa’ hernandez by miami beach police officers last year. unbeknownst to most protestors, just a few hours earlier and a few blocks away, local cops had chased another young tagger, the 21-year-old delbert ‘demz’ rodriguez, and hit him with an unmarked cruiser, leaving him with fatal head wounds. police claim rodriguez was killed after running from an undercover unit assigned to bust taggers, when rodriguez hid between two parked cars and then leaped into the street. the officers couldn’t avoid hitting him, they say, due to darkness, black clothing, and his low position near the pavement, unable to see him as they turned the corner.

why was an undercover police unit out looking for taggers in wynwood during art basel miami beach, when hundreds are authorized to paint new murals on nearly every free surface? the building delbert was tagging at night was not part of this official program.

read more in the miami new times, local 10 and in the miami herald.

memorial for reefa by st. louis-based street artist davon davis

‘this is the LARGEST street art festival in the WORLD currently, where artists from everywhere, amateurs up to professionals come and paint walls for free throughout the year, this poor 21 yr old kid, was doing what any kid on the come up would do to try to channel his creativity into becoming someone he might admire one day. he was basically trying to use a language that he admired but didn’t yet fully know how to express himself with, but was going thru the motions that many many many success stories before him followed… this could have easily been me at 21. so before anyone says shit about graffiti being a crime, think about how cool you all think I am today, my ‘amazing art and funny drawings and crazy characters’ and how cool everyone wants to be talking to me in person and asking me about what I do, and how did I get to where I am today.’ says mr. ewok one, a well-known graffiti artist, who was just 1/2 a block away during the incident.

the heart of wynwood is the strip of NW 2nd avenue between 23rd and 28th streets
the zebra-striped wynwood building, a local landmark painted by joseph dzwill is located nearby on NW 3rd avenue
image © designboom