Ian Berry showing during Art Basel Miami
photo by Austin Horton
Ian Berry is in Miami this week and shows a body of work based on the Deuce Bar.
‘I have been to Miami several times during Art Basel and this time I wanted to do something specific to Miami. I’d thought about what to do and as I spent my time going around the fairs I saw little of Miami on previous trips - other than the ‘Deuce’. I had already done my bars and pubs, mainly in London. It’s a perfect place to do in my body of works as it a bastion of a time past while much changes around, not always for the better…’ Ian said.
The oldest Bar in Miami opened in 1926 and was owned-run by Mac Klein –since 1964. Its ‘laid-back ambiance, rustic decor, pool table’ & cigarette haze (yeh you can smoke inside) jukebox making this South Beach institution a local hangout, and during Art Basel week, a place for artists, dealers and collectors to take a break - often well into the early hours.
The changing Fabric of our urban environment
In a city that changes like an indecisive chameleon, an island always for sale to the highest bidder, Mac’s joint has remained a pristine, neon-lit paradise untouched by outside forces and this continues Ian’s interest in documenting places that are at the heart of communities while all else changes.
Miami Vice threw its cast party here. Playboy named it one of the “best dive bars” (2010) in America. And Anthony Bourdain said it was one of his favorite spots in the world.
I wanted to portray the bar but there is so much to it, and I wanted to do both the inside and out, the outside with the Neon Lights scream Miami and well, I like the challenge of showing how lights hit things on the inside and a sucker for punishment with all the details in the mirror’
In an aptly titled 1989 Miami Herald article, the headline read All Kinds Make a Merry Mix At Mac’s Club Deuce which demonstrated the complete eclectic clientele the bar gets, where literally all kinds go in. Mac himself called it the Shangri-La of South Beach and these are just two of the titles of Ian’s work.
Mac died aged 101 in 2016 but his legacy lives on, almost unchanged.
see more images
Mac’s Club Deuce
222 14th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139
See the work at
Miami Beach Pavilion, 801 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Booth A11 Red Truck Gallery
News
News from the studio of Ian Berry
NEW!
Ian Berry’s, SPLENDID ISOLATION is out now and available to order online. The book is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books in The Netherlands with the Museum Rijswijk to coincide with the Solo Museum show of the same name.
The book includes
· a foreward by Museum Rijswijk curator Diana Wind and Director Arnoud van Aalst
· 160 page paperback book
· Over 150 images in full colour (well, full of blue)
· Looks over some of his 15 years of making his artwork using only denim
· Many images show detail shots of his work that have to be seen to be believed.
The book was launched at the 2020 Virtual Art Book Fair (VABF) organized by Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) with Jap Sam. The fair was originally scheduled for Fall 2020 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. It then debuted at the Museum shop at Museum Rijswijk and was popular with visitors. You can now get it here.
The book comes signed by the artist Ian Berry and you can also request a message to be sent. We can post around the world with the postages below, including a special launch offer.
Postage
· £2.50 to the UK (Free with FREESHIPPING code at check out)
Postage outside the UK will come up at Check out.
Along with Museum Rijswijk and Jap Sam Books the book was made possible by the museum show principle sponsor Pepe Jeans London, along with Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Cone Denim and Tonello.