Yesterday was the unveiling of eye-popping new crosswalks in Wynwood, the city’s gallery district for high-end art. The blue green and red crosswalks were created by 89-year-old artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, whose work is in many museums and has a going rate of $55,000 for pieces. The eye-catching and bold street-art represents the Venezuelan artist’s concept that color is a reality that affects human senses just as much as hot and cold temperatures do.
The Wynwood Crosswalk is dedicated to Goldman Properties and Wynwood developer, Tony Goldman. Goldman, who sadly passed in September of last year, was the real-estate visionary who revitalized Wynwood and brought to life the central arts district it is today.
The sidewalks aren’t just beautiful, they also aim to make the burgeoning art-area more pedestrian safety and were created through the support of The Miami Biennale and WADA’s Wynwood Ways, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Miami Foundation, the City of Miami and the Cruz-Diez Foundation.
The Wynwood Crosswalk is not the first work Cruz-Diez has donated to Miami’s landscape. In 2012, during the inauguration of the Miami Marlin’s Ballpark, his entrance plaza design was unveiled. The piece was named Chromatic Induction in a Double Frequency and covered 4 acres of pathway in the main entrance of the Marlins’ stadium.
In 1960, Cruz-Diez introduced his project Intervention In Urban Spaces: The Street as a Medium for Art. He was quoted in 1989 stating,
“The daily journey through urban spaces changes our personality and makes us into habitual beings who obey rules that nobody questions. The artist can create ephemeral expressions that, by generating completely new events, transform urban “linearity” and at the same time inject an element of surprise into urban routine.”
Over 40 years later, the fascinating artistry of Cruz-Diez is still turning heads through his concept of urban transformation by expression of color. Miami is fortunate enough to not only display his works, but be a part of art culture history.
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