AlexGuofengCao.com

Simply put, we live in an artful and art-full paradise.

It may sound corny, but at its best, art inspires, provokes, educates, surprises, shocks and delights. So put on some comfortable walking shoes and revel in the images.

Here's a Miami Herald staff selection of don't-miss works to help you navigate the mayhem of too many shows, too little time:

At ChinaSquare Gallery in Art Miami, pixelated images by Alex Guofeng Cao appear to be huge photographs. But look closely and you'll see that the "pixels" are really tiny photographic images. The portrait of President Barack Obama is made up of photos of President Abraham Lincoln; Marilyn Monroe is composed of tiny images of JFK; JFK of tiny images of Monroe. Sold opening night: An image of Carla Bruni, made up of tiny images of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Inspired by some of the most ancient art known to man, photographer Alex Guofeng Cao has created mosaics for the modern age.

Cavalier Galleries on Main Street will open a month-long exhibition this evening showing his large-scale digital images in a show called “Icon vs. Iconic.”

Utilizing familiar images of some of the most recognizable faces of the 20th century, Cao has composed larger-than-life mosaics – photographs composed of other tiny images. A portrait of John F. Kennedy is made up of tens of thousands of images of his wife Jackie exposed in a manner in which the small pixels create the larger image. Joining the Kennedys in the Nantucket installation are images of Marilyn Monroe and the Mona Lisa, John Lennon and Elvis, among nearly a dozen others.

Garnering headlines across the country wherever the work has shown, Cao became the star of last year’s Art Basel in Miami, Fla. after being featured in a cover story in The Miami Herald and selling out his exhibit. Since then a slew of other mainstream publications and art journals have focused their attention on Cao, whose roots are in commercial photography and celebrity portraiture.

Born in China and educated from high school on in the United States, Cao was a fan of history first and foremost, and received inspiration for his current body of work after studying Western antiquity and ancient Eastern societies. He was also strongly influenced by the Pop Art movement in the United States that Andy Warhol is most famous for representing.

"This is the most comprehensive and thorough guide to New York's art world and galleries I have ever come across. It's all you'll ever need if you are interested in discovering great art in New York."

In the 80's, surrounded by glitz, glam and pop, America welcomed amongst many a young teen. Alex arrived with his family from China like so many before to hit New York City. Cao, an "X" er with a distinguished and developing passion for how we look and see ourselves, set his studies on photography. Influenced by his new surroundings in New York, along with the imagery of Irving Penn, Mapplethorpe and other luminaries of the medium, Cao's commercial opportunities gave rise to his fine art. These have stemmed from Vogue to Maxim magazines eliciting further foundation for an explosive and thoughtfully compelling body of work.

In late 2009, Alex Guefeng Cao's Miami Art Basel debut garnered national media attention because of, amongst many reasons, his pixelated photograph series. Each paired "homage" with conceptual insight.

The current collection reaches into the history of pop culture, politics and religion. As many great artist prior, the level of homage to influence - fine art's way of referencing the source - is the latch, the hook that Cao's work visually speaks. He draws on the great societies before our own, relying on "western antiquity" and "...the iconic and statuesque sculptures of the ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman eras." Like his subjects, the photographs remind us of the importance of the image and how it has been built. His detailed and deliberate process (an image within an image) is contrasted with the largest of scale.

Cao's current choice of black and white photography is paired with his love for the mosaic process. All the color that is needed for his art is the various shades of grey, the digital stitching of black and white tiles. Each takes life from the storied, colorful characters and messages a collector ultimately sees.

Even larger were the chromogenic prints of Alex Guofeng Cao at Pan-American Projects (Miami). Cao’s technique creates pictures of celebrity faces from many small prints of other celebrity faces. On display were Princess Di wrought from tiny faces of Princess Grace, James Dean made from tiny Elvis faces, and Marilyn Monroe created out of tiny Mona Lisa faces.

Art Basel Miami Beach is for any and every one. With all the craze in Miami of hipsters and socialites skipping from one Art Basel party to the next and scoping out all of the beach’s beautiful galleries, it’s only fair that we tell you what our favorites are…the ones you shouldn’t miss.

What: ChinaSquare Gallery
Where: Art Miami
Why: Pixelated images by Alex Guofeng Cao appear to be huge photographs. But look closely and you’ll see that the pixels are actually tiny photographic images, like the portrait of President Barack Obama made up of photos of President Abraham Lincoln; Marilyn Monroe is composed of tiny images of JFK; JFK of tiny images of Monroe.

No será nada nuevo pero, en su mejor forma, el arte nos inspira, provoca, educa y sorprende con enorme fuerza. Así que póngase unos zapatos cómodos y vaya a disfrutar de las imágenes.

He aquí una selección hecha por personal del Herald sobre los trabajos indispensables, que lo ayudarán a navegar el exceso de oferrtas y la escasez de tiempo.

En la ChinaSquare Gallery en Art Miami, pixeladas imágenes de Alex Guofeng Cao parecen enormes fotografías. Pero, cuando se miran de cerca, se ve que los "pixeles'' son, en realidad, diminutas fotografías. El retrato del presidente Obama está hecho de fotos de Abraham Lincoln; Marilyn Monroe esta compuestas por minúsculas fotos de JFK y JFK está hecho de minúsculas imágenes de Monroe. En la noche inaugural se vendió una imagen de Carla Bruni, compuesta de diminutas imágenes del presidente de Francia Nicolás Sakozy.

Miami, 3 dec. Tijdens zijn leven was Michael Jackson al een geliefd onderwerp voor beeldend kunstenaars – denk aan Andy Warhol of Jeff Koons – maar nu hij dood is, is hij pas echt een muze geworden. Op de gisteravond geopende kunstbeurs Art Basel Miami Beach duikt de popster overal op.

Voor 155.000 dollar kunnen Jackson-fans investeren in een drieluik van modefotograaf David LaChapelle, die de zanger onder meer als aartsengel en dode Christusfiguur portretteerde. Tijdens de opening bleek de stand van galerie Shafrazi een populaire fotospot, waar het deftige kunstpubliek zich gretig met de King of Pop lieten vereeuwigen.

Een andere trekpleister is een metershoog ruiterportret van de Amerikaan Kehinde Wiley, te koop bij Deitch Projects voor 175.000 dollar. Jackson zit daarop hoog te paard, in een pose die duidelijk ontleend is aan Rubens’ beroemde portret van Philip II uit het Prado. Wiley’s galeriehoudster vertelt trots dat de popster zelf contact had gezocht met de schilder. „Hij had Wiley’s werk in 2007 gezien in het Brooklyn Museum in New York en wilde graag door hem worden geportretteerd. Wiley stelde voor om hem in de stijl van een oude meester te schilderen en stuurde hem diverse kunsthistorische afbeeldingen op. Jackson bleek behoorlijk wat van schilderkunst af te weten.” Een Japanse verzamelaar toont zich hevig teleurgesteld als blijkt dat het werk al gereserveerd is. „Kan hij er niet nog eentje maken?” probeert hij nog. „En dan liefst iets kleiner.”

Nog wel te koop is het Jacksonportret dat de Chinese kunstenar Alex Guofeng Cao toont op de veel kleinere beurs Art Miami. Bij nadere beschouwing blijkt dat deze ode, te zien bij de China Square Gallery, is opgebouwd uit allemaal piepkleine zwart-witfotootjes van Marilyn Monroe. „Michael en Marilyn zijn beiden veel te vroeg aan een overdosis drugs overleden”, verklaart de maker. „En beiden deden zich altijd heel vrolijk voor, terwijl ze zich van binnen vaak triest voelden.” Met een prijs van 4.500 dollar zal het niet lang duren of ook dit werk hangt binnenkort boven het bed van een fan.