HISTORYMIAMI X MIAMI NICE: Gustavo Oviedo

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over the next couple of days, we're going to be chatting with some of Miami's most influental street art locals. You can go see their work for yourself at HistoryMiami's Some Like It Hot exhibit. Some Like It Hot is the first museum major museum showcase of Miami's burgeoning street art scene. We've all seen the murals around town, but we don't really get to hear much from the mouths of those who've painted them. Today, we're talking to Gustavo Oviedo: 

Tell me about your piece in the Some Like It Hot exhibit. How did you decide what to contribute and what do you think it says about art in Miami?

For the past 3 years my work has being really influenced by Miami's proximity to the sea. I didn't grew up having access to a boat, I was always limited to the beach. I got my first boat and taught myself how to use it. The more I went out

the more I learned, it made me feel like a kid. I first started documenting with a digital camera anything and everything I saw, then I got an underwater camera and started looking for interesting spots to shoot. I found out about all the shipwrecks and coral reefs that are available to us, Miami residents. I started running out of spots around the city so I decided to head out down south and to the west, I basically turned my boat into an art tool.

The first piece I'm showing at the HistoryMiami Museum, is titled "Low Tide Shopping", this is a local expression that refers to the process I used to gather all those buoys. I went to remote islands where these buoys get washed ashore and tangled up

on the mangroves. Being out there is addicting and it seemed obvious to start looking for ways to translate those experiences into art. The buoys went thru a lot before I found them, they have character to them that can't be faked. When I come back with a bag full of them I feel good, as if they were a bunch of trophies, even do it's just cool trash.

The second piece is a collage mural, normally I use bucket paint, markers and spray paint to do a wall. In this case I decided to translate what I do into this new version using vinyl as my medium. I've worked like this before for years but always in a small format and usually on paper or glass. Being able to go big made it fun and rewarding.

The exhibit's description touches on how art in Miami is influenced by the hot weather. What's your ideal way to spend Miami's hottest day of the year?

That's when the water is warm, so I would go on a scuba mission.

How do you take your coffee?

Dark Cortadito with little sugar.

Where in Miami, anywhere in Miami, would your ideal mural be?

Miami-Dade County Courthouse.

Do you have any friends on the scene that we should know about?

Ogeee is the Yoda of the drums.

Where else can we see your work?

This Summer, I'm having a solo show at the Art Center / South Florida.