D.C. got a whiff of Miami Beach this past weekend from
the (e)merge art fair and its satellite events, but on Monday, the city and its art scene was back to normal. But one little corner of the District is now all South Florida, all the time.
Lynn Skynear says she’s spent the last year working to display the works of Miami-based neo-Pop artist Romero Britto in her Adams Morgan gallery, Skynear Designs. As of Tuesday night, that dream has been realized, and as a permanent fixture of the 18th Street NW store.
Hallie DelVillian, Skynear’s creative director, says Britto—who often depicts cartoonish, positive scenes in jarringly saturated colors—is a good fit for the store, which sells art, furniture, and clothing. “Britto’s art is joyful and optimistic in a cruel world,” DelVillian says. “It made sense to launch the gallery with him.”
Although Skynear’s Britto display is billed as the “Skynear + Britto Gallery,” Britto doesn’t have an ownership stake. DeVillian describes the arrangement as an “experimental consignment.”
Britto first came to wide notice through a 1989 Absolut Vodka ad. Now, his artwork is ubiquitous in Miami and is often found in celebrities’ art collections.
Crowds as chipper as the art on the walls packed Skynear Designs Tuesday. “The art is really beautiful, very different, and unusual,” said Frank Sciacca, a West End resident who collects art. “I see a couple that I may be interested in buying.”
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