It’s the first week of December, and that means it’s time for Miami Art Week, several days of high profile exhibitions, special events, and art sales in South Beach.

At the center of Art Week each year is Art Basel Miami Beach, which is celebrating its 10^th year. Art Basel started in Switzerland in 1970 before expanding to the U.S. and quickly establishing itself as the art event of the year. With over 260 galleries showing work by more than 2,000 artists, this is Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, but for the art set. The show is expecting 46,000 curators, private collectors, tourists, and celebs. Previous attendees have included everyone from Brad Pitt to Jay-Z and Beyonce.

If you can’t make the event, Art Basel has put out a mobile app where you can browse galleries and selected works on an interactive map.  You can also follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #artbasel or catch up on the Miami Herald’s Art Basel section.

As Art Basel has continued to increase its profile, so too has Miami itself as one of America’s premiere art cities. Now in addition to Art Basel, more than 15 additional specialty shows come to Miami each year to take part in Art Week. Our good friend Marco Zamora will be showing work in the Mallick Williams booth at Scope, a contemporary art showcase open from November 29^th to December 4^th.

Marco uses a pen and brush technique to create images of urban landscapes and the people who live in them, influenced by Los Angeles, skate culture, and people’s “awkard moments”. Marco has shown work all over the U.S. and also designed advertising for Vans.

Crafting a bolt of denim into a great fitting, comfortable, fashion forward pair of jeans is a form of art in itself, but London-born artist Denimu makes denim into art in a whole different way.  Initially attracted to the textures and wear patterns of denim, 27 year-old Denimu quickly discovered that working with denim was a way to breath life into garments that had passed their prime, but still carried a lot of personal meaning for people. By cutting and layering denim into different shapes and patterns, Denimu creates beautiful portraits, urbanscapes, pop art, and pretty much anything else that can be interpreted in denim. This is the type of life passion that can only come from a true denimhead. In his own words:

“I became fascinated by the rich heritage of Denim.  A story that has run alongside that of modern history. A material that abounds in dualities and meanings. A symbol of both egalitarianism and of materialism. A reflection of the world in which we live.”

We’re just hoping he is aware of the colored denim trend – that could open a whole new realm of possibilities, and we can’t wait to see the results.