Tomokazu Matsuyama and Deih killed it this year in Wynwood, no doubt and curator Alan Ket slayed with the solo show by Vhils at the primary gallery on the compound. Art Basel brings the crowds to Miami traditionally but there is no doubt that the magnet of Wynwood’s kid-friendly murals and Street Art as selfie backgrounds wins the day. Everywhere you look you see the families, influencers-in-training, tour guides and gobsmacked gaggles of teens creating pedestrian traffic jams inside Wynwood Walls. These artists and this art may have risen from an outsider marginalised and criminalised culture of illegal vandalism but these crowds are simply enjoying the art and each other.

That foot traffic inside replicates the car and heavy truck traffic jams throughout the neighborhood as new multi-story construction continues apace and the gentrification cycle rapidly courses through the real estate / street culture corpus. Right now this romance between development and art-in-the-streets is still in the heavy petting stage, and there is a lot of star gazing. How long can this tryst continue, you ask? It’s impossible to say what benchmark to measure, but watch for the moment when the sales of mezcal slushies and Moscow Mules are eclipsed by Acai bowls and kale smoothies.

So here’s our first weekly interview with the street, this time directly from Miami, featuring AShop Crew, Audrey Kawasaki, Bordallo II, Deih, Joe Iurato, JonOne, Martin Watson, Tavar Zawacki, Tomokazu Matsuyama, and Vhils.

AShop Crew. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

AShop Crew. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martin Whatson. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vhils. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vhils. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bordalo II. Wynwood Walls Miami 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Audrey Kawasaki. Wynwood Walls Miami 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato. Wynwood Walls Miami 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato. Wynwood Walls Miami 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Deih. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Deih. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tavar Zawacki. Wynwood Walls Miami 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JonOne. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tomokazu Matsuyama. Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tomokazu Matsuyama . Wynwood Walls Miami 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. December 2018 (photo © Jaime Rojo)