“ I ’ m an artist and appreciate all the arts ,” Bouaziz says . “ I ’ ve been collecting for 40 years and have always had a major love for fine art . I want to produce a new festival now with regional artists and have it travel to other Florida cities . Naples and Orlando are next .”
Inside the private museum is a luxurious enormous space , filled with large bronze sculptures and rare copper plates by Dali , dozens of modern pieces by artists he discovered in art fairs and in Europe . There are tables covered with art books and couches and benches scattered about to contemplate the work . Two lower levels that were formerly loading docks are set aside for current working artists in residence , making paintings for his collection and for display .
There is a separate room , an inner sanctum with a huge locked metal door . Inside is a breathtaking array of work by Diego Rivera , Rodin , Franz Kline , Yves Tanguy , and Max Beckman , a German painter whose work was included in the Nazi ’ s infamous 1937 exhibition of degenerate art called “ Entartete Kunst ”. It ’ s a staggering room , filled with the most celebrated artists of the 20th Century with spin off stories that are mind blowing . A 6-inch high Giacometti bronze sculpture that when tilted in the light changes its shadow cast silhouette from female to male . He says his favorites are the bright expressionist paintings and the Giacometti .
“ But I love them all ,” he says smiling broadly .
Cash prizes and artist residencies at Danieli Art World were awarded to a lucky few by jurors . The next festival is slated to travel to Naples by mid-summer . Among the invited artists at the debut festival were Dana Donaty , Amber Dawn Tutwiler , Alejandro Mendoza , Roland Rucco , Adolfo H2O LaTorre , Sami Makela , Ray Fernandez , Petrina Easton , Ray Gross , Kim Prisu , Ismael Munaray , Zack Knudson , Nadia Utto , John Rachell , T . D . Gillispie , Anouck Jourdaa , and William Halliday and others . Iconic sculptural installations by Iena Cruz , Giants in The City , Beju , and Anouck Jourdaa were featured on stacked painted containers and blow up installations .
It ’ s a dramatic and encompassing unveiling of a new arts district , quite unlike anything the city has ever seen before . w p b m a g a z i n e . c o m
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