Take him to your leader

Wynwood opened its season with a big bang Saturday night. There was chaos and devastation at Locust Projects, where Argentine artist Diego Bianchi laid waste to the space, flooding the concrete floor with mud, a wrecked boat hull, and such detritus as an old copy of Andy Rooney's Pieces of My Mind. His show, Wake Me up When the Present Arrives, was perhaps best summarized by the phrase, "“This is not Chelsea. This is Miami where the sun boils the blood," which was scrawled on a wall.

At Smoke, paintings of exotic animals were complemented by a display of live ones out back, including a cougar and a porcupine. At the Fredric Snitzer Gallery Timothy Buwalda’s large oil on canvas paintings of car wrecks, “False Start,” seemed to capture Miami in all of its road rage glory.

The best party of the night was hosted by the new Harold Golen Gallery, where a pop cultural phantasmagoria greeted viewers along with a DJ, snacks like shrimp and brownies, and rum and cokes. "We're trying to make it accessible," said Golen, and indeed, the huge array of eye-catching paintings and photographs encouraged lingering, while the affordable prints, postcards, books, T-shirts and other merchandise enabled browsing. Golen promises more of the same in the season ahead. "Come back in October!" he shouted as I made my way to the door after an hour. "It'll be even better!" -- Frank Houston