Jona Cerwinske Outside MAPS Backlot in Wynwood

Jona Cerwinske doesn’t do interviews. In fact, he doesn’t do most things conventionally, whether it be his sleep schedule or choice of medium, but then again, he’s an artist. Jona is like other creatives of his generation in his open mind set and passion for art and artistic expression, but there are also so many aspects that make him unique.

As a local artist from Miami, Jona has created a name for himself in a relatively short time period. He started doing graffiti art and murals before Wynwood was the artist’s playground it is today. His canvas? Anything he can get his hands on that speaks to him in a positive way. His signature black and white graffiti art has sprouted up around the city in exhibitions and galleries and on everything from clothes and cars to his friend’s living room wall. Upon first glance, it looks like someone just picked up a Sharpie and started scribbling or doodling, but given a few more moments of observation, the depth of his work is revealed. Each piece is its own expression, with no two being the same. The intricate patterns and details make it nearly impossible to replicate anyway. There’s a complexity and dexterity involved in creating such pieces, coupled with the three-dimensional mediums used, that makes his work stand out and very visually-intriguing.

Jona’s following and fan base expands beyond just Miami. His art has gotten the attention of many celebrities and notables in the art and music worlds, including Lenny Kravitz, who’s now a good friend and mentor. Most recently, he was sought out to create a piece with Nike in honor of Miami Heat’s LeBron James winning his fourth MVP title in five years. The collaboration lead to the creation of an entire mural in Wynwood. Preferring not to disclose its exact location or how long it will be up for until it’s painted over, Jona wants to keep an element of secrecy and avoid it becoming an almost tourist attraction from over-exploitation. But, granted that it was a project done with Nike, he says they’re making limited edition art pieces of it, and will probably end up putting it on some kind of merchandise.

Delve deeper into the mind and life of this talented artist as he tells his story through photos from the WRE archives over the past decade.

Nike’s LeBron James MVP Mural

Jona Cerwinske

“He was picked because Randy Mims (from LeBron’s managing team) is a big fan of Jona’s art and they wanted someone who represented Miami the way LeBron does. The process was hunting him down; that was a mission in itself. We had to stake out outside of the studio. I would make him sleep on my couch to make sure he would be there on time. I pretty much kidnapped him and barred him from going to LIV on Sundays with Lyndon, which is actually LeBron’s favorite party, so he would show up on time and be responsible.” – Jason Odio of Oh Really?!

“He’s a half man, half machine, angel who came to our city, is repping our city, and is portrayed as being larger than life. There’s my sunshine logo encased in his King James logo to celebrate his fourth MVP. In a way, it’s visual poetry and pretty self-explanitory if you start looking at the details. I was all about this way more for Miami than anything else. I’m absolutely honored for his team to select me, and after I created it, I got to meet [LeBron]. It was a very cool way to be introduced to someone you look up to. We got to thank each other in a very humble manner. You can tell he’s larger than life, but just as personable and modest as any good person, which I find to be more special than meeting a celebrity. We’re so over saturated with people who are supposed to be bigger and better, but I think we’re entering a time where people we look up to are standing on the same ground as us.”

His Art

Jona Cerwinske at his studio on October 24, 2007

Jona Cerwinske at his studio on October 24, 2007

Jona Cerwinske at The Show at Crobar on April 5, 2001

Jona Cerwinske at Setai’s Art Loves Music at Sky Bar on December 3, 2003

“It’s almost cognitive or close to predicitions, like a visual intuition. It’s weird how it finally came together. It just flowed out of me. I dont really know how. I just tried to really let go. It’s the complete opposite of planning anything- the epitome of stream of consciousness. No matter what I’m drawing, I try to create a balance. No matter what you’re looking at, I try to make it pleasing to the eye, whether you understand it or not.”

Jona Cerwinske at Art Basel Begins at The Delano on November 30, 2004

Jona Cerwinske at Naked Paper Launch at LEO on April 20, 2007

“I use oil markers and a calligraphy pen used by street artists that’s kind of like what a light saber is to a Jedi. Now there’s a similar product of lesser quality that’s more easily accessible. People going out and drawing over stuff with Sharpies wasn’t my initial take on this, though I figured it was bound to happen. More power to Sharpie I guess, but it would’ve been nice to do a real deal with them.”

Jona Cerwinske  at Buddha Bar Closing Party at Sky Bar on December 4, 2005

Jona Cerwinske at Super Bowl XLI Style Villa Day 2 on February 3, 2007

Brett David’s House on June 6, 2007

“I’ve been doing sneakers for years. I was trying to create a marriage of street art and lifestyle, and it would kind of equate to fine art in a sense. I’m really just trying to take those techniques and approaches to attractive objects in everyday life- anything that was already obsessed over. I would put a design onto anything that looked good and turn it into a one of a kind piece of art with the mentaility of a street artist.”

Brett David’s House on June 6, 2007

“It’s this old, Japanese ‘Godzilla’ type of big real estate guy coming from the ocean. I was predicting what would happen and illustrated vibrations I felt coming from my environment. And it’s exactly what ended up happening. You see this wave of real estate brokers who end up just commissioning murals and art to stimulate a community and real estate industry. It was in a neighborhood that had that happening anyway and didn’t really need the executive or corporate influence, but it’s an interesting movement as a synergy between street art and the corporate world. You’re getting a new take on art in a public place, from what is considered street art to a mural, and it’s Miami’s style. We have our own way of doing things. I see everyone doing their own thing, whether it’s someone who just got their real estate license or someone who wants to spread their wings creatively.

It’s nice to know that wall has been respected throughout the entire course of all that art frenzy, and the more time that goes by, the more it feels fortified in history. It’s about 10 to 12 years old and runs from 27th to 28th Street along the tracks off Northeast 2nd Avenue. Back then, that was the photo shoot wall. It was the only thing that was really complete. I started travelling and seeing people go big, and I wanted to do entire buildings. Now we see it on every block in that neighborhood- spreading through downtown, the districts, and every direction- even Miami Beach. Tony Goldman, bless his heart.”

Jona Cerwinske at Charity Water Fundraiser at Sky Bar on July 13, 2007

Jona Cerwinske at his exhibit during Art Basel on December 8, 2009

“Just as much as I like to draw on cars, I like to select objects that I can make beautiful and that just happened to be what I found when I was looking. I go shopping, searching, hunting, and if it’s a match, then I go with it. In that show, it happened to be four large scale leather elephants that I turned into a kind of metallic jewelry.”

Jona Cerwinske at Sam Keller’s Going Away Party at Casa Tua on December 10, 2007

Jona Cerwinske at his studio on May 8, 2008

“I do miss the nature of its original guerilla style. It was a beautiful opportunity for a lot of Miami artists to do their thing, and I just hope we leave space for them because we’re inviting a lot of outside artists. But I’m sure there’s room for everyone.”

Jona Cerwinske at Akashi on October 22, 2008

Jona Cerwinske at his studio with Art Basel Magazines on December 5, 2008

“I took a two page ad out in Art Basel magazine, just left them blank, and put my little signature on the bottom corner. It was kind of my take on the art world at the time because everything seemed forced in the wrong direction with the way the economy was. I thought you should never have to economize on my concept or my art just because everyone’s going through a recession. So now I had this blank canvas. With the first issue in my hand, I was lucky enough to run into Takashi Murakami, and he drew on one. It felt way more artistic than any exhibit; it was an exhibit in a publication. Sometimes blank is beautiful.”

Patrick McMullan at Jason & Haley Binn’s 5 Year Wedding Anniversary at Gotham Steak at Fontainebleau on December 5, 2008

“I was surrounded by so many talented people, so it just developed into a series of limited edition magazines with all the different characters that were running through the city at the time. It was their medium. Sometimes I would collaborate with them, other times I would draw for them. They ended up having their own limited edition art in the form of a print in a magazine.”

Jona Cerwinske at his studio on December 5, 2008

Jona Cerwinske at Art Basel Closing Party at The Florida Room on December 5, 2009

Jona Cerwinske at Metro at The Astor on December 27, 2005

Jona Cerwinske at Art Miami on December 4, 2010

“I’ve participated in all the fairs- Art Miami, Art Wynwood, Art Basel- but Art Miami is my new focus. I think Basel has done its work, and it’s become a monster that is so strong, it’s created so many other fairs. It’s important that Art Miami gets reinforced as much as possible because it has just as much potential as Basel did to bring the art world to us. I think the word Miami is a little more powerful than the word Basel. And at this point, it’s hard to tell a difference.”

Van Brown & Jona Cerwinske at Lacoste L!ve at Oh Really?! on November 10, 2012

Jona Cerwinske at Lacoste L!ve at Oh Really?! on November 10, 2012

“Fashion can also be a medium. No matter how complete the product is, I can decide that it’s not done yet. I’m up to collaborate with anything I believe in. If my art is going to attach to anything corporate, it needs to be making a statement or doing good for others. When it comes to projecting anything to an audience, it’s got to be positive.”

Influencers

George Clinton & Jona Cerwinske at Drawing Conclusions Featuring George Clinton & Jona Cerwinske at Sky Bar on December 3, 2005

“That party was very important in that it kind of broke the mold for a lot of American new blood to accept Art Basel as an inviting fair for youth, artists, musicians, and people who really weren’t traditionally in the “fine art arena.” It set the example that a person like George [Clinton] or Ricky [Powell] are icons for several decades of movements who captured, documented, and resembled these things. They’re innovators, and they attach themselves to so many different worlds. A person like George is a person beyond music and into the arts, but more importantly, he’s a trendsetter who attaches to so many different movements. The entire P-Funk movement was captured by George Clinton, and the entire Downtown 80s art movement was captured by Ricky Powell.”

Jona Cerwinske & George Clinton at Drawing Conclusions Featuring George Clinton & Jona Cerwinske at Sky Bar on December 3, 2005

“What George and I did… It’s almost like a band. We teamed up to break boundaries. It’s about the piece. It freezes and preserves all the energy from that night, whatever is going on in that moment, comes out on the canvas. It’s about showing people a good time and showing them something different than what they’re used to seeing. There’s a huge audience who can relate to what happened in that one show.”

George Clinton & Jona Cerwinske at Drawing Conclusions Featuring George Clinton & Jona Cerwinske at Sky Bar on December 3, 2005

Lenny Kravitz & Jona Cerwinske at Prime One Twelve on February 11, 2005

“I’ve done a lot of different objects of his for him. We met in NYC after I had just broken up with a girlfriend of mine, and I flew to New York to have some comfortable closure. I was all torn up about it. I really could’ve gone in any direction. It was an emotional time, but I was fortunate to meet him directly after that because he gave me some great advice that set it all straight and balanced things out when it could’ve been a much harder time in my life.”

Jona Cerwinske & Lenny Kravitz at Jona’s Birthday Dinner at Nobu with Lenny Kravitz & Benedikt Taschen on December 10, 2006

“Lenny brought me in under his wing and a lot of things changed in my life the minute he started to believe in me. Doors opened up from different industries and parts of the music and art world that I never thought I’d reach. He’s someone who understands what it is, and how hard it is, to be an artist. To find someone who gets you and knows where you belong- he was definitely one of those people and had an impact on my life. He’s a very intelligent, fair, giving individual.”

Jona Cerwinske & Lenny Kravitz at LIV on November 29, 2008

Louie Vega, Erykah Badu, & Jona Cerwinske at Vagabond on March 27, 2008

Erykah Badu & Jona Cerwinske at WALL on April 8, 2010

“[Erykah] is a great friend and a great painter. I love to paint with musicians. Real musicians who are real painters, not just the ones who want to paint. She’s one of them.”

Jona Cerwinske & Q-Tip at WALL on April 8, 2010

Nicola Siervo, Tony Shafarzi, Richard Meier, Jona Cerwinske, & Sky Farrell at Mynt on December 2, 2004

Jona Cerwinske & Felix Da Housecat at LIV on October 14, 2009

DJ Irie & Jona Cerwinske at Home Cookin at Rain on January 30, 2007

Jona Cerwinske & Steve-O at Mokai on January 31, 2007

Jona Cerwinske & Jerry Springer at Glass on January 23, 2008

“When Miami is your backyard, you run into everyone under the sun, even Jerry. In a weird way, I guess he’s a hero of mine. He’s like the President, except that he’s not. If America was a high school, he’d be the principal.”

Haylie Duff, Jona Cerwinske, & Hillary Duff at Suite on May 25, 2006

Dallas Austin & Jona Cerwinske at Sky Bar on March 25, 2007

Nelly Furtado & Jona Cerwinske at Nelly Furtado’s After Concert Party at Mansion on May 30, 2007

Jona Cerwinske & Sam Keller at Buddha Bar Closing Party at Sky Bar on December 4, 2005

Robert Rauschenberg & Jona Cerwinske at The Delano on December 1, 2004

“Meeting [Rauschenberg] was like… Shaking hands with history.”

Benedikt Taschen, Jona Cerwinske, & Lenny Kravitz at Jona’s Birthday Dinner at Nobu on December 10, 2006

Perez Hilton & Jona Cerwinske at Sprint Style Villa & Volleypalooza at Ocean Drive Magazine Village Day 2 on February 3, 2007

Jona Cerwinske & Zoe Kravitz at David LaChapelle & Arne Quinze Opening at Wolfgang Roth & Partners Fine Art Gallery on December 2, 2008

David LaChapelle & Jona Cerwinske at David LaChapelle & Arne Quinze Opening at Wolfgang Roth & Partners Fine Art Gallery on December 2, 2008

Jona Cerwinske at Ocean Drive Magazine presents Art Photo Expo Opening Night on December 2, 2008

“I’m just getting warm. I feel like I haven’t even begun, and I have a lot of new ways of looking at art and music that I’m looking forward to sharing with the world.”