7 Amazing Street Artists We Found at Basel Castle 2013

If Art Basel Miami Beach’s unofficial satellite events — those on the mainland, where things are decidedly less stuffy — had an official smell, it would be spray paint. (Also, weed — wait, what does that smell like?) Street art abounds throughout Miami neighborhoods like Wynwood with everyone trying to get a piece of the blog buzz pie. Some of it is better than others, naturally.

But, most of what we caught at one of the weekend’s best events, Basel Castle, fell firmly into the “better” camp. In its fourth year running, the party has morphed into part all-day festival, part live-painting extravaganza. Sets by musical performers like Chance the Rapper, SBTRKT, and Gesaffelstein provided the soundtrack for off-the-cuff, sprayed creations by hand-picked artists on jumbo-sized canvases.

Here are seven of the coolest from the evening, in various states of completion.

This is the Internet, so we had to start with this cat by Atlanta-based Greg Mike, because duh.

Here’s one by Peter Ferrari, who also hails from Atlanta. What’s going on here? It looks almost like an abstracted Creation story … or maybe not. Art: It’s your own personal Rorschach test.

Here’s an evil Spongebob, courtesy of streetwear brand Mishka and artist L’Amour Supreme, to ruin your childhood dreams a little bit.

You, too, see Bad-era Michael Jackson in this piece by Sheryo, right?

Pale Horse creates these really amazing, tattoo-flash-inspired pieces of kinetic art. Viewers could spin this one around and interact with it.

Psychedelic rodent? Exploding something-or-other? You decide, in this painting by Nosego, from Philadelphia.

This cosmic skeleton kinda thing by NYCHOS might win overall for size — this beautifully creepy baby was at least three times as long as any other work on display.

Arielle Castillo is Fusion’s culture editor, reporting on arts, music, culture, and subcultures from the streets on up. She’s also a connoisseur of weird Florida, weightlifting, and cats.