4 May 22-28, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ COCONUT GROVE MORE ON LES IS THE ART DEALER WHO WAS FORBIDDEN TO SELL ART...SELLING ART? BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN A mere 400 feet from the FBI- raided and now shuttered Mi- ami Fine Art Gallery near the corner of Commodore Avenue in Coconut Grove lies some- thing between a museum, a gift shop, and an art gallery. One may purchase an array of col- orful items at this destination: Kaws statues, playful donut paintings, pop wall art, canvas totes adorned with happy faces, art coffee ta- ble books, Mona Lisa journals, and, of course, underwear donning the message “Sexiest Man Alive.” Inside the small shop, Coconut Grove win- dow shoppers may procure the next house- warming gift for their art connoisseur best friend or a $2,000 modern sculpture to deco- rate their new high-rise apartment. This store, opened in October 2024, is the gift shop of Miami Fine Art Gallery, whose owner is Leslie Roberts. The 62-year-old art dealer, who served prison time in 2015 for selling forged Peter Max art, is currently facing federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy after al- legedly running an Andy Warhol forgery scheme out of his Coconut Grove gallery. After the FBI raided the gallery in April and indicted Roberts, he boarded it up and closed it. A few days later, after Roberts defaulted on his $19,000 monthly rent payment, his landlord filed an eviction notice in Miami- Dade County Circuit Court (the case has since been voluntarily dismissed). According to special bond conditions filed in Roberts’ case and obtained by New Times, he may have “no involvement in [the] art in- dustry/financial.” The court documents indi- cate that his ex-wife, Silvia Castro Roberts, co-signed the $250,000 bond. Yet, amid Roberts’ legal and financial trou- bles and despite his strict bond employment restrictions, the Miami Fine Art Gallery Gift Shop remains open. Retired FBI agent Robert Giczy, who previ- ously investigated Roberts as part of his 2015 criminal conviction, tells New Times that such a restrictive bond condition may speak to the evidence prosecutors have uncovered. “In my experience, it appears to be a fairly strict restriction and indicates the severity, le- gitimacy, and magnitude of the evidence that has been produced to the court,” he adds. New Times visited the small store to see what was on the shelves. In no particular or- der: Vincent van Gogh-inspired umbrellas, a Hello Kitty cookie jar, bedazzled Barbie logo hats, seemingly dead Sesame Street character plushies (R.I.P., Bert and Ernie), and Andy Warhol puzzles. During our Tuesday afternoon visit, we overheard a woman negotiate a deal on a pair of Donald Duck sculptures (retailing at a cool $2,000 a piece, the lone sales clerk said). The store’s walls featured many large artworks from the artist Con$umr. The clerk said one such piece, a sizable black rendition of a wrinkled $100 bill hang- ing above the checkout desk, goes for $5,000. Another, a shiny dinosaur with a golden crown above its head, inspired by famous art- ist Jean-Michel Basquiat, was also available for $2,000. She said much of the store’s art comes from “Colombian artists.” A small Romero Britto sculpture, appar- ently signed by the Brazilian artist, priced at $2,000, sat on a shelf towards the back of the store. In 2010, Britto sued Roberts and later won a federal permanent injunction after the artist learned Roberts and his then-wife, Sil- via, sold inauthentic Britto artwork on eBay and through their gallery, Britto in the Grove. The injunction barred Roberts and his wife from falsely claiming any connection to Britto or his company. It prohibited them from using his name or trademarks to pose as authorized representatives, saying they got original Britto art through a relative in Brazil, selling counterfeit art as genuine Britto works, and displaying any signage with his name at their galleries. When New Times asked the woman be- hind the register whether Leslie Roberts owned the store, she said it belonged to Silvia, his ex-wife, who knows only what the news has reported about Roberts’ situation. Florida Department of State corporate records reveal that Miami Fine Art Gallery LLC is still ac- tive, with Roberts listed as the registered agent and manager. The shop’s Instagram handle, once @mi- ami_fine_art_gift_shop, has changed twice in a few weeks. Mid last week, it became @ur- ban_art_gallery. After New Times made nu- merous attempts to speak with Roberts’ attorney, Jason Wandner, about the gift shop and his client’s bond conditions, someone seemingly modified its Instagram handle again, this time to @shirt_boots_hats_. “Presents exclusive for you,” the shop’s bio reads. “Fine art & unique gifts in Miami @mi- amifinegalleryllc.” As our action-packed visit came to a close, New Times snagged a business card from the desk just before exiting the shop. Underneath the employee’s name, struck through with a Sharpie, one can plainly see “Miami Fine Art.” | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS The Romero Britto sculpture stands on the black table’s middle shelf. Photo by Naomi Feinstein ▼ MIAMI ROAD HAZARD WHO’S BEHIND THAT TRUMP ‘WANNABE DICTATOR’ BILLBOARD? BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN A new billboard bashing President Don- ald Trump now stands in Miami. It’s part of a recent wave of advertisement campaigns calling out South Florida Republican politicians and the Trump administration. The new billboard was paid for by Keep Them Honest, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit critical of the Cu- ban-American South Florida lawmakers, like U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, who support Trump’s deportation efforts, calls Trump a “wannabe dictator” with a photo of the president’s face. The billboard notes that dicta- tors may be welcome in other countries, but “not in the USA.” “Donald Trump is running amok,” the dark- money organization website reads. “He is un- checked and out of control. Meanwhile, your representatives are staying silent. Keep Them Honest, Inc. exists to make sure your representa- tives hear your voice and stand up to Trump.” The controversial sign is located on the Dol- phin Expressway (State Road 836), just west of Miami International Airport. A press release for the sign says that the billboard is three miles west of LeJuene Road on the north side of the road and faces west. Keep Them Honest installed the billboard on Friday, May 9. The dark money group has launched a digital ad campaign and installed billboards throughout South Florida to criti- cize Trump-aligned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, Salazar, and Giménez. As social media learned about the new bill- board, many users applauded the campaign. “We need more!!!” a Reddit user commented on the r/Miami subreddit. Mas!!! More cowbell!!!!” Another added, “We need one in the middle of Hialeah and another in Doral .” One user chimed in, “FIRE. This isn’t even the only one, they have another one with Rubio, Salazar, and two other MAGA idiots with the word TRAITORS on it (turnpike (south) north- bound, I think)” “Just wait until the shelves are half empty be- cause of the stupid tariffs,” a Reddit user added. “And to the ‘market experts and crypto bros,’ good luck .” [email protected] "WE NEED ONE IN THE MIDDLE OF HIALEAH AND ANOTHER IN DORAL."
