An Introduction to Miami Art Fair Week
As the art world descended on southern Florida, our girl in the know ran an eye over the bewildering selection of fairs – and sub fairs – from this year
Article by Teriha Yaegashi
For those new to the art world, the Miami fairs generally serve as a good introduction to what’s hot and available right now, without too high a threshold of entry. Having famously become a week that’s far more art fairs, it’s a notoriously whirlwind week of packed itineraries full of several hundred galleries at a staggering 19 different art fairs, frequent celebrity sightings, corporate sponsors, endless parties, and a general air of “what happens in Miami, stays in Miami!” And on this magical occasion, an otherwise opaque art world suddenly warms to the sunny Miami weather and everyone lets loose, with sales flying and the liquor flowing strong from dawn til dusk. Everyone loves to lament that the Miami art week has now become more about the parties than the art, but everyone who’s anyone still manages to show up. Here’s a full preview of what’s happening this year:
Art Fairs
Art Basel in Miami Beach
Often referred to as the “main fair”, this massive art fair is always the main draw for the art world, and most especially when it comes to Miami. Of the 267 galleries featured this year, 29 galleries are new to the fair (which means that, the other 238 have fared well in past years, and have decided to return. This fair is the mainstay, and Art Basel Miami Beach has enjoyed up to a 100% retention rate in recent year). Overall, this year’s fair leaned on the conservation side, as if giving in to the general sense of “art fair fatigue”. While many of the art world’s top artists were featured, the actual works shown appeared to be secondary works, despite their showing at blue chip galleries. It is, after all, December, and 2015 has seen one of the most exhaustive art market years yet with the market grossing approximately $10 billion to date. It may not have been a fair of discovery; business-wise, the art fair seemed to do as well as ever, with a few key galleries doing exceptionally well. Most notably was the fresh energy at the Editions section, which features galleries showing fine art prints and edition works. Pace Prints was in the lead as usual, with a new release of a 250-edition KAWS three-print-set release (priced from $15,000-$20,000) that sold within hours of opening. What stirred the most headlines, however, has been the highly unusual X-acto knife stabbing incident that occurred late, on Friday afternoon around 5:15pm. The suspect, a 26-year named Siyoun Zhao, has since been taken into custody by the Miami Police under attempted murder charges, and had reportedly said upon getting cuffed that she “had to kill her [the victim] and two more”, and that “she had to watch them bleed”. The otherwise free-spirited and civilized fair has, admittedly, fallen victim to thefts in the past. Perhaps it’s time to let aside art world decorum and ascribe to real-world security measures…?
Design Miami
An easy favourite, this fair brings a bit of a respite from the main fair’s art frenzy and an opportunity to enjoy a well-curated, manageable selection of design, furniture, and jewellery pieces. This year was overall less exciting than last year, although The Carpenters Workshop and Seomi Gallery were reliably great. Friedman Benda also offered a spectacular presentation, with an experimental section of 8 international artists from Brazil, South Africa, Chile, the U.S., Korea, and the Netherlands. Patrick Parrish was also fabulous, with some more affordable offerings such as the ever evolving ceramicist Cody Hoyt whose beautifully painted, unique ceramic pieces now range from $6,000 - $10,000. Always try and catch this one if you can’t make it into any of the other fairs.
Untitled
A general newcomer to the Miami art week scene, it offers a nice selection of young-ish galleries and their ideas of what’s most interesting right now in the art world. There are always some lovely galleries mixed in with the unknowns here, and what’s most especially pleasant about the fair is that it seems to equally appreciate the artworks as well as their locale on the south beach ocean shore. Whether you really go for the art, or to have cocktails by the beach, there is a general pleasantness to the entire fair. Nothing too crazy. This year’s highlight was perhaps the ToiletPaper Magazine-curated VIP lounge (with designs by one of its founders, artist Maurizio Cattelan). That, and that Sylvester Stallone is rumoured to have purchased a large painting on the opening night.
Art Miami
One of the original Miami fairs, far before it became “Miami Art Week”, this 26-year old fair has seen many iterations. Generally speaking, however, it’s regarded as the fair that’s best attended by Miami locals. Despite it being largely ignored by most art world players, it is a large art fair with plenty of opportunities for secondary art market acquisitions*. It’s for the buyer who doesn’t care about the art world to still get something they recognize, if they’re willing to sift through the yard sale like atmosphere and be diligent in researching the provenance (do not get duped!). While the quality of artworks is generally low, sales are generally strong and this year seemed to be no exception. If you plan to go, bring along an art advisor friend (like your truly) to help clue you in on what’s really happening behind the scenes.
*Secondary market = works that once had previous owners, that were sold to another or several other buyers. Generally priced higher than the original sale price. There are also many forgeries, so buyers beware.
Miami Project / Art on Paper
A bit of a lone wolf, these two relatively young, joint fairs are in partnership with Market San Francisco, the Seattle Art Fair, and Texas Contemporary (among others,) so there was a good number of west coast galleries represented, along with the typical mix of New York galleries. Although this art fair isn’t generally known to have the most innovative artworks, these fairs often get overlooked by the larger art-obsessed crowd, but there were a few gems if you’re willing to bypass the rest. Standout gallery was Baltimore’s Randall Scott Projects, with offerings by Seth Adelsberger and Alex Ebsetiein, who was recently written up in the New York Times for her “paintings” made entirely of cut-up yoga mats. A charming, well-selected booth in an other-wise mostly derivative art fair.
PULSE
What was once a vibrant, spunky young art fair (with lots of neon) appears to have become a casualty of the over-exertion of the art fair market. There are few visionary (or even experimental) galleries left. This year, the most exciting artwork was a carnivalesque performance by Kate Durbin, whose underwear and Hello Kitty sticker clad troupe pranced around the art fair with selfie sticks. It was the perfect commentary on the generally hedonistic aura of Miami art week, as well as a nod to the increasingly narcissistic norm of society at large. In an effort to maintain its image as a “fun” art fair, PULSE offered juice sponsorships and a wild room of various kinetic (and very neon) sculptures as sponsored by Target. However, does this really make for a genuine art viewing (or, for that matter, buying) experience?
Otherwise, there are still a handful of smaller “satellite” art fairs, as well as museum exhibitions, private collection viewings, open studios, hotel parties and a number of exhibitions. .
To stay informed, follow art advisor and Riddle’s Arts Contributor Teriha Yaegashi on instagram: @teriha.