Fergus McCaffrey, Jack Early, Yokos, 2012 (Photo: Courtesy Fergus McCaffrey)
Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 will roar noisily into town Dec. 4 through 7 on its metaphoric Harley dragging along a gang of hi/lo art, culture, artifice, glitz and glam; all swimming in a primordial soup, chunks of big business floating in a champagne broth.
Over 20 satellite fairs orbit the main Art Basel Miami Beach fair at the Convention Center, augmented by a subset of pop-up galleries, special exhibitions, lectures, panels, events and installations to keep Miami-Dade visitors and residents alike awash in activities, traffic and stimulating visuals.
To examine all aspects of what this mega fair brings to the Magic City would take tens of thousands of words. I will attempt to break the info into sample sized bites.
Don’t be fooled by the official dates of the main fair; start expecting action a week before, shaking up our already wide awake citizenry. No venue will be left untouched.
In addition to Art Basel proper, in Miami Beach expect to find: Aqua Art Miami, Design Miami, Ink Miami, NADA Art Fair, PULSE Miami, SELECT, Scope Miami, Untitled, Art Fair Miami Beach
Fairs in Miami will include: Art Miami, ArtSpot, Concept-Fair, CONTEXT, Fridge Art Fair, Miami Photo Salon, Miami Project, Miami River Art Fair, Pinta, PRIZM, Red Dot Miami, Sculpt Miami, Spectrum
Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 will be enjoying its hirteenth year on site. 267 modern and contemporary galleries from 31 countries will grace the Convention Center floor with over 4,000 artists displaying myriad artistic expression. New artists and affordable art, moving up to museum grade masterpieces will be on view. There are eight additional sectors other than Galleries in Art Basel: Nova, Positions, Edition, Kabinet, Public, Film, Magazines and Survey, all exhibiting a different faction of the art vortex.
Galerie Eigen + Art, David Schnell, Niveau, 2014 (Courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin, Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin)
Soundscape Park (New World Symphony wall, 500 17th St., Miami Beach ) will show film, as well as also showing inside the convention center. From December 3 through 7, 80 films/videos will be shown in the two venues. Big Eyes, directed by Tim Burton, relates a monumental art fraud of the ‘50’s/60’s by painter Walter Keane; the special screening will be offered at the Colony Theater on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8:30pm.
The Morning Conversation and Afternoon Salon series offer discussion panels from leading international art members, presenting the highest ranking artists, curators, collectors, etc. I find these moments to be thrilling. At 2 p.m. on Dec. 5, the Salon program (located inside the convention center fair) will feature Playfulness: artists as online gamers, surfers and armchair digital revolutionaries, a talk between David Gryn and artists Tabor Robak and Rachel Rose will be moderated by curator Chrissie Iles.
Make sure you know who’s discussing/showing what and when during the fair’s reign. Use this link to plug into the EVENTS calendar (organization will be your best friend) to find out about ticketing and facts: www.artbasel.com/en/Miami-Beach/About-the-Show/Calendar
Two of Miami’s local galleries made the cut this year for the official ArtBasel Miami Beach Fair. The venerated Fred Snitzer Gallery has returned along with new kid on the downtown Miami block, the Jon Michael’s Gallery, a surprise addition though they have been turning heads with their spot on choice of exhibitions of late. Snitzer will be featuring Hernan Bas, Enrico Martinez Celaya, Ridley Howard, Alice Aycock and Jon Pylypchuk (and yes, I spelled that right).
Under the Art Basel umbrella, Miami Beach’s Collins Park will undergo a transformation with twenty six artists from here and abroad adorning the area with site specific large scale projects with the theme of Fieldwork. On Dec. 3 from 8:30 to 10 p.m., the public may attend a special evening opening program of live performances by Ryan Gander, Christian Falsnaes, Liz Glynn and Dawn Kasper, and Alix Pearlstein.
Dec. 4 to Dec. 7, the park is open and free to public with tours offered at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.. Then on Friday, Dec. 5, from 5 to 6 p.m., Nicholas Baume, the director and chief curator of New York's Public Art Fund who organized the Public sector, will be in conversation with Gander, Glynn and Goldberg in the Art Basel Salon. You will need to have Art Basel fair tickets to get to the Salon inside the convention center.
Collins Park is located on (wait for it) Collins Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Street.
ArtBasel Miami Beach:
Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing - Lucerne, Li Gang, 2nd August, 2014 (Photo: Courtesy Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing - Lucerne)
Art Basel schedule inside the Convention Center
www.artbasel.com/en/Miami-Beach/For-Visitors
Preview (by Invitation only):
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Vernissage (by Invitation only):
Thursday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Open to the public:
Thursday, Dec. 4, 3 to 8 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 5, noon to 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 6, noon to 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 7, noon to 6 p.m.
The 10th edition of Design Miami will again be under the big tent in a parking lot adjacent to Convention Center Drive and the MB Convention Center. The always anticipated pavilion outside the front DM entrance is designed by Minneapolis-based Jonathan Mueke for 2014.
Dec. 3 to 7, Design Miami is celebrating its anniversary of high design with foremost world leaders in their field. Design Miami talks are a must. See website for schedule. Meridian Avenue at 19th Street Miami Beach
Don’t leave out a visit to Miami’s original art fair. ArtMiami is on deck for its 25th anniversary during the same time frame. It does not disappoint:
ArtMiami
Dec. 2 to 7
The Art Pavilion, Midtown
Wynwood Arts District
3101 NE 1st Ave
Miami, 33137
One other thing: PAMM will stay open on Monday, Dec.1st for art week. They will be sporting two outdoor waterfront sculptures from past Design Miami fairs. Konstantin Grcic's Netscape will be up through October 2015 and Buckminster Fuller’s 24-foot Fly’s Eye Dome, on view until Dec. 14.
