NICHOLAS and SHEILA PYE. Loudly, Death Unties, 2007. Curator’s Office | Washington, DC.
From December 3rd to the 8th in 2013, collectors, dealers, curators and artists coexisted in a city known as a beach paradise, which becomes, albeit for a short period of time, the epicenter of contemporary art. In the previous edition, Art Miami showed great success with a high influx of collectors, curators, artists, connoisseurs and designers: around 11,000 on opening night and 60,000 during the 6-day affair.
Art Miami maintains a preeminent position in America’s contemporary art market. Its rich history as the oldest fair of this kind in the city, and the variety of works displayed, make it a mandatory stop for collectors, curators, museum directors and interior designers, who have the opportunity to see up close the most important avant-garde works of the international art scene.
CONTEXT is one of Art Miami’s sister events and aims to stimulate emerging careers, which makes it the ultimate platform for more or less established galleries who come to display the works of new talents. Its open atmosphere generates an interesting dialogue between artists, gallery owners and collectors.
RAPHAËLLE DE GROOT. La réserve, 2012. z2o Galleria l Sara Zanin.
Its space, combined with that of Art Miami, welcomed 190 exhibitors in an area of 200,000 square feet. The section ART FROM BERLIN, organized by Berliner Landesverband Galerie (Gallery Association of Berlin), with the official support of the European Union, represented the Berlin art scene through six galleries. Galerie Berlin exhibited works by Christoph Bouet and Stefan Reichmann; Galerie Kornfeld displayed pieces by Franziska Klotz, Susanne Roewer and Alexander Polzin; Kuhn & Partner Galerie featured Birgit Borggrebe, Christoph Damm and Andrea Wallgren; Schmalfuss Berlin Contemporary Fine Arts brought us works by Anke Eilergerhard, Stefan Hoenerloh and Bodo Korsig; Swedish Photography showed pieces by Dawid and Malou Bergman; and Tammen & Partner presented exhibits by Dietmar Brixy, Volker März and Werner Schmidt.
ART VIDEO LOUNGE returned with a strong focus on video art and new artistic technologies. Their proposals were curated by LaRete Art Projects, an institution dedicated to research and support of new artistic strategies. Visitors were able to enjoy audiovisual works from the Video-Forum Collection of the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, one of the most consistent German organizations devoted to the collection, display and dissemination of video art.
Among the works that came to Miami, Hartmut Bitomsky‘s B-52 reflected on the symptoms of our times with a social and political exploration through an elaborate, minimalist and poetic montage. Another interesting work by Anetta Mona Chisa and Lucia Tkáčová, who in their Manifesto of Futurist Woman (Let’s Conclude), addressed gender relations and their personal roles as female artists from Eastern Europe in an art world dominated by men and by the West. Other titles from ART VIDEO LOUNGE included: In Free Fall by Hito Steyerl, and Amir Yatziv’s DETROIT.
JAY YAN. Sleeping Giant, 2011. Galleri Urbane Marfa + Dallas.
Video also was the subject of a unique exhibition, ZOOM IN, an interactive platform by artists considered remarkable by the leadership of LaRete Art Projects. The viewing booths for these images were displayed in a covered walkway, which connected the CONTEXT and Art Miami pavilions in Miami’s Wynwood Art District. The proposed titles were Sleeping Giant by Jay Yan, Trilogy by Nicholas and Sheila Pye, and La réserve of Raphaelle by Groot.
The CHECK OUT section of the fair was a must-see experience. It featured provocative installations by artists such as Pablo Atchugarry, Milton Becerra, Beto De Volder and Sophia Vari. And if you want to think big, BIG THINK, paid homage to León Ferrari, the Argentine master who died this year at age 83, with a solo exhibition of his murals and sculptures.
BETO DE VOLDER. Untitled, 2010. Durban Segnini Gallery | Miami.
AQUA ART MIAMI in its ninth edition, and also linked to Art Miami, was committed to vibrant international programs and support for small galleries and emerging artists. Located in a classic South Beach boutique hotel with spacious showrooms overlooking an interior courtyard, it has become an ideal meeting place to enjoy the creative exchange. Thanks to its excellent location at the heart of South Beach, it attracted many visitors who came to participate in this exciting weeklong feast, which also included Art Basel, Scope, Art Asia and a long list of events that converged in Miami during the first week of December in 2013. AQUA ART featured 47 young galleries from America, Europe and Asia as well as an innovative program of performance art, new media and installations. ■
