Last year, the cosmos of the art world alligned and shone a beam of light over the continent of Europe. The Venice Biennale, Art Basel (Switzerland), Dokumenta 12 in Kassel, and the Sculpture Projects Muenster opened in consecutive fashion, spurring a pilgrimage of artists, writers, curators, spectators, and jet-set elite. Also known as the "Grand Tour," these events engage the international art community, serving to highlight new shifts in contemporary art and curatorial practice. Of the three, Art Basel is the most explicit commercial event and has established itself as the most successful art fair in the world.
Six years ago, a carbon copy of Art Basel was launched in Miami, Florida, offering a new destination for the mass consumption of art. Its international success has overshadowed other historically important fairs in the U.S. - including The Armory Show (New York) and Art Chicago. While Miami may initially seem a strange destination to establish a prestigious fair, it makes perfect (non)sense: the balmy weather allows for enjoyable beach and poolside parties, luxurious hotels, and spicy local Cubano culture adds to the dramatic backdrop for a full week of showmanship and multi-million dollar sales. While it snows in Europe, everyone sweats in Florida.
In early December, I flew to Miami in order to investigate the plethora of fairs that had now sprung up and meet with other artists and gallerists, to gauge the benefits of participating in a fair that can cost well over $30,000. In addition to the main Art Basel Miami fair, several other satellite fairs have emerged to cater to a wide variety of galleries not included in Art Basel. Several artists have also initiated their own fairs, doing without galleries entirely.
This year, there were about 20 fairs in total, and after having survived the gauntlet of talking to hundreds of people, seeing thousands of artworks, I will present a review of some of the most noteworthy side-fairs inculding: Aqua, Art Miami (not to be confused with Art Basel), Bridge, GEISAI, Nada, and Pulse. One of the best artist projects I had seen in Miami was also part of a collateral event to Art Basel called Art Positions. Galleries presented curated projects in small, often unventilated shipping containers. More on this later.
Seen around the Wynnwood district, Miami.
Typically, a fair-goer will start their morning with free breakfast catered at the Marguiles collection (an institution in itself), jaunt over to the main fair for a lecture on architecture and collecting sound art, down Mojitos while perusing Aqua or Bridge, stop in just before happy hour at their hotel, don their evening wear, and prepare to hob-nob at one of the various gallery or fashion thrown after-parties.
What does it mean for the art experience and the idea of pilgrimage to have become such a leisure sport? When thousands of galleries are showing at the fair simultaneously, how do you stick out? Is it worth the money? What are the fairs like? Answers to these questions in the next installment...
For now, here's a tongue-in-cheek articlette from NY Mag about the different 'tribes' of Art Basel Miami: http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/41292/
Which one are you? Unfortunately, there are no local categories for the amazing drag queens and muscle bums!