Congratulations, Miami, you've survived another Art Basel. Riptide dropped by the main fair one final time late yesterday afternoon. Galleries had put out some new works since opening day, while some gallerists were literally counting their revenue, reportedly up from last year. That's not surprising, considering much of the work looked like it was meant to sell. Video works, which hit a peak a few years ago, were rare this time. Interactive works and anything burgeoning on "performance" were rarer. Surprisingly, even photo works seemed sparse. Instead, the galleries relied on attention-attracting 2-D works and sculptures.
After part one, here are a few more of our favorites from Art Basel Miami Beach 2009.
The mediums listed for this painting included The Financial Times as the painting was made over stock listings. It makes us wonder, if newspapers, in their traditional form, died, how would artists react?
If currency ever heads the way of the newspaper, we'll have bigger problems than wondering how the art world react, though money remains a popular subject (and in some cases medium). This piece, in particular, stuck out like a bad omen.
One of the few local artists at one of the few local galleries.
This is actually a canvas covered in black acrylic with holes of punched in it to create the image.
The subject matter of this painting is so universal it's almost like you can see yourself in it. Yes, these are supposed to look like vulvas. In fact, this is groundbreaking vulval sculpture right here.
Laura Lima Sinistro (Biambo), 2009 at Galeria Luisa Strina. One of the few pieces that incorporated performance.
