Art Basel isn’t known for skirting political commentary. The fair is arguably even a barometer for the levels of extremism to which contemporary art is willing to go at any given moment. Last year, for example, galleries reacted pointedly to the election of Donald Trump by making last-minute changes to works on display at the behest of artists and the public.
Thirty years ago, before he made his foray into politics, Donald Trump had this crazy idea to create the most opulent, over-the-top casino the world had ever seen. He set his sights on Atlantic City, New Jersey; outbid rivals to purchase a monstrosity called the Taj Mahal; and slapped his name on the front for good measure.
Miami Art Week can be overwhelming, especially if you have champagne taste on a beer budget. So as the Magic City prepares to take on the annual art bacchanal, we’re here to guide you to some of the best events around town that’ll cost you a total of zero dollars.
Neon lights embody Miami’s essence. They’re simultaneously bright and shady, buzzing and beaming above hotel foyers and diner doorways, advertising restaurants, pawnshops, and strip clubs. Live in South Florida long enough, and you get used to their electric glow. You probably don’t even notice them anymore.
Plotting out a schedule for Miami Art Week can feel like a job daunting enough for a full detachment of obsessive military strategists. With thousands of art lovers flooding dozens of fairs all over Miami-Dade — from the biggest shindigs in Miami Beach packed with million-dollar pieces to the up-and-coming affairs with local creatives — it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But don’t sweat it. Here are our picks for the best fairs around town.
When Art Basel arrives, it can be easy to be swept up by all the art fairs that crop up around town. No Art Basel would be complete, however, without a visit to the galleries across Miami that often show their most ambitious exhibitions during the international fair.
We seek out the best of Basel that anyone can enjoy.
This year, Art Basel’s show at the Miami Beach Convention Center will charge $60 for a single day’s admission. For residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, that’s a small price to pay for access to an international cross section of contemporary art. For the gallerists, curators, and private collectors traveling to…
On the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami’s third floor, visitors are greeted by two nearly identical paintings by one of the most famous artists of the 20th Century. They depict the same image — an artist drawing a woman in his studio — and make use of the same vibrant color palette. A viewer can notice subtle distinctions in the lines and shapes used to build the scenes. But the style is impossible to confuse with any other artist’s: They were painted by Pablo Picasso.
Museums, institutions that preserve and produce culture, walk a tightrope of accessibility and excellence. They seek to attract a steady and wide-reaching audience while presenting compelling artwork that’s relevant to a broader conversation on art and its trends. Art Basel Miami Beach, one of the largest fine-art exhibitions in the…
Antonia Wright knows a thing or two about visceral experiences, and now she wants to put the spectator through one. The Miami-based performance artist has rolled naked in dingy, garbage-strewn alleys, walked thin ice to submerge herself in freezing water, and used her nude body as a force to burst through glass.
Haven’t stepped foot in a gallery or museum in months? That will probably change next week when the art world descends on Miami for Art Basel Miami Beach and the surrounding Miami Art Week activities. While some see Art Basel and its satellite fairs as a glorified flea market, it’s still…
In September, as Hurricane Irma barreled toward South Florida after killing nearly a dozen people across the Caribbean, Art Basel Miami Beach released its list of gallery exhibitors for December 2017. Some critics, including New Times, questioned the timing and tone of the announcement.
Any given night, a stroll through the streets of downtown Miami feels like a walk through a dystopian wasteland. Abandoned storefronts in forgotten buildings line dimly lit sidewalks; displaced bodies litter alleyways, their makeshift bedrooms haphazardly strewn under overhangs. It’s not hard to imagine the area as the scene of a futuristic nightmare despite the best intentions of city officials and developers aiming to make downtown the next epicenter of luxury in Miami.
Do you remember 2014, when Art Basel reached peak internet virility after Usher charged his phone using just the power of the female sexual organ? At the time, artist Lena Marquise gave New Times a cryptic interview about the performance piece, Body as Commodity. Three years later, she hopes to dispel some of the misconceptions about her work through her installation Vagina Chapel at Satellite Art Show.
Get ready, Miami: We’re about to get Art Basel all up in us in the coming days, and it’s going to be glorious. The main event doesn’t kick off until December 7, but art lovers in the know will be taking advantage of all of the fair’s satellite spoils as early as this Thursday.
David LaChapelle’s I Walk Out of My Prison depicts Miley Cyrus as a naked, technicolor butterfly with wings spread and arms open in a Christ-like gesture. But as with much of LaChapelle’s work, the photograph is paired with a juxtaposing image — in this case, Solitary. Cyrus is captured in the same room, still naked but in starkly real color, on her knees and reaching desperately for light pouring through a window.
There’s a new airline for art enthusiasts fortunate enough to jet-set but not financially equipped to fly private. Angelhaha Airline, the “first-ever artist airline,” is a performance project/business venture by Chinese artist Qinmin Liu, who wants to manicure the entire in-flight experience, from the safety demonstration down to the smell of its recycled air.
If you’ve always thought your yoga-toned bod would look that much hotter with an original work of art, this could be your moment. Renowned tattoo artist Thea Duskin will offer Aqua Art Miami attendees the chance to acquire a one-off, single-session tattoo at Ghostprint Gallery December 6 through 10. But you might need to queue up: Priced at $500, the sessions are first come, first served.
Thousands of off-white teeth adorn masks, shoes, and codpieces in the artist duo Fantich & Young’s installation Apex Predator | Darwinian Voodoo. Presenting itself as a luxury lifestyle boutique, the conceptual pop-up merges consumer goods and postmortem objects in a macabre comment on capitalism, inequality, and the “survival of the fittest” principle often espoused by people in power.
For the past three decades, Art Miami has established itself as an indispensable fair during Miami Art Week. While heavy-hitters such as Art Basel, Design Miami, Scope, and Untitled have monopolized Miami Beach, Art Miami and its sister fair, Context Art Miami, have commanded the streets of midtown for the past nine years.
Gary Nader plans to sell $100 million worth of art come December to build a Latin American art museum in downtown Miami.
