By Abby Margulies
This week marks the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach, the art fair that has helped turn Miami into a destination for the art and design world. The week is packed with a month’s worth of events, exhibitions, and parties for art lovers. It’s hard not to have FOMO, we know, so to help you narrow it down, we’ve highlighted a few favorites that we’re most looking forward to.
ART FAIRS
There are enough fairs to keep you busy enough each day, if you’d like. There’s the main event itself, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach, and we can’t wait to check out the many exciting galleries exhibiting this year. From Blum & Poe to Hauser + Wirth, Gagosian to Pace, the exhibitions are always stunning and we can’t wait to see what’s in store. We love the other fairs too, and are eager to visit Art Miami, Untitled Miami Beach, SCOPE Miami Beach, and PULSE, among the many others.
This year, though, we’re particularly excited to check out Design Miami, where R & Company will bring together rare historical masterworks with exemplary pieces of contemporary design. The gallery’s booth will feature a curated selection of Pierre Yovanovitch’s furniture designs, which will be making their Miami debut; the Mesa Parker dining table and chairs, a unique set by Brazilian architect and designer Sergio Rodrigues in 1978, which will be on view for the first time ever; and new works by The Haas Brothers, including a masterwork door aptly named Door Than This.
BLINK, BURN
If you want to get a bit off the beaten path be sure to check out BLINK, BURN, a collaboration between Pratt and New World Symphony, organized in collaboration with If So, What? partner David Gryn. The program is the culmination of a yearlong collaboration between New World Symphony Fellows and students from Pratt Institute, who will together present four audiovisual artworks.
“This program was created to help the students feel that they have some currency during this time and can talk about their work,” said Gryn. “It teaches them how you do a project that might encourage collaboration, which is not taught or shown at art schools.”
ICA MIAMI
We’re itching to get into the new ICA Miami, which opened its doors just last week, and boasts free admission to all with a reservation. Designed by Spanish architecture firm Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos, the new 37,500-square-foot building features double the gallery space as the former building and a new outdoor sculpture garden.
Among the exhibitions on view will be The Everywhere Studio, a major group exhibition exploring the significance of the artist’s studio, from the post-war period to the present day. The exhibition features more than 50 artists, including Pablo Picasso, Yves Klein, Philip Guston, Bruce Nauman, Carolee Schneemann, Dieter Roth, Andy Warhol, and Martin Kippenberger, among others, to look at the way the artist’s studio has been a central source for both predicting and responding to economic and social currents.
The inaugural program will also include solo exhibitions by Edward and Nancy Kienholz, Senga Nengudi, and Hélio Oiticica, among others. And, according to Travel + Leisure, 60% of the artists exhibited will not before have shown in the U.S., keeping with the museum’s commitment to showcasing emerging and undiscovered talent. There’s a lot to look forward to!
FAIR.
Immerse yourself in site-specific art by female artists, with Fair. a timely, three-part exhibit taking place throughout Brickell City Centre. Fair. is composed of three parts, Market, Play, and Trade, which together will showcase works by more than 50 female-identifying artists, including the Guerilla Girls, Yoko Ono, and Cara Despain.
At Fair Market visitors will be invited into a large storefront space that will feature artists’ billboards, posters, and apparel that deals in some capacity with gender inequality, marketing tactics, commerce, labor, and fair wages.
At Fair Play, viewers can take part in The Femmes Video Art Festival, curated by Micol Hebron, which ecnourages conversation about gender, identity, and authorship.
Meanwhile, at Fair Trade, visitors will be invited to be part of the experience, through interactive artworks, performances, and happenings, many of which encourage audiences to participate and engage with the work.
LOCAL GALLERIES
Of course, don’t forget the local dealers who helped make Miami such a fantastic destination for art and design in the first place. Spinello Projects, Avant Gallery, David Castillo Gallery, Locust Projects, Fredric Snitzer, PRIMARY, the list goes on. We know you’ll be suffering from art fatigue, but a tour of the local favorites is sure to revive you.