It's hard to believe another edition of Art Basel Miami Beach is in the books. This year I dove in with both feet knowing that really seeing all of Art Basel is the proverbial "unicorn project". My best advice is GO! See what happens. You'll see what you're meant to see. Today I don my "art critic hat" to share my experience with you.
This year's event began for me with Art & Design Uncorked hosted by the Mistresses of Media known as Modenus. It was a reunion of design peeps from their blog tour events but all art and interior design pros were welcome too. It would be hard to top the venue which was no less than The Ritz Carlton, Coconut Grove. Nice! Cocktail party, new friends, reconnections, a full day of useful and relevant talks topped off with a dinner cruise on Biscayne Bays (I thought to myself, what wait, isn't this were Dexter dumped the bodies!?!?). Anyway Miami is my hometown and it was nice to be back and see it from this perspective.
The hubs entered the picture on Wednesday evening, traveling down to meet up so we could hit the ground running on Thursday morning. First stop, Art Miami. Art Basel is held not only in the Miami Beach Convention Center but also at satellite venues around the city. Collectively these fairs are known as Art Week Miami. In addition to art, Design Miami is held right along side of Art Basel. Like I said, you can't see everything and, alas I missed this part, but it's on my list for next time.
One big fair is located in the arts district known as Wynnwood. Art Miami and sister fair Context can be found there, just look for the big white tents! The work included a wide variety of painting, sculpture and some kinetic pieces as well. All contemporary, conceptual, a feast for the eyes and definitely food for thought. Here are some of my favorites.
Mayme Kratz embeds natural elements into translucent resin yielding a smooth surface with lots of visual depth. I am drawn to and intrigued by repetition-so I love it!
Look, repetition again! Some of my images may surprise you if you think all or most contemporary art is abstract. There was a lot of figurative art, even photo realism in the mix. Mary A. Waters is an Irish artist who is in love with the paintings by the masters. This is her interpretation of Bia de Médici by renaissance painter Agnolo Bronzino. His oil painting was created in 1542. I have always loved the original. Bia is a renaissance version of my daughter at that age.
Chotvichai's work is very striking and deals with issues of gender and identity. Perhaps the topic is not so original but her methods are. Interestingly, her works are typically self portraits, like the one above. She's very fascinating to read about and you can find more here.
Susan Grossman's drawing is highly detailed yet, in a way, unspecific, leaving it to the viewer to fill in the blanks.
So this Lego sculpture wins in my book for whimsy and humor. If you look really closely and open the little door there is a little man sitting on his little "throne". I wonder how many times his privacy was violated during the show!
I'm so sorry I can't tell you who the mastermind is behind this, possibly A Wei Wei? He has been working with Legos of late but that's just a guess. If you know please give it up!
Definitely one of the best in show for me was this sculpture by English artist Jose Martin. I love the delicious texture and super saturated Alizarin Violet color, not to mention the awesome name, an all around winner!!
I've been dying to incorporate stitchery into my art and Russian artist Tanya Akhmetgalieva does just that. She also works in many other diverse media including video.
This great example of Abstract Expressionism is by an artist from the Phillipines. Alfonso Ossorio also happened to be one of the pioneers of assemblage (sort of a 3D collage) in the early 60s. I love the vibrant colors in this painting. They draw me in and beckon me to learn more about this interesting artist which you can do here.
You know I love me my mermaids and just look at the exquisite writhing repetition! Wow.
Originally from Germany, Hans Hofmann is another Abstract Expressionist who ended up in New York. As you can see, he was a master of color. Hofmann made his living for much of his life, teaching art and running his own schools.
This French photographer crafts his images using thousands of high resolution close ups to create large compositions. You could get lost in this piece! The detail is incredible with an interesting combination of crisp focus and hazy swirly movement.
Lo and behold another art history classic, none other than the sweet work of Marc Chagall, nothing fancy, just simple and immensely appealing. Chagall was born in Russia, died in France at the age of 97 and experienced everything in between. There's no mistaking his style. Interestingly, in the 1950s, Picasso was quoted as saying, "when Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is."
Sibylle Peretti frequently uses images of children in her work to represent vulnerability, innocence and an unadulterated vision of the world. What I find intriguing in this piece is the materials she used, the cracks and sparkles, as well as the beautiful shading and composition.
Marc Sijan is what's known as a "hyper-realist sculptor". I would say so! Most of his subjects are not as attractive as this one. They are like "real" peeps. Rumor has it (not really it's on his website) he lives a secluded life in the woods of Wisconsin and no one really knows too much about him personally. I do know that he is considered the best at what he does.
Chirico was an Italian artist mostly known for his Surrealist paintings. He did very few sculptures of which this is one. I love the symmetry of it and it makes me think of the complex history of culture and humanity.
Jannick Deslauriers attempts to capture and fix organic matter which is inevitably subject to decay. I just think it's beautiful, and sometimes that is enough.Looking at A LOT of art involves A LOT of walking and, for me, is a mental workout of sorts. That said, with half the day gone, we were ready to finish the day by visiting Context, right next door to Art Miami.I'm going to call part one done. I'd love to hear your thoughts, impressions or questions. Art lives by inspiring connections, encouraging dialogue and perhaps making you think in a way you never did before. Talk to me!! Next up, Part II, We head next door to Context
