Art Basel drew 79,000 visitors to the Miami Beach Convention Center for the most important art fair in the Americas
by Francesco Michienzi – photo by Courtesy Art Basel
Experiencing Art Basel in Miami Beach is a unique and rare feeling because art is a force that supports the best side of human nature; it enhances it and brings it to the foreground in an increasingly distracted and noisy world.
Galleries exhibited modern and contemporary art, while Meridians exhibited larger projects and sculptures. Position was for new galleries and emerging artists.
«THIS EDITION OF ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH WAS INDESCRIBABLY SPECIAL,
BEING MY FIRST EXPERIENCE OF THE SHOW AS DIRECTOR. ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH IS TRULY UNLIKE ANY EVENT IN THE ART WORLD AND UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IN THE AMERICAS».
VINCENZO DE BELLIS
Despite the collapse of the NFT market and scandals involving cryptocurrency exchanges, experts still see potential in the technologies’ potential art world applications.
IN SURVEY, DEDICATED TO GALLERIES HIGHLIGHTING PRACTICES OF HISTORICAL RELEVANCE, MEREDITH ROSEN’S “RED” BOOTH OF RUDOLF MAEGLIN WORKS DREW OUR ATTENTION, CONSISTING OF EIGHT PAINTINGS OF FACTORY WORKERS MADE BETWEEN 1932-1948 IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND.
The art we love often attracts us because it provides us with what we lack, it counterbalances who we are. When we are moved by a work of art maybe it is because that work contains concentrated doses of quality that we need in our life. Maybe it is full of the peace of mind that we admire, but that we don’t possess sufficiently. Maybe it has that tenderness we yearn for and that we can’t find in our relationships. Or maybe it contains the repressed pain and feelings we want to get in touch with. Art has the power to make us more complete, balanced, and healthy.
Art Basel highlights include large-scale sculptures by Hew Locke, originally made for the façade of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
«For us, the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach was a resounding affirmation of the American art market’s strength and resilience. In the first hours of the fair, we welcomed a fantastic cross-section of seasoned collectors, curators, and museum colleagues and sold the majority of the works in our first-day presentation».
Marc Payot, President, Hauser & Wirth
«ART BASEL WAS A SPECTACULAR FAIR, WHERE WE COULD MEET COLLECTORS
AND MUSEUM DIRECTORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
WE HAD STRONG SALES, AND WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO HAVE PLACED
OUR ARTISTS WITH MUSEUMS AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS».
GUILHERME SIMÕES DE ASSIS
The proposal at Art Basel, Miami Beach 2023 was a direct projection into a parallel world full of the most diverse stimuli and interpretations of our increasingly complex universe. Also, this edition was a great success with large exhibitions and events in collaboration with important museums, private collections and cultural partners spread around the city.
«ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH IS THE UNRIVALLED SUMMIT OF CARDI’S ANNUAL FAIR SCHEDULE. IT ATTRACTS TOP COLLECTORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. EACH YEAR WE ACHIEVE RECORD SALES, AND THIS YEAR IS NO EXCEPTION»
NICOLO CARDI, OWNER, CARDI GALLERY
The show brought together 277 international galleries, including 25 new ones, which attracted an overall attendance of 79,000. The conference schedule saw the participation of prominent speakers, including leading Cuban-born artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons; collector, curator, and philanthropist Estrellita Brodsky; and singer-songwriter, producer, and activist Chance the Rapper.
Galleries reported substantial sales in all market segments, including works by 20th-century luminaries like Carla Accardi, Philip Guston, René Magritte, Alice Neel, Keith Haring, and Mildred Thompson; prominent contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Barbara Kruger, Tracey Emin, Lynda Benglis, Marlene Dumas, and Rashid Johnson; outstanding professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean including Esaí Alfredo, Firelei Báez, Hélio Melo, Teresita Fernández, Hector Dionicio Mendoza, and Jorge Méndez Blake; and emerging voices such as Reginald O’Neal, Erin Jane Nelson, Noémie Goudal, Tau Lewis, Qualeasha Wood, and Clio Sze To.
«THIS YEAR, ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH PROVIDED THE SPACE FOR YOUNG EMERGING ARTISTS LIKE REGINALD O’NEAL AND ESAÍ ALFREDO TO SCALE UP AND TRANSCEND.
THIS PLATFORM SHED LIGHT ON WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE GOING, AND CERTAINLY CAPTIVATED OUR COMMUNITY FROM UP CLOSE AND AFAR».
ANTHONY SPINELLO, OWNER, SPINELLO PROJECTS
Leading art patrons and private collectors from over 92 countries and territories visited the fair. In addition, representatives from more than 200 cultural institutions and foundations were in attendance. The first edition of Access by Art Basel, a new online art sales platform designed to support philanthropic giving, launched with 15 galleries exhibiting at the fair.
For each sale made on the platform, collectors were required to make an additional charitable pledge, beginning at a minimum of 10% of the price of the artwork, with the potential to increase further. The artist and their exhibiting gallery received the full value of each artwork sold on the platform, with the charitable donation going to the collector’s choice of The Miami Foundation or The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). To date, Access by Art Basel has raised over $100,000 in charitable donations to The Miami Foundation and the ICRC.
The Art Basel Art Market Principles and Best Practices also outlines a new process in cases of potential criminal activity by exhibitors.
«Art Basel Miami Beach consolidates its position as the number-one fair in the US, where museums, their trustees, and collectors know they will have access to quality works by artists from every continent. We have sold works to quality collectors, including a Mickalene Thomas to a Midwest museum».
Nathalie Obadia, Owner, Galerie Nathalie Obadia
Vincenzo de Bellis, Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms, at Art Basel, said: “Art Basel Miami Beach has once again proven to be the pre-eminent art fair in the Americas. The quality and ambition of works presented at the show this year were nothing short of extraordinary, met with an exceptional attendance of local and international collectors. New galleries and concepts and a redesigned floor plan brought an injection of freshness to the show, amplified by the rich offering across Miami Beach’s flourishing cultural landscape. The show’s impact on the region is simply undeniable. I look forward to a 2024 edition helmed by our new director Bridget Finn, and to discovering how she will shape and continue to elevate our premier show in Miami Beach”.
(Art Basel Miami Beach – Art we need – Barchemagazine.com – March 2024)
