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Artsy Miami

By Millie Acebal Rousseau

Art Basel Miami Beach returns to South Florida this December, transforming the city into an international art destination for four days. Here's a look at what's happening around town.

It's that time of the year, when art aficionados, more than 40,000 of them, pack the Miami Beach Convention Center (1901 Convention Center Drive) and area hotels for art, art and more art. "It's the largest museum on earth for four to five days," says Bob Goodman, Florida representative of Art Basel Miami Beach. This is the seventh edition of the prestigious art fair, which features artwork by more than 2,000 artists from over 240 leading galleries in Latin America, the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia—30 countries in total. So why Miami Beach? "The climate in December is ideal, the hotels are within walking distance to the convention center, and there's a community of many art collectors," explains Goodman. The fair takes place Dec. 4-7, and showcases every kind of art imaginable—paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, photography and videos. Art Basel's grasp extends beyond Miami Beach and across Miami-Dade County, with works on display at renowned galleries in the Design and Wynwood Art Districts, as well as Coral Gables.

Many of Miami's leading private collections will be shown at homes and warehouses in the two districts. Some of them include the Margulies, Rubell Family and Scholl Collections, as well as the private collection of Ella Cisneros, just to name a few. In the Wynwood Art District, Fredric Snitzer Gallery (2247 NW First Place), an Art Basel Miami Beach participant, plans two bonus exhibitions, in addition to art displayed at the fair. In the gallery, art by Luis Gispert—film, sculpture and new photos—will be exhibited. "His work is based in hip-hop culture, with references to his Cuban roots," explains gallery owner Fred Snitzer. In the project space across the street from the gallery, Snitzer will present a curated group exhibition, Death by Basel: Miami, showcasing 12 to 14 young artists. "It's a reference to the overwhelming impact of the art fair on the community, artists and maybe even art itself," Snitzer says. Miami artist Kiki Valdes plans to participate in the show. Valdes, best known for starting with one visual on a canvas and painting over it to form new images, now experiments with other forms. "Instead of editing with paint, I cut shapes that work compositionally," he says. "If you rip the canvas, you can see what's underneath."

Art Basel Miami Beach also brings with it an appreciation for public art. "We've got a collection of internationally renowned artists," says Brandi Reddick, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs' communications and artists manager. If you're flying in or out of Miami International Airport, you'll notice several works, including A Walk on the Beach (1995/1999) by Michele Oka Doner. Located inside Concourse A, this site-specific art installation draws inspiration from Miami's beaches and features a half-mile walkway with cast bronze elements in a dark gray terrazzo matrix. In the South Terminal, you'll find Brad Goldberg's Coral Eden (2007), two massive stone walls resembling brain coral carved in Italian travertine marble. Donald Lipski's Got Any Jacks? (2004), located within the new American Airlines Concourse D Terminal Extension, pays tribute to Miami's aquatic ambience with nearly 100 sculptures made from fish replicas spread across in abstract, geometric arrangements that together represent something else. More public art can be found throughout Miami-Dade County, at places such as the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, downtown, Port of Miami and county parks.

Local galleries not participating in Art Basel Miami Beach still plan to open their doors with special exhibitions. In Coral Gables, miArte Gallery (85 Merrick Way) presents 85@85, a group exhibition of more than 85 artists, featuring an installation of over 100 separate canvases—all 20 inches by 20 inches—depicting various subjects in different media forms.

Also in the Gables, The Americas Collection (2440 Ponce de Leon Blvd.) will host the group exhibition Eclectic Photography, showcasing some straightforward photographs and others that are manipulated, explains Velia Larcinese, the gallery's director. Colombian artist Lorenza Panero specializes in luminography, a technique that manipulates images of objects in a dark room. "She creates her own composition by placing different objects and moving them around," says Larcinese. "Some forms are recognizable; others are not." Jean Jacques Ribi, an artist who lives in Panama, concentrates on the human figure, juxtapositioning images of texture. For example, an image of a nude female torso with the inside consisting of denim fabric. Daniel Viñoly, from Argentina, places photos inside light boxes to create stories. "It's a more psychological state-of-mind photography… a way of interacting with viewers so you can connect and make up your own story," Larcinese says. All of these artists will have works on display.

Miami's museums also offer exhibitions in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach. The Miami Art Museum (MAM) (101 W. Flagler St.) in downtown will display two one-person shows and a group exhibition, Objects of Value, which explores the "different ways artists have approached how objects become valuable—monetary and cultural," explains Curator René Morales. Among the objects highlighted are a silver skateboard by Guatemalan artist Darío Escobar and another work by Wilfredo Prieto, which examines neutralizing value. His piece consists of a big circle of fake diamond dust on the floor, and somewhere in the middle, a real diamond is hidden. "It's thrown in there; [it's] basically impossible to find it," says Morales.

Moving Through Time and Space, by respected filmmaker Chantal Akerman, is one of the two individual shows at MAM. The exhibition, the artist's first major traveling one in the United States, features multimedia video installations from her documentary series. One work, From the Other Side (1999), portrays Mexican immigrants' dangerous journey from Agua Prieta in Sonora, Mexico, to Arizona. The other individual show, by British-born Yinka Shonibare, MBE, of Nigerian descent, is A Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child. The installation, commissioned for MAM, looks at the symbolic desire to fly, along with themes of freedom. The tie-in with Miami, says Morales, focuses on how the city is at a crossroads—an international melting pot of different cultures, with a lot of people passing through.

Right next door to MAM, the Historical Museum of Southern Florida will continue to display Interama: Miami and the Pan-American Dream, an exhibition featuring plans and drawings for the 1960s futuristic fair of the Americas that never came to be. Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón: Photographs by Raúl L. Rodríguez, A.I.A. also coincides with Art Basel Miami Beach, and gives viewers a glimpse of Havana's famed cemetery, specifically its mausoleums and their architectural nuances.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami (MOCA) (770 NE 125th St.) plans to feature a film installation by Anri Sala, an artist born in Albania. It will also host a group show of emerging international artists, Possibility of an Island, which explores a future without hope. "What if everything we want comes true, like eternal life?" says Bonnie Clearwater, MOCA's executive director and chief curator. "What are your aspirations; how does that affect art?" she adds. The tone is retro and futuristic.

Got Art?
Fredric Snitzer Gallery: snitzer.com
Miami Art Museum (MAM): miamiartmuseum.org
Miami Beach Convention Center: miamibeachconvention.com
Miami-Dade County—Art in Public Places: miamidade.gov/publicart; miamidadearts.org
miArte Gallery: miartegallery.com
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA): mocanomi.org
The Americas Collection: americascollection.com

Romero Britto's "Welcome"
"Welcome," artist Romero Britto's largest sculpture in the United States, is located in Miami, Florida at the Dadeland North Metrorail Station. This hand-painted sculpture is 45 feet tall and is composed of 15,000 tons of aluminum. Currently, 12 of Britto's monumental sculptures are touring the United States and will be exhibited in eight different states, beginning in Colorado and culminating in California. The sculpture tour will make a stop during Art Basel at the Shops at Midtown Miami, located in the Design District, from Dec. 3-28, 2008.
britto.com

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