A Few Fine Days in Miami: When the Fine Art World Comes to Town: Part One
- Dec 31, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2025
Miami Art Week 2018: Taking Stock After the Frenzy
The Miami fine art highlight of the year is over. And we at the Fine Art Ledger are still taking stock.
Why Miami Art Week Matters to the Global Art World
Arguably, the week of fairs represents the fine art event on US soil, bringing a remarkable mix of dealers, collectors, artists, party setters, the curious, and the general public to a few days of fine art frenzy in Miami, backing up traffic and generating its fair share of delight, excitement, high-prices and at least some misery to the locals trying to navigate the hordes, busy restaurants and logjam, beach-to-city.
Arrival in Miami: South Beach and the Build-Up to Art Basel
We got in, admittedly a bit late, on Wednesday. By then, the primary fair, Art Basel, had opened its private viewing, and the tempo in the City was building, with the accompanying fairs, Pulse, Scope, Art Miami, Contex,t and others gearing up. We headed for South Beach to the heart of the fairs, and checked into the Shelborne hotel, usually a welcomingly quieter space on Collins, just a few doors up from the louder SLS, with its sports car bedecked entrance and au courant crowd.
What “Art Basel Miami” Really Means
Known colloquially as 'Art Basel', the week in Miami actually consists of a number of fairs which have sprung up over the years, with the central, and most up-market being the sister fair of the original Art Basel, as in the Switzerland 'Basel, which found a home and huge popularity in Miami a few years ago.
Inside Art Basel Miami Beach at the Convention Center
Hosted in the Miami Convention Center, a short hop from Collins, we made it our first stop, naturally, as the linchpin fair.
To say that Art Basel, the fair itself, is both astounding and bewildering is an understatement. As you enter the vast convention hall, the rows of galleries presenting the quality, and not to mention the prices of the art a,re breathtaking. It takes a degree of composure, skill, and planning to navigate through the maze of stalls, take in the sheer feat of organization, planning, and logistics of bringing this all together, and to focus on the works, their detai,l and brilliance.
Standout Artworks and Installations at Art Basel
Take, for example, Sarah Lucas's 'Jubilee' edition of steel and concrete boots, the centerpiece of Sadie Cole's booth. An astounding work all for its size and imposing statement, and, no less, the apparent ingenuity in transporting and installing the work at the fair. Or Leandro Erlich's 'Traffic Jam', an installation of beach sand moulded into a sand-traffic-jam replete with sand-crafted cars. A true kid magnet, presented by Gallery Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, there was a moment when the 'do not touch' signs were definitely being ignored by a little art enthusiast who had found his sand-pit.
Art Basel as an Education in Creativity
And that is the draw of the fair. On its public days, the throngs of visitors include all shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and ages. Families with kids circle the booths, eyes wide open in apparent awe and I-can-do-that gawks in disbelief. It is an art and creativity education at its best, and wise are the parents who give their kids this introduction in a world where most are bored stiff at anything remotely cultural.
Gallery Highlights and Collector Conversations
We did the rounds and enjoyed every minute of the fair. We ran into contacts and friends from opposite corners of the earth, and connected on artists and pieces, which we, as collectors, have bought and enjoyed over the years. We stopped in at Stevenson, the Cape Town gallery, to chat about Zanele Muholi, and spent a bit of time with Pace talking about Michal Rovner's beautiful and haunting Jackal installation, and Keith Haring's inverted pink triangular 'Silence=Death' piece brought in by Levy Gorvy at its booth E6. Not to mention Marilyn Minter's 'Red Flare/Thawed' enamel on metal, shown by Los Angeles's Regen Projects. Certainly highlights of the fair, for us at least.
Why Fine Art Is Personal
But that is the beauty of the fair. Fine Art is what you like. Each person is drawn for his own reasons to his own attractions. No two people are alike, and no work of fine art is the same or seen the same. Some may shock, offend, others delight and inspire. And that is what fine art does. It is a moment in time, an immutably frozen reflection of humanity, inspiration, and creativity in an otherwise fleeting world.
Art Basel Miami: Inspiration and Exhaustion Combined
And Art Basel brings that together in one dazzling display, with its both inspiring and, at the same time, exhausting visual, cultural, and intellectual immersion.
What’s Next: More From Miami Art Week 2018
Keep an eye on our Art Wire for further installments of this series as we share
our Miami 2018 experience.
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