Miami: A World Class Exhibitionist
Vanessa Garcia
ex·hi·bi·tion·ism n.
1. The act or practice of deliberately behaving so as to attract attention.
2. Psychiatry. A psychosexual disorder marked by the compulsive exposure of the genitals in public
I’m interested in good paintings, because they are rivals to the world they depict, even if they aren’t realistic.
–Zbigniew Rogalski-
Miami has always been an exhibitionist and the art world knows it. Notorious year-round for streaking her pink and sun-yellow self, Miami reaches its flashy peak in early December when the city hosts the leading art fair on the American continent: Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB).
This past December 1-4, the Miami Beach Convention Center packed in the most important of modern and contemporary art–20th Century masters and contemporary noisemakers alike.
Outside the convention center there were artistic satellites to match. Video art, performance art and site-specific projects in every direction at walking distance from the convention center.
From breakfast to sundown, the city sipped, sang, pointed, oohed and ahhed, but, most importantly, she dug into her pockets as dealers from over 195 galleries worldwide clamored to secure their place on the walls of collectors. What resulted was the most successful of four consecutive ABMB, Miami Beach’s Basel being the sister show to Art Basel in Switzerland, going strong now for 36 years.
How is Miami different from her sister? And from her fair cousins? Miami removes the veneer that other art fairs produce and ironically exposes art for what it is for most people: a commodity. It takes an exhibitionist to know one and the city of Miami has finally found its match in art.
Basel and the art world exploit Miami’s pretty face and Miami exploits art. Drive around the downtown loop and you’ll find billboards for condos such as "The Mondrian," proclaiming its living facilities to be crafted for the artist "at heart."
At the convention center, champagne rolled up and down the aisles as guests sported Prada shoes and designer eyeglasses. According to the Art Basel daily edition of The Art Newspaper, published exclusively for the fair, dealers such as Gisela Captain were celebrating their profits early on, toasting merrily and predicting sales into the seven-figures after the VIP-only Nov. 30 fair opening.
Sean Kelly, hailing from NYC, also outdid himself. Amid Kelly’s hefty loot, an Antony Gormley sold for $350,000. Rumors were spread that by the end of the first day galleries were already calling New York for more pieces. The proof revealed itself every morning before the visitors arrived: art movers packed, unpacked, boxed, carried and re-installed.
ABMB is part of an art fair frenzy that is spanning the globe from Australia to Venice to China. In many ways, it seems that the Art Fair of the 21st Century is taking over where the World Fairs of the 20th left off, both in its games of power and money.
Here, the elite dictate, tell you which artist is important and why. This year, Richard Tuttle and vintage photography were the fad. Donald Judd made a re-appearance, along with Rauschenberg. Do you know who Zbigniew Rogalski is? You better–the Rubell’s have him in their warehouse-turned-gallery/museum. The Rubell Family, among the U.S.’s most important collectors have decided that Polish art is the way to go–so stock up, but be ready to pay a pretty penny because the Rubell’s have just hiked up the value by including the Poles in their collection.
As for Latin American art: it’s big. "Latin American art, which used to be collected mainly by Latin American buyers, is now reaching a broader audience than ever before," reported the Art Newspaper’s daily edition on Dec. 2. This year, Sothebys sold more in Latin American art than it ever had before–$28.2 million, to be exact.
This growth is a hopeful sign. Although the facts remain that exhibitors hail 41% from the US and Canada, 49% from Europe and the remainder from Latin America, Asia and Africa, "global" art is on the rise and whether Miami, with its rich immigrant culture in congruence with its current role in art, had a thing or two to do with this will reveal itself in the near future.
Regardless of whether you see art in a positive light–a filter of the world, a tool of observation, criticism and/or beauty–or whether you hold art’s other side of craft and trickery in higher esteem, the meeting of Art and Miami is a brilliant and artful contrivance.
