Fair Well: Miami 101 (Part 5)

Design Miami and Sculpture at the Bass Museum

Previous Miami posts
Is Anybody Happy?
C'est What?

Miami 101 (Part 1): Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Miami, Aqua Art 

Miami 101 (Part 2): Untitled and Miami Project   

Miami 101 (Part 3): NADA

Miami 101 (Part 4): Pulse and Ink

Installation view at Design Miami

Design Miami

I appreciate good 20th and 21st-Century collectible design as well as the next person, but when you see so much art at the other fairs, stepping into Design Miami you really see what makes art art and design design.  It was another world, a pleasant interlude in a place where golden chairs, red sports cars and prefab homes--along with some really elegant furniture and objets-- were all on display. One interesting crossover: Sheila Hicks, long known as a “fiber artist” but recently seen more regularly in the galleries. In Design Miami, her work was the accessory to the furniture; at the art fairs, it stood alone.

This was my first time attending Design Miami. Though my tone is a bit snarky here, I'm glad I went.  

Unlike the art fairs, which feel like art fairs, this fair felt like a trade show (I know, I know, they're all trade fairs)

The golden throne, below, at Galerie Kreo, Paris, was a pretty great attention getter

Jason Jacques Gallery had an ABMB-worthy installation of sculptural clay vessels

OK, I'm quoting the Design Miami website here: "Audi, the official automotive sponsor of Design Miami/ since 2006, constructed a site-specific, three-dimensional installation, titled Fragmentation. Made with red rhombus shapes, the sculptural installation is an homage to Audi Sport, signifying high performance, technical precision and outstanding design."

Moving on . . .

Not sure what exactly Mark McDonald of Hudson, New York, was selling, but the installation was (kind of like) a breath of fresh air

Jean Prouve's Maison Demontable at Galerie Patrick Sequin

Below: Still from the video showing the prefab house constructed in a time-lapse sequence. The project is pretty great, actually. More info here

Vintage Sheila Hicks over the sofa at Demish Danant, New York

Detail below

More Hicks at Demish Danant. I realize this is a design fair, but look how different Hicks's work looks at  . . .

. . . ABMB, in the booth of Alison Jacques Gallery, London, with Hannah Wilke sculptures . . .

 . . .and at Sikkema Jenkins, New York City, also at ABMB

You'll find more installation pics on the Design Miami website
. . . . . . . .

Night falling over the Bass Museum of Art

Social Animals at the Bass Museum of Art

For several years Art Basel Miami Beach hosted Art Positions, an event in Collins Park (on the beach at 21st Street, across from the Bass Museum of Art), in which a handful of galleries showed their work in repurposed shipping containers. Open from early afternoon to about 10:00 at night, the Containers offered diehard fairgoers a chance to view yet more art after the other fairs had closed. Then, a few years ago, ABMB gave Positions its own corner in the Convention Cener.

Enter the outdoor sculpture show at the Bass Museum of Art. This is at least the second year ABMB and the Bass have teamed up to show art alfresco. Nicholas Baume, director and chief curator of the Public Art Fund in New York City,  was the curator. Twenty-four artists, each presented by their representing gallery, showed work that at least nominally fit into the theme of Social Animals. I visited on two separate occasions (my hotel was across the street), both as night was falling.

View of the grounds. The Bass Museum of Art is behind me; Collins Avenue--and the beach beyond that--is in the far distance. The four images following this one are of works visible in this shot

Thomas Houseago, Striding Figure (Rome 1), 2013, via Gagosian Gallery

Olaf Breuning, Dreams/Dirt; There is Absolutely Nothing to Find Up There; I Don't Want to Go This Way, 2012, via Metro Pictures

Sam Falls, Untitled (Green, Pink, Peach, Yellow, Lavender, and Cobalt Blue 5), 2013, via Galerie Eva Presenhuber

Matias Faldbakken, Untitled (Fuel Truck), 2013, via Simon Lee Gallery and Paula Cooper Gallery

Huma Bhabha, God of Some Things, 2011, via Salon 94

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Lub Tez, 2013, via Galerie Lelong
(You get a better sense of the scale of this work, and the richness of the cedar it's made from, in the images above and below)

Phil Wagner, Let us Rejoice, 2013, via Untitled Gallery

Jeppe Hein, Appearing Rooms, 2004, via 303 Gallery, Johan Konig Gallery, and Galleri Nicolai Wallner

Above and below: This was one of the few interactive works on the grounds. Viewers entered one of four "rooms" when the fountain walls were down, then remained within while the "walls" went up

See more: Blouin Art Info has an excellent slide show of works in the exhibition, photographed during the day

Next up: Painting at the Fairs

If you are enjoying these posts from Miami, please consider making a yearly donation of $20 to support my blog. The cost in money and time to attend and report on the fairs is significant for an artist with an ongoing studio practice. A link to PayPal is on the right sidebar close to the top of the page (look for the red type). Any amount is welcome. Thank you.