This will be my tenth year at the Miami fairs. I'll take a lot of pictures, and I expect to post some reports here on the blog once I return. In the meantime, here's a summary of what I'm planning to cram into four and a half days.
The view from my hotel is about as much beach time as I'll get in
Below: Toe donuts (aka callus cushions), because if your feet hurt, you're going nowhere.
Out of 20+ fairs, four collections, at least three museums, and multitudinous gallery exhibitions, I've whittled my agenda down to a manageable (?) 15 or so venues. Planning was possible courtesy of the Xipsy guide. If you're going, download this baby. Print out both sides and fold it into quarters (and give silent thanks to Franklin Boyd of Boyd Level and Bulletin 41 for putting it together).
Don't leave home without it
(Additional info at Art-Collecting)
TUESDAY
I'll pick up a bunch of press and visitor passes. If time and weather allow, I'll visit the Scope opening in South Beach and/or the Satellite opening some 70 blocks north.
WEDNESDAY
I'll spend the day at Art Basel Miami Beach as a member of the press, seven hours of aisle after aisle of mostly surprise and delight. I've been looking at art for 40 years, and I'm still not jaded. Don't listen to the negative nabobs who piss and moan about it. If you see one fair, this is the one. It will cost you $47 for the day ($30 for students and seniors with valid ID).I'll pick up a bunch of press and visitor passes. If time and weather allow, I'll visit the Scope opening in South Beach and/or the Satellite opening some 70 blocks north.
WEDNESDAY
ABMB floor plan: It doesn't look so large here, but it's the size of several football fields, and it takes a full day to view with any degree of thoroughness
In the evening I'll be at the Aqua Art opening, where several of my paintings will be part of the installation at Projects Gallery, Suite 116. I can't get you into the opening, but here's a link to a free day pass, which will get you into Aqua, Art Miami and Context.
Two from a selection of my Silk Road paintings that will be at Aqua Art
Page from the Aqua Art catalog, which you can view in full here
That's Frank Hyder's illuminated sculpture on the left page. I'll show you more when I get to the gallery
I'll venture across the bay to Miami, making a loop that crosses the MacArthur Causeway in South Beach, travels north in Wynwood, and returns to Miami Beach via the Julia Tuttle Causeway. I'm giving myself two hours the Perez Museum, which opens at 10:00 am. Then it's up to NW 23rd Street, where I'll stop into N'namdi Contemporary to see an abstraction show that includes Deborah Dancy's work, and the Square Foot show at Projects Gallery's Wynwood location, an everybody-into-the-pool exhibition that gives lots of artists a chance to show during fair week.
The Perez Museum
Deborah Dancy at N'namdi Contemporary
Above: Lynda Ray at Project Gallery's Square Foot Show
Below: Ray's shot of a section of the installation
Art Miami and Context are next. I'm planning to do a quick walk through (i.e.
about three hours), before getting a taxi back across to the beach. where I'll
be at Pulse until it closes for
the evening.
The Pulse tent in early evening. Image from the Pulse website
Having wooed back many of the galleries that made it an
exciting venue in years past, as well as a complement of new
galleries, Pulse promises to deliver a great experience. Many of my
favorite galleries are participating: Lesley Heller Workspace, McKenzie Fine
Art, Morgan Lehman, Thatcher Projects, and Pavel Zoubok from New York City;
Robery Henry Contemporary, Brooklyn; Gregory Lind and Patricia Sweetow from the
Bay Area; PDX Contemporary from Portland, Oregon; Miller Yezerski from Boston;
and from across the pond, Patrick Heide from London, and Rubicon Projects,
Dublin.
FRIDAY
I'll be in South Beach: Ink, Aqua, Untitled and Scope. Untitled came out of the gate three years ago at a gallop and has been running a great race ever since. It's a favorite; the light and sweep of the tent--right on the beach--is worth the visit alone.
A view from under Untitled's big top
Below: A planned stop at Scope
Rosinella Ristorante, four blocks in from Collins, from 1:00-2:30 on Friday
SATURDAY
I'm heading north up Collins Avenue to Miami Project and Art on Paper, both taking over NADA's former home at the Deauville Beach Resort; NADA, now at the Fontainebleau Hotel (it can't seem to get away from the glitzy venues, ironic since its aesthetic is largely provisional); and the Satellite Project, of which I am most interested in the Tiger Strikes Asteroid's takeover of the formerly vacant Ocean Terrace Hotel. Yeah, it's a lot to squeeze in for one day, but what's the point of going if I'm just going to loll around the pool all day. (Did I just say that?)
Below: Art in America, curated by Julie Torres at the Ocean Terrace Hotel, will feature 51 works, one per state and Puerto Rico. I'm looking forward to it
SUNDAY
I head home. Yeah, I thought about staying the extra day--I particularly enjoy returning to ABMB when it opens at noon, because for an hour or so the aisles are almost empty--but I've got a few looming deadlines this year. And the expense of it all would curl your teeth.