China Chow with Adrien Brody at Nada fair

Have I seen enough art in the last four days of Art Basel Miami?  Restless during the day, by night we were trying to figure out which parties to attend. Although I was trying to stick to my mission, which was to cover the fairs, events, and to socialize, I also took out some time to walk around the streets of Wynwood and the Design District. And even stumbled into a really gorgeous piece by the Belgium street artist Roa. It was impossible to see all the fairs and attend everything that I was invited to (sorry if I missed your performance), but was still overloaded with what I did get to see. I had a lot of fun, especially traveling with the Artcards team and finally meeting our Miami editor Brinson in person. We all really enjoyed the hospitality of the Grand Beach Hotel, had breakfast by the ocean, swam, and dipped our overworked bodies in the jacuzzi.

On our last night in Miami, we decided to take it easy and chatted around a small circle of friends (with Ben and Risa from Invisible-Exports), overlooking the Deville’s silent pool, reflecting on all of it and knowing that we’ll see each other pretty soon in chilly New York. If you haven’t seen our photographer Carissa’s exclusive photos for Artcards yet, check them out here.

Amy Granat and Flora Wiegmann (performance artists)

Amy Granat and Flora Wiegmann (performance artists)

Roa (street artist)

Design Miami

Obey

Designed by Konstantin Grcic (Design Miami Designer of the Year), "Netscape" is simple and a respite from all the walking.

Chris Lasch (Aranda\Lasch) collaborated with Fendi to design this "Modern Primitives" booth in Design Miami

Nice treats all day from the Audi lounge

Joined the ICI/Nada tour with curator Joao Ribas

Party mode

Photos by Carissa Pelleteri for Artcards Review

The tone at Basel on Friday was solidly optimistic. The mega galleries were out in force. Hauser and Wirth had a breathtaking late work by Louise Borgouise and drawing and sculpture from art star Paul McCarthy that were of particular note. Gagosian gallery had a similar spread, showing works by star studded gallery favorites Serra, Koons, Hirst and Warhol. White Cube was showing the YBAs in all their glory, but even here the tone seemed markedly less conspicuous than usual. A new, sparkling cubic zirconium filled gold vatrine by the king of bling, Damien Hirst, seemed awkwardly out of place.

Gagosian

Paul McCarthy at Hauser and Wirth

Damien Hirst at White Cube

Murakami

Georg Baselitz

Galleries who experimented with razzle dazzle spectacle seemed contented to tout their painterly roots. Works from George Baselitz were ubiquitous. Werner gallery had a particularly striking, mural sized painting from this year. Positioned near the entrance of the fair, it seemed to foreshadow the work to come and to serve as a reminder that Pulse and NADA aren’t the only places to see vital new art. Mitchell Innes and Nash’s booth felt a bit like a museum. Their two man show dedicated to Kenneth Noland and Anthony Caro seems to illustrate a trend this year. Galleries seem to be digging deep into their stables. With results like this, one can hardly complain.

Kenneth Noland and Anthony Caro at Mitchell Innes and Nash

Eddie Martinez

After a long day of traipsing through art madness Art Positions offers a welcome and decidedly less noisy respite for the weary fair visitor. Art Positions is a special initiative that offers galleries the opportunity to present individual projects by single artists. Grouped together in the top left of the convention center the feel was significantly younger. A collaboration between Zieher smith and stable artist Eddie Martinez was particularly wonderful. The artist painted a massive, expressive triptych conceived specifically for this project. The painting is powerful and painterly without losing a sense of relevance. With an obvious debt to Basquiat and German expressionism, Martinez depicts a raucous banquet, filed with detritus and frequented by characters which seem to pop up throughout his oeuvre.

Chris Martin

This little gem by Chris Martin was one of many examples of work by young contemporary painters exhibiting at Basel.

Jenny Holzer

Joseph Kosuth

Barbara Kruger

Stellar art from the 70s and 80s abounded. There were unusual works by a slew of artists. Especially interesting was a neon light work by institutional critique artist Joseph Kosuth. Equally amazing was a chess set from Barbara Kruger, executed in her signature red and black subversive style.

Sudarshan Shetty

Gallery SKE from Bangalore was one of several galleries that made the trek from the other side of the world.  Indian artist Sudarshan Shetty’s intricate teak cage dominated the space. I was thoroughly impressed and equally happy to see something outside of the European and American norm.

awesome

More photos on Carissa Pelleteri’s flickr.

Photos by Carissa Pelleteri for Artcards Review

For day 2 of Miami art week we decided to branch out away from the main fair. There are a plethora of pop up fairs surrounding the main event. It is easy to get lost in orbit, with so much to do and so much to see. Nada, Scope, Pulse and Fountain all offer looks at younger, contemporary art from local, national and international artists. As the day wore on we were happy to see many of our gallerists and artists.

Cecilia Jurado and Brad Kahlhamer, Y Gallery at Nada Fair.

Jen Bekman

Steve Sacks, Bitforms Gallery

Aurel Schmidt, OHWOW Gallery

Tim Barber, OHWOW Gallery

Scott Campbell, OHWOW Gallery

Julian Montague, Pulse Fair

Jakkai Siributr

Howard Hurst and friend

Scope Art Fair

Denis McNett, Scope Art Fair

Olek, Scope Art Fair

Fountain Art Fair

Sisters Adina & Arielle Bier at Fountain

Amani Olu, Humble Arts Foundation at Nada

Okay Mountain Collective, Pulse Art Fair

Michael Buhler-Rose signing limited edition Grolsch beer

More photos on Carissa Pelleteri’s flickr.

Photos: HW

Oh Miami. Has it been another year already since the last Art Basel Miami? Feels like it was only a week ago since I crossed these strips. The only evidence of time having moved on is from all the Art Basel/Nada/Scope ad flags that got updated to the year 2010. This year I gave myself enough time to readjust to the new climate, habitats, eye-candy, and lots of space. The 20 or so art fairs are quite spread out, so it’s not that easy to navigate without a vehicle. You can either take cabs, rent a car, bike, hop on shuttle vans, or (this one’s my pick) hail a rickshaw. At The Grand Beach Hotel, our host provided us with a lovely suite that faces two sides of the sphere, with endless views of palm trees, and the ocean. They are now even offering special packages for Art Basel guests.

At tonight’s MoCA X Vanity Fair preview event, VIPs and press folks were schmoozing over cocktails and finger food around the “Bruce Weber: Haiti/Little Haiti” photography exhibition. The vibe was definitely stimulating and alive with everyone looking fresh and ready for the next few days ahead. Stepping away from the crowd, I dashed straight to the flashing “Paradise Lights” (1996) installation by Jack Pierson.  It seems to summarize the upcoming events quite well — art market in a carnival-esque setting. Although this is my first time at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, their collection, program, and on-going acquisitions are quite impressive, some of which are listed online. Keep checking back for more on the fairs, galleries, talks, and performances. And holla to my New York artist friends who are heading down to show and perform. Here’s a quick recap of tonight’s MoCA party.

Andrea Bowers Educate, Agitate, Organize, 2010  Gallery Andrew Kreps, New York  Courtesy MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd.

The buzz is in. We have all been working up to this for months. Art Basel Miami, in its ninth edition annually draws in artists, gallerists, collectors, and other cultural figures of the ever-changing art world. The Artcards team is heading down to cover this exciting event for our readers, so keep checking back for updates. We have a booth in NADA, details to come soon. So far we have compiled 19 fairs, with countless art events flooding in. To make it easier for you to navigate through all the art happenings, create your personalized map on Artcards Miami and just email it to yourself.  In the meantime, Morgan already created a quick art fairs google map.