In no particular order, with an emphasis on art for which I have images...
We did not make it to the "main" fair (Art Basel Miami Beach), or Scope (unfortunately), or the containers, but we did hit the Rubell and Margulies collections, plus NADA, Aqua, and a tiny bit of Frisbee.
NADA
Remember how I recommended Elena Kovylina's Waltz before we left? I did dance with her one round, but passed on drinking vodka with her. It was an intense and heart-breaking performance, and it felt odd to see such a work in the bright Miami sun.
Her performance was presented by Schroeder Romero. They presented work by an artist new to the gallery (and new to me) named Ken Weaver. An exhibition of his work will be their inaugural show in Chelsea in January. They really stood out as one walked by the booth at NADA - dazzling red and white images.
Ken Weaver
Just call me the queen of the world 'cause I just got ROYALLY FUCKED!, 2004
(large queen)
oil pastel on paper
60 × 40 inches, paper size
Several galleries impressed with their overall programs. One was Galería Comercial, which is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It exists somewhere between the non-profit and commercial gallery worlds -- but on purpose unlike some galleries! At NADA, they showed posters and other works by Pedro Vélez, plus a number of other artists working in media ranging from painting to video.
Another space with an impressive booth was the artist-run Transmission Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The experience reminded me a little of when we were at the Affordable Art Fair, and the non-profit Center For Emerging Visual Artists (Philadelphia) stood out in a big way. I see plenty of great work from commercial galleries, but several of the non-profit/artist-run spaces really stand out at fairs like this. Transmission will be at The Armory Show in March. Here is an image of the wall installation by Lorna MacIntyre in their booth:
Speaking of entire booths, Galerie Kamm (Berlin) devoted their entire space to the work of Katharina Jahnke. The work included sculpture, works on paper, and fabric works incorporating paint and sewing. Here is one of her sculptures, from the gallery web site:
Katharina Jahnke
Sparkling Isolation, 2005
wood, spy-mirror
117 × 156 × 241 cm
To be continued...
