THE EVENT

Art Basel Miami, which began in 2002 as an American step-child to the august Art Basel Fair in Switzerland, is now, at least in terms of size and glitz, threatening to overshadow its serious Swiss stepfather.

The fair, in addition to its main exhibition hall filled with 250 of the world’s leading dealers, selling the very best contemporary art in the world — has today spilled over into nearly the entire city — with a host of satellite fairs, art installations, film launches, rock concerts and performance art pieces.

The many worthy, if not unmissable satellite fairs and events, are now layered with a dizzying cross-pollination of parties — sponsored by a host of luxury goods brands such as Dior, Maybach, and the like. These brands partner with leading museums, celebrities and magazines in order to capture that ever elusive client-base– “the international uber rich!”.

Some of this year’s less “market-y” and more “art-y” soirees, range from a reception at W South Beach Hotel thrown by the lovely London-based, Princess Alia Al Senussi; a cocktail party put on by Christie’s at the new SLS Hotel (See Destinations) on South Beach and the always well-attended MOCA (that’s Museum of Contemporary Art, LA) & Vanity Fair International Party — which in the past has attracted attendees as varied as Naomi Campbell, Ricky Martin and Princess Michael of Kent.

 In short, although there are many, many serious art collectors, artists, museum curators and art dealers present, Art Basel Miami, in its current iteration, has more of the flavor of an event like the Cannes Film Festival — taking up as many inches in the world’s style and society pages — than other high-end art fairs like Germany’s Documenta or the New York Armory Show.  But, as Jerry Seinfeld would say: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that”!

Moeller Fine Art | New York. Art Basel Miami Beach 2011

THE ART!!

 If one is a serious contemporary collector, the works on offer in 2012 are enticing on many levels — the works seem very fresh to the market, they have been overall well-edited without a lot of filler thrown in, and they cover the gamut from the most classic Picasso to the trendiest film, sound and performance pieces.

Mona Hatoum | 3-D Cities 2008-2009 |
Alexander and Bonin

The only downside, and one must be wary,  will be the prices — which even in light of the world’s debt crises and political turmoil — have still not taken a tumble, and if past cycles are any indication are due for at least some kind of correction.

The tenor of the art, the dealers have chosen to bring, not surprisingly, has a classic American and Latin American bias.  Only several works by artists from the Gulf will be on offer in the main fair, and they by Mona Hatoum, now pretty much considered “international” rather than “regional” or “Lebanese” or by a few lesser-known artists with roots in the region — but who are now living and working in the West.

If one’s taste runs to conservative “classic” contemporary, highlights include Josef Albers’ Homage to the Square at London’s Waddington Galleries, an enormous 1970 Alexander Calder sculpture, Tableau Noir (The Blackboard) brought along by the Helly Nahmad Gallery, or a prime Frank Stella, Mrs. Rabbit’s Rainbow III, a 1974 acrylic on canvas, chosen by the always well-curated Alexander Gray Gallery.

Also classic, but slightly more au courant pieces to covet include: a wonderful brand new (2012) powdered iron on canvas work by Anish Kapoor, entitled Iron Sky, at London’s Lisson Gallery; another spare and esoteric piece  — consisting of a  tiny (6mm) 2012 square key steel by British sculptor Antony Gormley called Stay III at London’s White Cube; a large washy oil by George Baselitz, Oh, wie nahe, from Paris dealer, Thaddeus Ropac, and a fab, LED lightbox by Los Angeles darling, Doug Aitken spelling FLESH, brought by Santa Monica’s Regen Projects.

There are just too many artists — over 2,000, and dealers — to cover here, but if your sense of humor matches the size of your wallet, the piece to bring home has to be Barbara Kruger’s, clever, digital print on vinyl “Room Wrap” (yes, as in all-encompassing wallpaper) called, and shouting out in black and white: Money Makes Money (2011) from Manhattan dealer L+M Arts.

FILMS, LECTURES & OUTDOOR INSTALLATIONS

 There are so many things to see, do and attend during Art Basel Miami, that one could spend the entire four days and not actually see one artwork.  And so, for the sake of sanity and planning, the following are an edited list of some of the things going on in and around the Fair, which are worth the pilgrimage.

Alice Aycock | Twin Vortexes, 2012 | Courtesy of the Artist Galerie Thomas Schulte and Fredric Snitzer Gallery

ART PUBLIC

For the second year in a row, talented Los Angeles County Museum contemporary curator, Christine Kim has orchestrated a knockout show of outdoor installations and performance art in Collins Park. This year’s theme is the “grounding of artwork in speech and language”.

Several artworks utilizing flags as a medium for dialogue are featured. Ry Rocklen’s “A Touch of Grace” is a flag that hangs the length of a flagpole and comes symbolically, and perilously close to touching ground. Rocklen’s work will be juxtaposed with Adam Pendleton’s 16 “Black Dada Flags” which will be placed throughout the park.

Continuing the theme of language, Gary Simmons has created two billboards for the installation that spell out the words: “I wish it could be morning all day long’, and Dave McKenzie’s ‘Declaration‘ features a plane flying a text-based banner, that will flutter overhead each day at 11:45am, offering a different marriage proposal on each “mission”!

Other exciting works both in surprising scale and method of delivery, include Ruben Ochoa’s new sculptures, which seem to defy gravity  Randy Polumbo’s vintage Airstream trailer, in which the artist has created an experiential wonderland of illuminated flowers, and  Pierre Ardvouvin’s “Bonhomme de neige” an installation humorously depicting a melting snowman — not a sight often seen in balmy Miami Beach.

ART BASEL CONVERSATIONS AND ART SALON

For more “speech and language” visitors should attend the always popular and thought-provoking line up of panels and symposia.  This year’s program is particularly strong in leading international Museum directors an curators, discussing such topics as: “The ”Encyclopedic Museum”, with Thomas P. Campbell, Director an CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  “Why Japanese Post-War Art Matters Now” will be debated by Doryun Chong, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Alexandra Munroe, Samsun Senior Curator of Asian Art, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York and others, and a large crowd will be certain to attend the “Artistic Practices” series, hosted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, which will bring together a group to discuss “The Artist as a Musician”.

The Art Salon program will be of especial interest to artists, collectors and visitors from the Middle East, as it will focus on several Gulf-based topics including: “Street Art in the Middle East” and “New Perspectives from the Edge of Arabia” — a talk which will debate the current perspectives and focus of art in contemporary art from the Middle East.

Art History | Remembering Louise Bourgeois | Ulf Küster,Nancy Spector, Tracey Emin, Jerry Gorovoy. Art Basel Miami Beach 2011

ART KABINETT

Presented since 2005, art intellectuals cannot afford to miss the curated group shows and solo artists in the Art Kabinett portion of Miami Basel.  This is one of the places where the art world learns who is really in favor, and holds water with the top curators at the leading museums and galleries.  This year, the emphasis is on work from Latin America, including a a dialogue between two generations of Brazilian artists with the work of Helio Oiticica and Jarbase Lope, curated by A Gentil Carioca, and a light installation by Chilean artist, Ivan Navarro.

Joan Semmel | Untitled, 1971 | Alexander Gray Associates, New York

ART VIDEO

Finally, as film has become such an important medium in contemporary art today, cinephiles will not be disappointed by a fulsome program of screenings both inside the Miami Convention Center and a series of VideoNights, in which 60 films will be shown on a 7,000 square foot projection on the wall of the fabulous Frank Gehry-designed New World Center.  Themes include “Music, Magic and Melancholia”, “Love, Time and Decorum” and if one has the inclination — or is a fan of Wagnerian opera length productions — a special dusk-to-dawn screening of Ragnar Kjartansoon’s 12-hour long film “Bliss” is the place to go.  If by dawn one has caught a few winks, between intellectual rumination, the title will be apropos indeed!