Art Basel Miami returned to Miami Beach for the first time since 2019. Over 250 international galleries and modern artists were present, showcasing what they have been working on in the past two years. With its never-ending summer and relaxed attitude, Miami is rarely a hard sell, but the fair was the top of contemporary art and a true attraction for thousands of attendees. Design Limited Edition is going to share with you how Art Basel Miami Beach was a success!

ART AND DESIGN GALLERIES:

Galleries were the main attraction of the fair. This year, 253 of the world’s leading galleries displayed the highest quality of paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photography, videos, and digital works. From paintings and sculptures to photography and digital art, some of the resounding themes this year include womanhood, nature, the environment, race, and colonialism.

POSITIONS

Positions, dedicated to emerging artists, brought together 19 solo presentations from artists across the globe.

NOVA

Nova provided a platform for galleries to present new works by up to three artists, created within the last three years. In this edition, there were 25 presentations.

SURVEY

Survey featued works created before 2000. 18 galleries, five of which were new, presented their works, with most of the work representing historical positions.

MERIDIANS

Meridians debuted in 2019 as a platform for both renowned and emerging artists to showcase large-scale sculptures and paintings, installations, live performances, film and video projections, and other projects that push the boundaries of a traditional art fair layout. It returned this year with 16 large-scale projects, most of which questioned traditional representations of class, race, and power; and bridge physical and cultural boundaries, curated by Magalí Arriola, Director of Museo Tamayo, Mexico City.

KABINETT

Kabinett gave galleries the opportunity to present curated exhibitions in separately delineated spaces within their booths. This year, there were 25 exhibitions by established and emerging artists.

CONVERSATIONS

Conversations offered a platform for the exchange of ideas, between artists, gallerists, collectors, art historians, curators, museum directors, and critics from across the world—on topics concerning the global contemporary art scene. This year’s topics included the rise of the NFT art market, questions of resilience post-pandemic, and the need to reinvent the museum. The discussions were moderated by private art dealer and author Edward Winkleman.

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Yinka Shonibare’s masterful sculpture of the Great Migration with James Cohan sat amidst large-scale wall-hung pieces by Howardena Pindel, Sadie Laska, and Todd Gray. The scene-stealer sculpture embodied the drift of six million Black Americans from the south to other parts of the country. The Brit swathed three figures in his signature Dutch wax fabric, creating a sensation of hope and anticipation through color and pattern.

A new work by Daniel Arsham, titled Eroded Porsche 911 (2021), was sold to a local Miami collector for just over $500,000 at Perrotin. The work is a grey-toned replica of a vintage car that is cast with epoxy resin and polymer to make it appear fossilized. The gallery also sold works by Cristina BanBan, Izumi Kato, Josh Sperling, Danielle Orchard, JR, and Mr.

Chicago-based gallery Monique Meloche exhibited Brendan Fernandes’s large-scale kinetic sculptures inspired by Minimalism, ballet, and S&M. The artist’s many demurely erotic sculptures are activated by dancers, and the opening day was no exception. Engaging with the works’ smooth surfaces, performers slowly formed their bodies in response to Fernandes’s sculptures in front of an intrigued crowd.

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