Edited by: TJVNews.com
For art aficionados around the globe the two words that have been on their lips and in their collective mind as of late has been “It’s back!” For those not in the know that means that the annual Art Basel Miami Beach fair is once again returning after being cancelled last year due to restrictions caused by the Covid—19 pandemic.
According to a report in the New York Times, the art extravaganza and entertainment fest began on Tuesday with invitation-only hours and will be open to the public Thursday through Saturday. This year’s Art Basel promises to be more exciting than ever as it will feature 253 galleries from 36 countries and territories, exhibiting work inside the Miami Convention Center, as well as a dizzying number of accompanying satellite art fairs, pop-up shows, and celebrity-studded private dinners, as was reported by the NYT.
Art Basel is expected to draw people from around the work as this cultural mecca is part and parcel of “Miami Art Week.” The Times reports that contemporary art auctions are once again making records sales and Art Basel is meeting a pent-up demand among gallerists and collectors.
According to the web site, wallpaper.com, the fair format remains largely the same (albeit one day shorter than usual), but the emphasis has shifted towards the elevation of underrepresented perspectives.
Speaking to the web site, Marc Spiegler, global director of Art Basel said, ‘There’s enormous excitement within the art world on both sides of the Atlantic about Art Basel Miami Beach 2021. Not only because it’s our first fair in two years in the Americas, but also because the show has never before featured such a diverse range of voices.”
He added that “Americans were scarce on the ground at the fairs in Europe this fall,” including his own fair in Basel, Switzerland, which took place in September. “And we expect them all to show up in Miami,” he said.
Wallpaper.com also reported that Meridians – the fair’s platform for large-scale projects has returned. Highlights include Yinka Shonibare’s Moving Up, an installation chronicling the vertical movement of six million African Americans from rural Southern states to cities in the North, Midwest, and West from 1916 to 1970, known today as the Great Migration. It is curated for the second time by Magalí Arriola, director of Mexico City’s Museo Tamayo.
Elsewhere, Nicholas Galanin engages in the complexities of Indigenous identity, culture, and representation, according to wallpaper.com. His Tlingit background informs his conceptual practice, which includes the installation The Value of Sharpness: When It Falls, an arc of 60 suspended hatchets that appear in flight.
Beyond the headliner Art Basel, this year will also see the return of satellite fairs including Untitled Art (30 November – 4 December), Design Miami (1 – 5 December), and Art Miami (30 November – 5 December).
Once inside the Miami Convention Center, visitors can experience the fantastic variety of modern and contemporary art on view in the show’s Galleries, Edition, Nova, Positions, and Survey sectors. It is advised to make sure not to miss the Kabinett sector, where galleries showcase curated presentations in a separate section of their booth
Peter Kahng, a New York-based investor who is a contemporary art collector has previously attended Art Basel in Miami numerous times and is planning to return, along with his mother and friend, according to the NY Times report. Kahng is on the board of the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, alongside his parents, Maria and Stephen Kahng.
He told the NYT that, “I think Miami is going to be crazy.” His presence at Art Basel, however was not limited to purchases of fine art. He added that, “I go more for relationships and to survey the market,” and noted that seeing the local collector-founded exhibition spaces was also a lure.
What is also attracting art lovers is the 43 new artists and galleries that will be presenting their work.
The NYT reported that Art Basel organizers relaxed some of the qualifications for dealers who apply to participate, including the length of time galleries have been operating; now, there is no minimum gallery age.
“We wanted to reflect society at large,” Mr. Spiegler told the NYT. “As a result of Black Lives Matter and other movements, there are new galleries opening run by people of color.”
He added that the result is “a more diverse group of gallery owners than we have had in the past. It’s still not diverse enough, but we made real progress on this front.”
Speaking to the Jewish Voice was an owner of a contemporary art gallery located in Israel. Having founded Eden Gallery in 1997, owner Cathia Klimovsky is truly thrilled about Art Basel Miami.
Eden Gallery has locations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It has evolved into a global network of high-end art galleries representing a selection of international artists, each with a uniquely modern approach to creation. Collectively, Eden artists represent and promote contemporary optimism and a colorful view of life.
Internationally renowned for color, imagination, and positivity, Eden Gallery houses a diverse array of artwork that includes paintings, sculptures, and three-dimensional shadow boxes.
With premiere gallery spaces, including locations in New York, London, Miami, Mykonos, and soon Dubai, the Eden Gallery Group operates at the forefront of modern, vibrant culture with an ethos of commitment to their community of artists, curators, and supporters. Held to the highest standards of curatorial excellence, they strive to create unforgettable exhibitions, events, and experiences designed to inspire and transform. And at Art Basel in Miami they do not disappoint.
Eden Gallery’s collection of paintings features works of art from artists Eduardo Kobra, Alec Monopoly, Angelo Accardi and many more. From graffiti creations to acrylic on canvas, their colorful collection of paintings represents the best of contemporary canvas art from their family of exclusive artists.
During Art Week in Miami, Eden Gallery will feature different artists each day. On Tuesday, Eden Gallery presented artist Metis Atash and on Wednesday they will present Alec Monopoly. On Thursday the featured artist will be Galy (Gal Yosef) and on Friday the artist Eduardo Kobra will be featured.
Kobra is the artist of the painting “Thinker” and is an original acrylic on canvas. Born in 1975 in south São Paulo, Brazil, Kobra has become one of the most recognizable and celebrated muralists. With works on five continents, he currently holds the record for the largest graffiti mural in the world.
Influenced by both modern and contemporary artists, Kobra’s artwork is highly research driven. Many of his pieces are rooted in art history. He has painted several famous artworks and icons in his own signature style. The realism of his designs often make his flat-surface paintings appear as three-dimensional. Kobra’s main objective is to provide a space for the public to interact with his art. Since his first mural in Brazil, Kobra has since painted in France, Spain, Italy, Norway, England, Malawi, India, Japan, United Arab Emirates, and several North American cities.
Another Eden Gallery artist is Alec Monopoly. He is an internationally celebrated graffiti artist whose vibrant, signature art depicts a tongue-in-cheek message about luxury and excess. His work features characters like Uncle Pennybags, Richie Rich, and Uncle Scrooge. Today, as his art has become a popular collector’s item among famous actors and musicians, Monopoly continues to use his work to create a dialogue about pop culture and capitalism in modern society.
The works of such Eden Gallery sculptors as Metis Atash are infused with the energy of the moment in which they were created. Metis Atash’s creations combine conceptual, minimalist, and pop art traditions. They unite contemporary and glamorous aesthetics with insightful, spiritual meanings. Metis sculpts with various materials, including fiberglass, iron, cement, and wood. Adorned in thousands of Swarovski crystals, Metis’s creations are a stunning visual experience.
A self-taught prodigy in the field of 3D art and digital sculpting, Eden Gallery’s Galy (Gal Yosef) specializes in re-imagined designs of well-loved cartoon characters. A curiosity and passion for painting and drawing inspired Yosef to begin experimenting with 3D design when he was just 12 years old. Galy’s art continues to evolve in the style of his latest pieces, depicting a darker, avant-garde version of an imagined cartooniverse.
The NYT reported that yet another new gallery at Art Basel is Pequod Co. of Mexico City. It was founded by Mau Galguera and his wife, María García Sainz, in February 2020. They started with digital content and opened a physical space in June of that year. “This is our first time at an international art fair, and an important moment for us,” Mr. Galguera told the NYT.
The report indicated that “the new generation of Mexican artists” are the focus of the gallery. One member of that group, Paloma Contreras Lomas, is the subject of the gallery’s solo booth in the fair’s Positions sector, according to the NYT.
Such galleries as Goodman Gallery, Galerie Lelong & Co and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, according to the Times report will be expanding beyond their booth as they are also opening seasonal pop-up spaces in Miami’s Design District, timed to open during fair week and extending into January.
The pop-up space features canvases by the New York-based painter Eddie Martinez, including “Untitled” (2006), as well as works by self-taught artists Mr. Martinez collects or is inspired by, including Ike Morgan and Billy White, as was reported by the NYT.
The New York Post reported that Louis Vuitton will show the final collection of late designer Virgil Abloh, who passed away this weekend at the age of 41 from a rare cancer. Michael Burke, Louis Vuitton’s Chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the show, titled “Virgil Was Here,” will “celebrate his legacy,” and go on, “per his wishes.”
‘Humankind is represented by mankind … Fake news!’, said Judy Chicago, laughing, when she met Art Basel’s video team at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami. Most of the artist’s forty-year-long career has been spent debunking that myth. Her best-known work, The Dinner Party (1974-1979), celebrates the role of women throughout history. The monumental installation has drawn over one million visitors since its first display and is now permanently housed at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City.
The Dinner Party has sometimes overshadowed the diversity of Chicago’s practice. Yet she has tackled minimalism, land art, history painting, and embroidery, addressing topics as diverse as male domination, depression, and the Holocaust. For the Birth Project (1980-85), Chicago turned her eye to what she saw as a major blind spot in art history: the representation of childbirth. Working with 150 volunteer needleworkers spread around the United States, she produced 85 needlepoint and textile works picturing women pregnant or in labor, caught between joy and excruciating pain. She is represented by Salon 94 in New York City and Jessica Silverman Gallery in Los Angeles.
Feminist scholar and prolific author Dr. Phyllis Chesler is a long time friend and colleague of Ms. Chicago. “I have been friends with Judy for many years and I admire her work. It is bold, outspoken, and represents the kind of inner strength that Judy embodies, “ said Dr. Chesler. She added, “I have a print of one of her works on my living room wall and am very proud of it.” (Sources: New York Times, wallpaper.com, ArtBasel.com) – Additional reporting by Fern Sidman
