Postcards from Miami: ART BASEL 2008

For those who are not familiar with Art Basel Miami Beach, let's just call it The Olympics of contemporary art. It is the intense, frenzied, week-long period where all of the world's artists (both great and emerging,) gallerists, collectors, curators, critics, celebrities, and socialites descend upon South Beach for exhibitions, receptions, performances, and of course, parties. Since its inception seven years ago, Art Basel has grown into a behemoth of an event: the fair itself hosts more than 250 galleries from around the world, which are joined by scores of satellite fairs which host hundreds of galleries representing thousands of artists, as well as private collections, museums, and special events all over town.
In recent years, Basel has come to perpetuate and represent all of the excessive spending and hyper-inflation of the art market. The question on everyone's minds was, with the economic downturn, what would this year hold?

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008

I'm not even going to pretend to provide an accurate, or even fair, account of the week's proceedings. The primary issue is that there is simply too much happening at any given moment for one person to experience, let alone cover. I also use this week as an annual reprieve that allows for some rejuvenation, some inspiration, and a great deal of fun.

What follows here is simple: one man's journey to the sun.

My first visit to the beach was greeted by a voluptuous woman languishing in the sun. Olaf Breuning was commissioned by arts-enthusiast Marty Taplin's Sagamore Hotel to be their installation artist for 2008. His 150-ton sphinx-like sand sculpture, which will soon fall prey to the elements, is one of the few works of art that cannot be bought or sold. In Olaf's words: “Miami has something, not sleazy or cheesy about it, but you see people walking around in very tight bathing suits, big breasts, plastic surgery so I thought I’d make something about the relationship between sexuality and art history."

After a very brief visit to the opening preview of GESAI Miami, a Japanese emerging art fair, we headed to the opening of Design Miami/ in the Design District. This vernissage was our first reminder that despite the moaning on Wall Street, there is still money floating around out there. Above left, is a Ross Lovegrove chandelier in the Swarovski Crystal Palace.

On the left is an image from GESAI, which is an offshoot of the PULSE fair. The innovative and temporary structure which housed Design Miami was designed by the progressive NY architecture firm, Aranda/Lasch.

Our next and final stop for the evening was Galerie Adler Bertin Toublanc, a beautiful space showcasing a number of group and individual shows. On the left are statues by Chinese artist Liu Bolin, and on the right is a video piece by French artist, Rachel Henriot.

On the left, German artists Eva & Adele speak with Galerie Adler Bertin Toublanc owner, Joel Cohen. In the middle is a detail of a piece by American artist, Peter Anton. On the right, Stephan Morris, a Miami-based promoter, stands among one of the collections that include Supakitch, Laurent Elie Badessi and Huang Kang.

Rather than continuing on to the myriad of other parties that spread out across town, we opted for an early night. On the right, our gracious hosts, artist Antonia Wright and club promoter, Flip. Antonia recently moved back to her hometown after a number of years in New York. The dog's name is Cuba and he can jump.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008

After a run on the beach and a bit of work, Slideluck Potshow Co-Director and Producer, Alys Kenny (right,) and I headed to Art Basel for the Press Preview and Vernissage. On the left are some collectors outside of the Art Video Lounge with the Cartier Dome in the background.

At New York's Van De Weghe Gallery, I immediately came upon perhaps my favorite piece of the fair, Tourist II, by Duane Hanson (1988.) I've seen many a photographer grab that shot, but Hanson just takes it to a completely different level. On the right is Medusa Marinara Plate by Brazilian genius Vik Muniz at Edwynn Houk.

Dealers, collectors and arts-appreciators abound at Ameringer & Yohe, left, and Galleria Continua, right.

From left to right: Thukari + Tagra's Artificial Straw at New Delhi's Nature Morte/Bose Pacia Gallery; one of the bigger-ticket sales, Kris Martin's For Whom. . . a readymade sculpture of a bell from 1929 that went for 200k at Sies + Höke; an old friend from high school, Sarah Bryan, director of San Francisco's Antony Meier Fine Arts in front of a Yayoi Kusama painting; and a (currently) unidentified, but very creative use of jewelry.

An exhausted collector plops down on the gallery floor for a nap. Actually, another brilliant, life-size piece by Duane Hanson at the Van De Weghe Gallery. On the right are the works of some modern masters at Madison Avenue's Nahmad Helly Gallery.

It usually doesn't take long for people to gravitate towards the VIP Lounge for comfortable seating and overpriced drinks. Some never really leave. On the right is a Moët Hennessy-commissioned table centerpiece.

The evening begins. After a brief stop at the Ritz-Carlton for the Master's Mystery Show and Benefit (right,) featuring works by 300 undisclosed artists and cucumber mojitos, we headed over to the opening of the Aqua Art Fair.

Amami Olu, Founder of the Humble Arts Foundation at left and an employee of Houston's New Gallery/Thom Androila and her pooch.

Aqua remains one of my favorite satellite art fairs-- there is a great selection of galleries, a number of which hail from the Northwest (as do I,) the setting is at once nostalgic, exotic and intimate, and the overall vibe is friendly and festive. In the center is a shot of Tracey Norman, Associate Director of the Yancey Richardson Gallery, an amazing photo gallery in New York, with whom we regularly collaborate and myself.

After Aqua, we followed the throngs to the beach to catch the last couple songs of the French electropop star, Yelle. People were going crazy for her, including the French girls in the middle image who had come down from Ft. Lauderdale for the show. On the right, Alys crushes a bottle of bubbly.

We hightailed it back to The Raleigh where a NW favorite, The Gossip was playing. Again, we barely caught the fat lady singing, but we did get swept up in the confluence of numerous currents that washed everyone I could think of to The Raleigh's shores. From left to right: Isabelle Stadler of Berlin's Niels Borch Jensen Gallery, Las Vegas-based painter, Regina Curinga, international painter and impresario known in the US as Kevin Berlin, and my good friend, screenwriter and producer, Michael Ellenbogen.

I'm not sure how we ended up downtown at the end of it all, but it was kind of calming to be up on the balcony of one of those brand-new towers, peering out at the burgeoning metropolis, and watching the heat give to the distant lights a lazy twinkle.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

After spending the morning shooting for some galleries, Bruce MacFarlane, an old friend and collector came up from Key Largo and we went to the The Standard Hotel for a leisurely lunch.

As a big fan of the art deco hotels along Miami Beach, I was skeptical about how impressed I would be with the new Standard hotel, but I must say, it certainly has charm. The fact that it's so removed from everything gives it a certain serenity as well.

If this doesn't just say it all, I don't know what does.

In the afternoon, I took in the Photo Miami and Scope Art Fairs at a leisurely pace. On the left, Scope, and on the right, Spencer Tunick's healthy new direction.

After a quick stop in the shark-infested lobby of the Gansevoort Hotel where I ran into some sort of a Marilyn Manson-is-now-a-painter afterparty, I headed for the beach, to check out Art Positions. On the right is a detail of Art Radio International's Lunar Lounge. The lounge itself was designed by Federico Diaz and E Area, and the cascade of honeycomb shapes is meant to evoke the audio broadcasts and visual projections that emanate from the lounge. The idea being that the stark white topography of undulating mounds doubles as tabletops and seating, offering stellar respite and a place to listen and absorb.

Art Positions is an offshoot of Art Basel and features an exhibition by twenty young galleries in shipping containers right on the beach. The evening projections are curated by PS1's Alana Heiss. Wow. What Slideluck Potshow could do with a slot in that schedule! On the left is the the interior of New York's Wallspace Gallery container, Martha Friedman's Rubbers, 2008, which are essentially giant, taught floor-to-ceiling rubber bands.

Various parties at The Raleigh kept me occupied for the remainder of the night. The first of which was a celebration for the Visionaire 55 Suprise. The event had an over-the-top, pre-recession quality to it: a dozen Chippendales models standing around shirtless, holding copies of the pop-up books, a towering fountain made of champagne glasses, and enough Krug champagne going around to drown an anorexic Hamptonite.

Some of my favorite outfits of the week were on display at this party, such as the bullfighter at left. Visionaire's $150,000 collectible Goyard trunk features intricate pop-ups by Sophie Calle, Andreas Gursky, Cai Guo-Qiang, Steven Klein, Yayoi Kusama, Alasdair McLellan, Steven Meisel, Guido Mocafico, Nicola Formichetti/Gareth Pugh, Sølve Sundsbø, and this one by Mario Testino.

The party continues. Nightlife and society photographer Patrick McMullan is interviewed by PS1 radio, Mexican photographer and curator, Alinka Echeverría, and on the right, German architectural and fine art photographer, Christoph Morlinghaus with my old roomie and photo rep, Isabel Scharenberg.

Thursday night can't go without mention of Benicio del Toro. We were at the afterparty for the American premiere of the film Che, in which he stars as the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara. It was a bit of an odd place to premier a movie about Guevara, considering the vast majority of Miami Cubans fucking hate the guy. When leaving the theater, they were met by more protesters than paparazzi. Anyway, when he and director Steven Soderbergh and others arrived, they ended up sitting down at the table right next to us. Though I respect his work, I didn't think much of their arrival-- my female companions, however, were a bit more intrigued. I was surprised to see my business partner, Alys Kenny, plop down next to him and get into what looked like an involved discussion for the next two hours. It wasn't long before Isabel, Julie, Alinka, Antonia and the others were locked in conversation with the whole crew. The funny thing is that I tried to take a picture of the scene and his bodyguards wouldn't let me! So I'm left with this lame shot. The girls had a blast, though, they took the whole movie crew over to a late night party at Rokbar. Go girls.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008

Did I neglect to mention that I was staying in a house full of beautiful women? It was like a sorority of hot, talented, female artists. I'm hoping they open a chapter in the East Village. In the middle is our hostess Antonia Wright and on the right is novelist, Rachel Sontag, whose first book, House Rules, was just published by Random House.

This is neither here nor there, but do you know the ubiquitous gated communities that made Florida Florida? Pictured above is the guard booth/security checkpoint outside of a Miami Beach community. As you can see, the guard is a frickin' mannequin. I wonder if earlier in the year, before the Snowbirds come to roost for winter, they populate the whole community this way.

Opulence, anyone? On the right is a vintage piece from the collection inside the Cartier Dome. More a jewel-encrusted breastplate than a necklace, it hails from 1929-- I'm guessing right about the time the Roaring Twenties crashed into the Great Depression. Let's hope the Cartier Dome, with a commissioned David Lynch film projected on the ceiling, cups of pumpkin risotto, and an never-ending flow of champagne isn't the harbinger of an even greater depression. On left, is Evan Penny's Murray Variation 3, at Sperone Westwater in the main fair. This over-sized, hyper-realistic bust of a grizzled older man was almost inescapably captivating-- even for Latina pop-star Shakira.

A bit of development in South Beach and a view towards downtown Miami from the roof of the Gansevoort Hotel.

Surface Magazine hosted a rooftop VIP lounge at the Gansevoort, offering a daytime respite for collectors and their ilk to enjoy a bar menu provided by STK, Stoli cocktails and collections by the Guggenheim Museum Young Collectors Council. On the right is a view down Miami Beach, which, let's face it, has a hell of a lot to do with the popularity of this art fair.

Soon to be a collector's item. I call this one: Self Portrait with Gansevoort.

After lazing about in the waning afternoon light, I headed down Washington Avenue to The Wolfsonian Collection, a museum and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, political and technological changes that have transformed the world. The 100,000 artifacts that comprise the Wolfsonian’s unusual collections range from fine art, graphic design and political propaganda to furniture and rare books. They have a reception each year, with hearty hors d'oeuvre and performances. This year, they had legendary Magnum photographer Martin Parr (right,) taking portraits of patrons for a mere $250 donation.

On the left are Nicole Homme, a consultant from KPMG, and Yolande Whitcomb, who just completed her master's in contemporary art from Christie's in NY at the Raleigh. At center is Shepard Fairey, perhaps the most influential street artist to have ever lived, on the 1's and 2's at his Shore Club party. Beginning with his OBEY GIANT guerilla marketing campaign and most recently with his posters for the Obama campaign, no graphic artist has had the degree of influence on urban youth culture as Shep. And on the right and hailing from the windy city is Julie Harr, one of my best friends from college, with what looks like might be a pervert.

For our last night in town, we decided to break the mold and hit the only decent dive bar in South Beach: The Deuce. With it's double-horseshoe bar and eclectic mix of locals, locos, club kids, models, students, bikers, prostitutes, artists, and of course, a Keith Richards doppelganger, the Deuce is always a refreshing change of pace. As we walked in, a young fellow who had stepped out for a smoke was complaining that "some chick had come out and puked on his arm." On the right is Alys Kenny, and on the left, is a character if I've ever seen one. In the center are four more of my lovely housemates: Tamara Umansky a photographer who just opened La Barra Ceviceria on Broome St.; English photographer Sigi Cassel; Lebanese photographer Jessica Kalache; and Mexican photographer and curator, Alinka Echecverría. All four recently graduated from photo programs at ICP.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2008

Unfortunately, we were unable to stay all the way through the weekend, so we rose bright and early on Saturday morning to enjoy our last day of sunshine and fun times before flying out that evening. It wasn't long before we were cruising Collins Avenue and I had to make a mandatory stop at the Delano Hotel. Photos cannot do this place justice. The Philippe Starck redesign boasts America's first "indoor/outdoor" lobby has a ephemeral, sublime quality to it that always leaves me longing to be suspended in time and space.

Our destination that morning is perhaps my favorite event of the week, the collector's brunch at the Sagamore Hotel. On the left, are Lori Cheek, magician and architect from Vitra, and Cindy Perry, who works in finance in New York. And is it me, or does Andrew Einhorn (right) have an exceptionally big grin on his face?

It soon became clear that I wasn't adding any value to the brunch, so I was quickly put to work polishing guests steel Dior sandals.

Our next, and sadly, last stop on the rollercoaster of art and commerce that is Art Basel Miami Beach was the New Art Dealers Alliance, or NADA. Founded in 2002, and consistently one of the strongest auxiliary fairs in Miami, is a non-profit whose mission is to create an open flow of information, support, and collaboration within the field of contemporary art and to develop and encourage a stronger sense of community amongst its constituency. They believe that the adversarial approach to exhibiting and selling art has run its course. They also believe in hammocks.

Again I found all kinds of inspiration among the bold artworks and characters on display. At right is an artist, bound from neck-to-toe in bandages, lying prone and helpless on the floor. I watched a number of people practically step on or walk right past her.

At left, Take Ninagawa Gallery from Tokyo, Marlo Pascual at Zurich's Karma International, and Chicago's Western Exhibitions, a first-time exhibitor, display self-portrait sillohouettes by husband and husband artist duo Dutes Miller and Stan Shellabarger, priced at $5,000 each.

On the left is of my favorite canvases, an untitled piece by Stefan Sander at Andreas Grimm, partially because it transports me to the insanely confounding task of transcribing the sign-up sheets from Slideluck Potshows. On the left, two women enjoy the the sunken remains of a pair of male buttocks.

On the left, a guy from Bermuda gives me a funny look. On the left, the publications and editions section of NADA.

Back on the lawn, a game of ping pong between a couple of hipsters heats up. The table top is mirrored, and they can just barely catch fleeting glimpses of themselves in action. At right is collector and patron of the arts, Ali Cordero Casal. Ali founded a very progressive contemporary art museum in his hometown, the Museo de Arte Acarigua Araure, and together with his daughter, video artist Valeria Cordero, is singularly responsible for bringing Slideluck Potshow to Venezuela. He is a very kind man, a force in the Latin American art world, and one for whom I have great respect.

While the rest of the Baselites were getting gussied up for the evening's festivities, taking disco naps, or simply enjoying the thick, rich evening air-- we were being whisked off to Miami International Airport-- our heads still a-buzz from the sensory barrage of the previous five days.

Had Basel lived up to years prior? I guess it depends for whom are we speaking. Many galleries have reported sales being down by thirty percent from last year, while others, like the Rubells, found the sales "remarkable" considering that everyone was expecting the worst. There certainly were fewer visitors, which translated into more elbowroom and more opportunities for buyers. Many agreed that, while not the stellar performance of the last five years, it certainly could have been much worse.

What did I find in my five-day exploration to the Center of the Art Universe? As the downturn seemed to thin out the crowds a bit, it served to weed out those that only see art in financial terms and those who are only concerned with making the scene. Those that did make the trip seemed to really care about art. At the very least, they were invested in some way or another. Although there may have been aspects of the week that may have been lesser than in years past, what seems to have remained intact is the spirit of the event. And it is spirit, dear friends, that cannot be bought or sold.