The 13th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach closed yesterday, Sunday, December 7, 2014, with gallerists, private collectors, museum groups and the media praising the edition of the fair. Highlights of the show included the introduction of the new Survey sector, which brought 13 art-historical projects to the fair, including many rare works never before exhibited in an art fair context; and Art Basel’s staging with Performa of Ryan McNamara’s ‘MEƎM 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet’ at the Miami Grand Theater. Solid sales were reported across all levels of the market and throughout the run of the show. Featuring 267 leading international galleries from 31 countries, the show – whose Lead Partner is UBS attracted an attendance of 73,000 over five days. Attendees included representatives of over 160 museum and institution groups from across the world and a surging number of new private collectors from the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Following a 100 percent reapplication rate for the Galleries sector and with new galleries coming from across the world, the list of exhibitors was the strongest to date in Miami Beach, firmly solidifying the show’s position as the leading international art fair of the Americas.
‘This year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach has enabled us to further strengthen our relationships with international collectors, placing key works in important US collections.’ Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers, Co-owners, Sprüth Magers Berlin London, Berlin, London
‘Art Basel’s show in Miami Beach is the gold standard by which all other art fairs are judged. Its content, audience and presentation are consistently of the highest quality.’ Adam Sheffer, Partner/Sales Director, Cheim & Read, New York
‘We have done exceedingly well at Kabinett – it is a great program that allows us to bring special attention to a carefully curated presentation of works. We found that year on year
‘We were excited about the great presentation that we were able to bring for our first show in Miami Beach, in this brand new Survey sector. Tetsuya Ishida passed away in 2005 and we are extremely honored to show his work in the United States. The sales were strong and we are glad to have met many new collectors from the United States and from Asia.’ Yumie Wada, President, Y++ Wada Fine Arts, Beijing, Tokyo
‘This fair always has a good balance of new and returning audiences and this has only increased as the show has matured over the past 13 years. We have met with a lot of collectors from across Latin America, as well as finding new faces from places as far flung as Istanbul, Moscow, San Juan, Zurich, Paris, Florence, Munich, Seoul and Hong Kong.’ Paul L. Gray, Director, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, New York
‘Art Basel in Miami Beach was a smashing success – one of our strongest ever. Collectors were serious and engaged from the moment the doors opened. Even after nearly selling out our booth on opening day the energy remained high. It’s an energizing way to end the season; we can’t wait to be back next year.’ David Maupin, Co-Founder, Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong
‘We had another successful year at Art Basel in Miami Beach. Museum sales were particularly strong this year with some great curatorial projects now in the pipeline. As always, the Latin American collectors were a strong presence, buying work by our European as well as Brazilian artists.’ Alison Jacques, Owner, Alison Jacques Gallery, London,
‘We have had a wonderful experience in Positions because it gave us the opportunity to focus on Meleko Mokgosi. We wanted to bring a different voice and to present work that isn’t typically seen in an art fair context. The response from collectors, curators and journalists has been affirming.’ Honor Fraser, Owner and Founder, Honor Fraser, Los Angeles
‘The new Survey sector has works of really high quality for collectors who are interested in historical and conceptual art. These works have never been previously shown in the context of an art fair. We met a variety of new collectors from around the world and have sold works to important US institutions such as MoMA in New York and CIFO here in Miami.’
‘Once again the show in Miami Beach was of high quality. We appreciate the new opening structure with two preview days and a Vernissage on the second day. It gave us more time to talk to collectors. Wang Jianwei’s works attracted lots of attention and sold very well.’ David Tung, Director, Long March Space, Beijing
‘Our experience has been wonderful. This year we have had the great opportunity to present women artists from across generations, including two artists who are showing at Art Basel in Miami Beach for the first time – Lydia Okumura from Brazil and Gina Pane from Italy. It’s been a pleasure to introduce these artists from the 60’s and 70’s who have long been overlooked.’
Anke Kempkes, Founder, Broadway 1602, New York
‘Though Art Basel in Miami Beach is primarily known as a contemporary art fair, we always have a phenomenal response to the classic Modernist work that we exhibit.’ Howard Shaw, President and Director, Hammer Galleries, New York
David Gryn of London’s Artprojx returned to curate the Film sector for the fourth year running – creating a program of over 80 film and video works by and about artists drawn from the show’s participating galleries. The program featured work by Charles Atlas, Martin Creed, Susan Hiller, Parker Ito, Mark Leckey, Babette Mangolte, Takeshi Murata, Laure Prouvost, Alex Prager, Mark Wallinger and a tribute to Harun Farocki, who passed away this July. An estimated 1,000 visitors attended four nights of free screenings in SoundScape Park on the 7,000-square-foot outdoor projection wall of the Frank Gehry designed New World Center. Selected by Zurich film connoisseur This Brunner, a special screening of ‘Big Eyes’ by director Tim Burton took place at the Colony Theatre, introduced by featured actress Krysten Ritter and followed by a Q&A with screenwriter Larry Karaszewski. For more information, please visit: artbasel.com/miamibeach/film.
The show also marked the successful launch of Art Basel’s Next tours program for emerging collectors. A total of 80 collectors drawn from 12 young patrons groups of international museums attended bespoke tours of the fair and had intimate sessions with exhibiting galleries.
Art Basel’s next show in Miami Beach will take place from December 3 to December 6, 2015. Starting after the 2015 edition, the Miami Beach Convention Center will undergo major renovation, phased around the 2016 show, with the aim to finish the renovation before Art Basel returns to Miami Beach in December 2017.