MIAMI BEACH-Now in its 16th edition, Art Basel in Miami Beach brings together art enthusiasts from all over the world to explore the many dimensions of Modern and contemporary art. The 2017 edition will feature 268 premier galleries from 32 countries. Along with a high number of returning exhibitors, the show will include 20 galleries that will participate in the Basel show for the very first time.
Highlights from this year’s show include:
NEW FLOORPLAN AND SHOW DESIGN
As a result of the ongoing renovations of the Miami Beach Convention Center – which began in 2015 – this year’s show will feature an expanded exhibition layout and enhanced show design that will allow for larger booths, wider aisles and improved lounging and dining options.
NEW CURATOR FOR PUBLIC
Situated in Miami Beach’s Collins Park, the Public sector presents site-specific sculptures and performances by artists from across the globe. This year, independent curator and critic Philipp Kaiser will curate Public for the first time. The sector will feature 11 large-scale works framed around the theme ‘Territorial’. Artists in Public include: Frida Baranek, Yto Barrada, Daniel Buren, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Philippe Decrauzat, Noël Dolla, Cyprien Gaillard, Daniel Knorr, Harold Mendez, Manuela Viera-Gallo and Brenna Youngblood. Additionally, on Wednesday, December 6, Jim Shawand his D’red D’warf band will present the premier of ‘The Rinse Cycle’, a progressive rock opera ten years in the making.
HIGHLIGTHS FROM NEW EXHIBITORS
20 galleries will participate in Art Basel in Miami Beach for the first time this year, including nine from North and South America, eight from Europe and three from Asia. Highlights from new exhibitors include works by the Argentinian artist Edgardo Antonio Vigo, a vital figure in the Latin American avant-garde movement, at Richard Saltoun Gallery, a recreation of Brazilian painter Wesley Duke Lee’s studio at Ricardo Camargo Galeria and a new body of work by Jibade-Khalil Huffman at Anat Ebgi that focuses on the black male figure in art history, film and literature.
FILM
David Gryn, Director of Daata Editions and Artprojx, has selected films that engage with the diverse and global language of dance, as well as the connection between movement and music. The program will present films by artists Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Jen DeNike and Tin Ojeda, as well as a series of short films drawn from the Chicago Film Archives collection. In addition, Marian Masone, New York-based film curator, has selected ‘Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat’ (2017), directed by Sara Driver, for a special feature-film screening at the Colony Theater on Friday, December 8.
MIAMI’S CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
2017 is an important year for Miami’s cultural institutions with The Bass re-opening after a period of renovation and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) inaugurating its new building in the heart of the Miami Design District.
