Art Basel Miami Beach 2007: America’s Favorite Art Show
From December 6 through 9, 2007, Florida, USA, will be home to the 6th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the celebrated international art show. Art Basel is the favorite
winter meeting place of the international art world. 200 galleries from the USA, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa will be taking part. Chosen by the
Selection Committee from a record number of over 850 applicants, the 200 galleries,  which include 27 new participants, will present works by over 2,000 artists of the 20th
and 21st centuries. Special sectors will feature presentations of new art works, curated exhibitions, video and sound art lounges, a performance program, an «Open Air
Cinema», and art in public spaces. 20 young galleries will present cutting-edge projects in converted shipping containers on the beach. For the first time Art Basel will partner
with Fairchild Tropical Garden (Coral Gables) to present a sculpture exhibition. There will also be a Guest Lounge offering a concentrated range of information and services to visitors. The «Art Basel Conversations» panel discussions will feature prominent art-world personalities.
The more intimate framework of «Art Salon» will give leading figures from the international art scene an opportunity to present their forthcoming projects. Visitors can
also look forward to an exciting program of special exhibitions, visits to private art collections, and crossover events linking art and music, film, architecture, and design.
The museums and collections of South Florida have scheduled impressive exhibitions. Art Basel Miami Beach again promises to be one of the highlights of the international
cultural and social calendar.
The sixth edition of Art Basel Miami Beach takes place in Miami Beach, Florida (USA), from December 6 through 9, 2007.
On the eve of the opening, invited guests from around the world will attend the glamorous Vernissage.
Over 40,000 art enthusiasts are expected to visit the international art show. 200 carefully selected galleries from 30 countries will be showcasing all forms of artistic expression (painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, editions, performance, video and electronic art). Prices start at a few hundred dollars for multiples and works by young artists, and soar into the millions for museum-quality masterpieces. Its prominent list of participants makes Art Basel Miami Beach the most prestigious art show of the Americas for 20th-century classics and contemporary art. A preliminary list can be found at http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/go/id/cyx/.
New Galleries
 With a record number of over 850 applicants to choose from, including 99% of last year’s participants, the Selection Committee (see http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/go/id/dxn/) has picked 200 galleries for this year’s show. Newcomers include contemporary galleries such as Esther Schipper Gallery (Berlin), Roberts & Tillton (Los Angeles), and Galleria Christian Stein (Milan), as well as dealers in 20th-century masterworks like Galerie Cazeau - de la Béraudière (Paris), McKee Gallery (New York), Helly Nahmad Gallery (New York), Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (New York), vintage photography specialist Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco), and Two Palms (New York), a specialist in editions. Over 10% of the galleries are new this year. About half of the exhibitors will be international, with strong participation from Europe and Latin America, a number of galleries from Asia, and one from Africa.
«Art Nova»
Over 240 galleries applied for this sector. Attracting both wellestablished and young galleries, «Art Nova» offers exhibitors a platform to show new works by a maximum of three rising artists. New participants include Galerist (Istanbul, Beyoglu), Green Naftali (New York), Galeria Leme (São Paulo), Galerija Gregor Podnar (Ljubljana), and Talwar Gallery (New York/New Delhi).
«Art Kabinett»
This year’s edition of Art Basel Miami Beach will again feature the «Art Kabinett» initiative, giving participating galleries an opportunity to show small curated exhibitions. The projects chosen by the Selection Committee will be presented in a separate
cubicle of the gallery's booth. The exhibition concepts for «Art Kabinett» are diverse, representing everything from thematic group exhibitions and one-person shows to installations.
«Supporting the arts is a valued tradition at UBS, which is why we are pleased to continue our partnership with Art Basel Miami Beach. We believe that art awakens new
ways of seeing the world, and we are committed to investing in cultural expression and making the arts accessible to our clients, our employees, and the broader community,» says Robert Wolf, Chairman and CEO, UBS Group Americas. «Art is a means of sharing insight and new perspectives – a crucial process echoed at UBS as we share fresh financial perspectives with our clients in creating tailored investment solutions to
meet their needs.»
The world-renowned jeweler Cartier is joining Art Basel Miami Beach as a new Associate Sponsor. The three-year partnership agreement covers both the Basel and
the Miami art shows. Cartier has been demonstrating its commitment to contemporary art for over 20 years. Its Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain stages major exhibitions in the Jean Nouvel-designed building inaugurated in Paris in 1994.
The Fondation Cartier’s innovative cultural program features not only visual art, but music, film, fashion, architecture, and design as well.
«Art Basel Conversations»
«Art Basel Conversations» will be held on the mornings of December 7, 8, and 9 this year. They are open to the public and free of charge. Fostering direct exchange with leading international art-world personalities, this forum provides privileged access to first-hand information on all aspects of collecting and exhibiting art. Panelists include top-flight artists, art collectors, and museum directors.
«Art Positions»
«Art Positions», a beachfront village of shipping containers transformed into mobile art spaces, promises to be the most exciting outpost of this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. Out of a record number of 140 applications, the Selection Committee has chosen 20 young galleries to showcase cutting-edge projects there. The new participants in «Art Positions» are:
Andersen S (Copenhagen), Black Dragon Society (Los Angeles), Dalles (Glasgow), Figge von Rosen Galerie (Cologne), Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro), Hollybush Gardens
(London), Kat MacGarry (London), Galeria Raster (Warsaw), Standard (Oslo), Universal Studios (Beijing), Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Williams (New York), and Zero (Milan).
«Art Positions» will be the epicenter of an extensive cultural program. «Art Loves Music» on the opening night of «Art Positions» (December 5) will feature a concert by an upand-
coming band. The concert is open to the public and ad-mission is free. In the evening, artist films will be shown at the «Open Air Cinema» under the starry skies of South Beach, and a DJ program will be organized in association with P.S.1 (New York). «Art Perform» features daily performances by internationally renowned young artists and is curated by Jens Hoffman, Director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in
San Francisco.
«Art Video Lounge»
A wide-ranging program of contemporary video work will be on view in the «Art Video Lounge» in the Botanical Garden across from the Miami Beach Convention Center. This year’s «Art Video Lounge» is curated by Michael Darling (Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum).
«Art Sound Lounge»
With its «Art Sound Lounge», Art Basel Miami Beach presents a forum where visitors can take in music and audio pieces in the attractive surroundings of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Listeners are provided with wireless headphones to wear as they stroll through the gardens. «Art Sound Lounge» is curated and compiled by David Weinstein, Director of Public Programs, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and Managing Director of Art Radio WPS1.org.
Art Basel Miami Beach incorporates crossover events linking art and film, music, architecture, and design. As a central element of the program, there will be visits to Miami’s private collections, which will be presenting new exhibitions and acquisitions.
The museums of South Florida will also be staging important exhibitions to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach, among them: «Wishing for Synchronicity: Works by Pipilotti
Rist,» «Herzog & de Meuron» (the architects of the new MAM), works by Enrique Martinez Celaya, and «EXOTIC RAVENS», a site-specific project by Carlos Amorales, at the Miami Art Museum (MAM); the first major US museum show for «Jorge Pardo» and the first solo US museum show for Enoc Perez at the Museum of Contemporary Art, N. Miami (MOCA);
«FRENCH KISSING IN THE USA» at The Moore Space;
«Lichtenstein Sculptures at Fairchild» at Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables; «Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection» at the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO); «Sculpture: 1940 thru the Present» at
The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse; «Florida Artist
Series: Pip Brant» at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University; Stezaker and Hernan Bas at the Rubell Family Collection; and «Agitated Images: John Heartfield and German Photomontage, 1920-1938» and «Fashioning the French Interior: Pochoir Portfolios in the 1920s» at the Wolfsonian-FIU.
Once again, the Art Basel Miami Beach Host Committee (listed at www.ArtBasel.com), which numbers over two hundred prominent representatives of the local cultural, political, and business communities, is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to this international art event and helping to ensure that exhibitors and guests receive a particularly friendly welcome to the city.
Many major US museums are organizing trips to Florida, and numerous groups of art collectors from Latin America and Europe have already announced their visits. Over 40,000 visitors and 1400 media representatives from all over the world are expected.
Netjets will be flying and hosting VIP clients. BMW will again be providing limousines for the VIP Car Service. AXA Art Insurance will be offering VIP guided tours. The Delano and
the Shore Club will be the sites of official receptions. As a preferred hotel partner of Art Basel Miami Beach, Morgans Hotel Group will also be offering special room rates for visitors of the show. Reduced-price flights and special rates at 30 recommended
hotels in every category are available from Turon Travel, Inc., the official travel agency of Art Basel Miami Beach: 2 Wooster Street, New York, N.Y. 10013, USA, Tel. +1/212-925 54 53, USA/Canada, Toll Free 800 952 7646, Fax +1/212-219 18 65, demetra.turontravel@wspan.com or from www.ArtBasel.com.
Parents visiting Art Basel Miami Beach can leave children aged 4-12 at the show’s day-care center, which will be running a series of art-related programs organized by the Miami Children's Museum.
Art Basel Miami Beach is accompanied by an attractive catalog.
The publication offers a comprehensive overview of what the international art market has to offer and provides extensive information on the art event itself. The catalog, which appears in early October, can be ordered in advance from Hatje Cantz Verlag, Zeppelinstr. 32, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany, Tel. +49/711-44 05204, Fax +49/711-44 05220, sales@hatjecantz.de.
For the latest updates on Art Basel Miami Beach, visit www.ArtBasel.com |
Art Basel Miami Beach
