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Monday December 4, 2006
The word on Art Basel
Basel always brings some temporary outdoor art installations. This one is in front of the Jackie Gleason Theater. Some more are here and here
Yes, I’m going to be talking about Art Basel this week; apologies to those who don’t care. For non-art people who are interested, I’ll probably do a post on Friday to tell you what to see if you don’t want to see everything. For the others, somewhat more frequent updates on what’s particularly interesting.
- Daniel Chang writes about some of the things local artists are doing to try to get noticed. A lot of it involves hanging stuff outdoors, with some interesting performance/interactive ideas thrown in. But save yourself the trouble and don’t bother with the “interactive gallery” thing.
“Now some [companies] are seeking to burnish their image by aligning themselves with the art world, and in particular with Art Basel, fashion’s most prestigious new marketing tool.” A bit about using Art Basel to sell not-art stuff.Franklin pointed out that the link was broken. It’s fixed now, but honestly it’s not a very interesting article. Try some other NYTimes Basel coverage: The Rubells, Wynwood art scene, Fine Art, Great Party. Honestly though, I don’t think Franklin’s going to approve of any of them.- Tyler Green ponders the historical similarities between Art Basel and 19th-century Parisian salons, and drops a number on us: “Over the next five days collectors will spend somewhere between $100-300 million on art.”
- Shagadelic to-do lists from Alex in the City and KH. Click the links. Take notes.
- Artnet has another summary of events/addresses and a handy dandy google map of all the fairs.
- The Paper/Deitch Art Store, with items starting at 99¢.
- Two non-fair things that should be considered mandatory for out of towners: for photography enthusiasts, the Margulies, one of the most impressive private collections on public display anywhere, and for everyone, the Miami Art Museum, which has a Lorna Simpson retrospective and Mark Dion’s South Florida Wildlife Rescue Unit which, um, is what it sounds like. Except it’s art. You’ll see.
- Hot & Bothered at Carol Jazzar’s home gallery should be worth the trip. Carol is one of the best independent curators working in Miami, and these artists (the three who’s work I’m familiar with) are doing some of the most interesting photo-based work in town. 8 – midnight, Saturday (not the most convenient time or place).
- As usual, any empty storefront of warehouse has been turned into an ad-hoc gallery for the weekend. Some friends of mine have one: Monster Show.
- Quick links to a couple of the pages on the Art Basel site: Home, Hours/location, Galleries, Press releases, Complete list of everything.
- I’ll be adding a selection of events to the sidebar calendar (on the home page). To see everything about Art Basel, refer to articles tagged ‘basel’.
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Link to NYT is dead. Look for bonus character in front of URL.
jeez to much stuff to do
thanks for the post alesh. by the way, I think I saw you today around 9:40 AM on Pembroke rd….. I was driving the other street. I guess you were on the way to work.
is omni art happening this year?
great job alesh, I’m going there today (I live right in front at the Masfield Park, duh!) and now, thanks to the info, I know what to look for:-) Now, have you seen any Yoshimoto Nara? He’s my fave…
Basel was great but I hope that as interesting new events and institutions come along we don’t drop the ball on the PAC/CCPA.....
The word I am getting is that while a few events have been well attended, attendance overall is dismally low. No, make that frighteningly low. There’s no marketing, no community outreach, no efforts to carry the story of the Center to the far corners of Miami-Dade. It’s still the smug little club of old friends talking to each other and wondering why no one is knocking at their doors.
Am I getting a distorted sense of what’s going on?
Or should we be thinking seriously about turning one of the new halls over to Cirque du Soleil
I’m curious about overall attendance levels myself, but I can tell you that advertising is all out — i see their ads everywhere.
If their attendance was strong, they’d be trunpeting their great success.
They are totally silent on the matter so I am assuming the worse.
And their advertising is a complete waste because they have totally failed to “sell” the facility and the surrounding area.
You could advertise wonderful events in Sweetwater or Opa Locka all you want but if I have a negative impression of the neighborhood, I’m not going!
Apparently things are rosy. See Dec. 10 press release here.
Sorry. I’m sure I caused confusion by segueing from Art Basel (the headline on this string) to attendance at the Carnival Center of Performing Arts. My pesky ADD cut in. And yes, Art Basel did just fine!