Basel Hangover

Well Okay, Basel is over for another year. It was a fantastic year again and I am looking forward to next year. That being said I will cover how this year went and am happy to report that it was far better than last year. And this is due to the fact that this year I simply had more access to the fairs. I was able to get into every opening night to most of the fairs short of two. So my experience this year is far more tangible than any pervious years I have been.

I will begin with Basel itself, which is fundamentally the same as every year but with the added incentive of opening night which was superb. In fact I refuse to attend Art Basel in the future if I am not included in the opening night. The people, the art, the energy is extremely palpable and transcended previous recollections of Basel itself. I have also compiled a list of fairs I enjoyed this year in order of preference.

1. Scope
2. Pulse
3. Aqua
4. Basel
5. NADA
6. Art Miami

Let’s start from descending order and Art Miami was not as good this year as it was the last. It seemed to have fallen back on old habits. Long gone are the days where the fair was dominated by South American artist with their Victorian sensibilities which is an acceptable loss for me. But it seems to have trouble establishing a theme as a show. What does it stand to represent? Surely not the edgy fresh art of the next generation or the established artist of the past fifty to eighty years where it can be bought and sold for the next eighty years. From what I have observed it seems to be catering to which Gallery has the most money or influence to show in the fair. Which is the same to an extent with all the shows but unlike the others there is a lack of an overall message, where art does matter, and what is being said.

NADA was quite refreshing, and I have nothing to refer it to since this was my first year there but what was witness in this fair was quite inspiring. The galleries were a nice mixture of engaging work with a number of possible charlatans. The hotel presentation really added to the experience along with the phenomenal view of the beach. The show was comprised of hungry galleries looking to showcase exciting contemporary work and I look forward to witnessing what will be presented to the public next year.

Coming back to Basel I will not dwell too long on this particular fair because it’s fundamentally the same in structure and why change what works. In one end of the fair you have more established bankable artist where one feels more like museum walking rather than gallery walking. The other side is the meat and the high end upstarts are presented in full force. I know most of these artists but it is always good to see them every year and there are surprises peppering in here and there. Add to this some lectures and some artist showcase booths and your Basel experience is complete, a guilty pleasure.

I have been to Aqua Miami for the past two years and this is the first I have had the pleasure to visit in its original location in the Aqua Hotel. This is a big reason it has earned this spot. The location is convenient as far as its proximity to the fair but it has the added incentive of being casual and somewhat intimate. This fair in composed of smaller galleries around the country and Canada but it the most exciting galleries in there caliber. I do hope it stays in the hotel next year but much like everything else it will be circumstantial.

Back in the Ice Palace I land in Pulse Miami and the work in this fair was impressive. I have always considered this fair to be the number one show in all of Miami ever since its first appearance in Miami. The galleries present an assortment of wonderful ideas and artist to the show. I always judge my fair experience by my attention span as trivial as this measurement may be. If my mind starts to wonder for a long time and I am not paying attention to the work then the fair is not successful in my eyes. Now this will happen regardless but with a good fair as in the case of Pulse the attention span is much longer. Many times just when I became accustomed to work one would catch my eye and I would be back in the game. I found myself coming back for more.

I believe Scope began three years ago in Miami and I always felt it had promise but felt short from Pulse and Aqua because it seeming to have had galleries that pretended to come out with fresh and contemporary work. This year was such a shock to me to find that Scope attained such a great deal of respect and inspiration and this with Art Asia always anchoring it down with its insipid work. Not only did it have my attention but it also touched me as an artist in the sense that I’m gonna have to rip some of these artist ideas off. Crazy were the installations and video art not to mention the conceptual paintings that seem to dominate this art fair in every corner. To its benefit the show felt more like a carnival rather than a fair. I pray that next year Scope will maintain its sensibility and it will have my gratitude if it excels it.

I’m gonna get back to painting now, till next year.