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L Cindy Sherman,
an American photographer
and film director known for
her conceptual self-portraits.
Untitled #112 from1982
(Courtesy Skarstedt Fine Art,
New York)
R Picture discovered in
the booth of gallery
Johnen + Schoettle
(Koeln, Berlin, Muenchen).
Who is watching whom?
R Jeanette Chávez,
Jeanette Ostrich, 2006,
C-print, 80x121 cm, Action
performed in Havana, Cuba
(Courtesy Myto, Polanco,
México)
20
In 2002, Sam Keller, the longstanding Director of the
Basel Art Fair, took Art Basel to Miami and elevated this
Florida metropolis to the new art Mecca for collectors,
curators, artists and art lovers. Since then, the crème de la
crème has been meeting annually at the Art Basel Miami
Beach (ABMB) for five days and nights. Last December,
280 gallery owners from all over the world participated
– a veritable art marathon.
What made Art Basel Miami Beach so special last year,
however, was the omnipresence of the City of Berlin, its
protagonists, its art and its creativity. The Bass Museum of
Art honoured the German capital with the show »Constructing
New Berlin«, displaying works by the Berlin artist
Thomas Demand and the photographer Ali Kepenek.
Many internationally renowned Berlin gallery owners
attended the fair, including famous names such as Contemporary
Fine Arts, Eigen & Art, Galerie Max Hetzler,
Kicken Berlin, Galerie Klosterfelde, Galerie Neuneugerriemschneider,
Galerie Neu, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch
and Esther Schipper.
In addition to the fair itself, art obsessed visitors were also
drawn to the beach, naturally not to lie on the sand, but
to appraise the works at »Art Positions«. 22 ship containers
had been individually redesigned as gallery spaces and
offered a playground for newcomers to the art scene. The
centrepiece was provided by the imposingly designed
South Beach Bar. The installation of the German artist
Thorsten Passfeld lent the bar an impressive »trash poetry«:
the entrance area and bar counter were made of
driftwood, building rubble and flotsam. Also represented
at »Art Positions« were the young talents from the Galerie
Michael Zink and Galerie Kamm in Berlin.
DesignMiami – With the success of ABMB, Miami has
changed its image and become a melting pot for art, design
and architecture, as demonstrated by the fact that a
second internationally recognised event, Design Miami,
running parallel to ABMB, was initiated here two years
ago. The person behind Design Miami is Ambra Medda.
She has succeeded in luring top gallery owners, designers
and architects – in other words the cream of design
– to Miami. And she managed it with her first attempt.
Design06 was already a success: »Thirteen of the world’s
best galleries brought their pieces to the Design District«,
says the attractive Italian, whose partner is one of Miami’s
most powerful men, the project developer and patron of
the arts, Craig Robins. He is also responsible for transforming
a rundown local neighbourhood into the desirable
Miami Design District.
One of the highlights of DesignMiami is the presentation
of the »Designer of the Year« award. Last year’s
winner was 43-year old industrial designer, Marc Newson,
who has now achieved cult status. »For me, in only
its second year, this fair has become one of the most important
design events in the USA«, says Newson. »This
is due to the quality of its pieces and the large number of
visitors. Overall, this creates an unbelievable dynamic
and commercial clout«. His Lockheed Lounge piece,
a lounge seat beaten together from different pieces of
metal, went under the hammer at Sotheby’s recently
for just under $1 million. The piece can now be seen as
part of the design exhibition at the well-known Moore
Building, a design store of unprecedented dimensions
and excellence. Newson’s artworks, which are always
limited editions of 12, are now in the same league as
those of Damien Hirst or Vik Muniz.