Displaying items by tag: Miami

A year after establishing itself as Miami’s newest arts venue, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami has chosen a permanent director.

Ellen Salpeter, a longtime arts institution leader in New York who has served as deputy director of external affairs for the Jewish Museum in New York since 2012, will start her new position at ICA Miami on Dec. 1.

The Institute of Contemporary Art received permission Tuesday night to demolish three homes in a historic district in order to build a sculpture park, but some conditions placed on the approval may make the decision unpalatable.

Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board voted 3 to 2 to allow the museum, which is located in the Design District, to tear down the homes behind the building on parcels in the southern edge of the Buena Vista East Historic District.

When auto magnate Norman Braman and developer Craig Robins laid the groundwork last year to build a new home for the Institute of Contemporary Art, they envisioned the private institution carving a cutting-edge niche in Miami’s arts scene and serving as the crown jewel of the city’s luxury shopping mecca.

But only half the museum campus is actually in the Design District.

The Miami art fair PULSE just kicked a little sand in the face of its rivals.

The contemporary art fair plans to relocate from downtown Miami to a spot along the beach this winter—a move to lure more visitors and stand out from the crowd of more than a dozen art fairs that hit the city every December. Fair director Helen Toomer unveiled the new location in an interview Thursday.

After all of the galas, events, and parties that took place at Art Basel week in Miami died down on Sunday, December 9, it was clear that the show enjoyed another stellar year. In fact, many critics, exhibitors, and visitors deemed 2012 the best Art Basel presentation to date. Steady sales and a constant stream of visitors that totaled 70,000 were reported over the course of the five-day fair. Among the show’s patrons were over 130 museum and institution groups as well as powerful private collectors from across the globe. Exhibitor Adam Sheffer of Cheim & Read Gallery in New York said, “We were delighted again this year by the results of Art Basel Miami Beach. It remains the gold standard of the international art fair circuit.”

PULSE Miami, another contemporary fair that takes place during Miami’s art week, also reported stable sales and high attendance. In fact, the number of visitors to Ice Palace Studios where the show is held was up by 20% from last year. Cornell DeWitt, Director of PULSE Contemporary Art Fairs said, “We are thrilled by the increased number in attendance this year…Collectors at all levels purchased work ranging in price from mid-level well into six figures.” Works by major contemporary artists such as Chuck Close and Robert Longo, and William Eggleston were among the top sales.

With all of the attention and success that Art Basel week has garnered, collectors, exhibitors, and art enthusiasts are surely not wasting any time in making plans for next year’s trip to Miami.

Art Miami LLC, the company responsible for Art Miami, the city’s longest running contemporary art fair, announced this morning that they have acquired Aqua Art Miami. Now in its eighth year, Aqua is a satellite fair that takes place at the Aqua Hotel each year during Art Basel Week.

Founded by artist Jaq Chartier and collector and dealer Dirk Park in 2005, Aqua is devoted to bringing emerging and early mid-career contemporary artists together from across the globe. Being under the Art Miami umbrella will help Aqua to develop a larger scope of offerings for exhibitors and patrons as well as attract more big-name collectors to the show.

Art Miami LLC will take over operations at Aqua after the fair’s 2012 edition ends on Sunday, December 9.

The anxiously awaited event, Art Basel, begins tonight, December 5, with a VIP preview and runs through Sunday, December 9. Now in its 11^th year, Art Basel has become a defining event in the art world and each year the city of Miami is taken over by collectors, curators, artists, celebrities, and art enthusiasts as well as a host of art fairs.

Taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Art Basel features over 260 big-name galleries from around the world and exhibits works by more than 2,000 artists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Renowned for its support of young and emerging artists and galleries, Art Basel includes performance art, public art projects, lectures, and video art installations. Some exhibitor highlights include Acquavella Galleries, Mary Boone Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Lisson Gallery, and White Cube, among many others.

Regarded as Miami art week’s anchor fair, Art Miami got a head start on Art Basel and hosted a VIP preview on December 4 at the Art Miami Pavilion in the city’s Wynwood Arts District. The fair, which features modern and contemporary offerings from more than 125 international galleries, runs from December 5 through December 9. While Art Basel tends to be spotlighted during Miami’s art week, Art Miami is the original and longest-running contemporary art fair to be held in the area with 23 years under its belt. Exhibitors include Douglas Dawson Gallery, Eli Klein Fine Art, Haunch of Venison, Hollis Taggart Gallery, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Michael Goedhuis, and Waterhouse & Dodd.

This year, Art Miami coincides with the inaugural CONTEXT art fair, which features 50 galleries representing emerging and mid-career artists. Located in an ultramodern pavilion adjacent to Art Miami, CONTEXT boasts indoor and outdoor projects as well as solo artist installations, curated projects, and multimedia exhibits. Between Art Miami and CONTEXT, there will be over 200,000 square feet of exhibition space and over 250 participating galleries.

Another highlight of the city’s art week is Scope Miami, which opened on December 4 with a VIP preview and will run through December 9 at a new location in the midtown arts district. With a 100,000 square foot pavilion, Scope features 20 new galleries as part of its “Breeder Program” and 85 established exhibitors. Besides modern and contemporary art, there will be design, music, and fashion offerings.

Pulse Miami opens to the public on December 6 and runs through December 9 at The Ice Palace Studios. One of Art Basel’s many satellite fairs, Pulse is in its eighth year and features 86 international galleries exhibiting works on paper, paintings, sculptures, performances, installations, and video art. Pulse also includes its signature series, Pulse Projects, a selection of installations proposed by galleries and not-for-profit institutions. This year’s Pulse Projects includes a short film by Zackary Drucker shown earlier this year at MoMA PS1, marble installations courtesy of Venske & Spanle and Margaret Thatcher Projects, and a special screening of street artist Invader’s Art 4 Space, courtesy of Jonathan LeVine Gallery.

While there are countless fairs, events, parties, concerts, and openings happening in Miami this week, one not to be missed affair is the Masterpieces from the Berardo Collection exhibit at the Gary Nader Art Centre. Opening on December 5, the show features pieces from one of the finest modern and contemporary art collections in existence. Hand-picked from the private holdings of Joe Berardo, a Portuguese mogul, the 110 works are worth $500 million. Featured artists include Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and many more.

The cruise ship “Reflections,” one of 11 boats owned by Celebrity Cruises, set sail last week from Miami. Unlike most ships headed to the Caribbean, “Reflections” features 6,059 impressive works of contemporary art.

Given a budget of $4.1 million, Mariangela Capuzzo of International Corporate Art curated pieces from the company’s $60 million art collection. Working with the notion of reflections in mind, Capuzzo chose works by Robert Rauschenberg, Brazilian artist Albano Alfonso, and sculptor Will Ryman, among others. In total, there are eight site-specific works on board.

Celebrity Cruises is owned by Christina and John Chandris, the son of a Greek shipping magnate. The duo began collecting in 1990 when they purchased Robert Indiana’s Love sculpture, a bronze by Fernando Botero, a Damien Hirst painting, and many other well-known works.

Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman of Miami and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo of Mexico City have pled guilty to selling a stolen Henri Matisse painting on Miami’s black market. The duo admitted to FBI agents that they knew the $3 million painting, Odalisque in Red Pants (1925), had been stolen before making a deal to sell it to an undercover officer who was part of a sting operation. The pair was arrested after the sale was made.

The painting has been missing from Venezuela’s Sofia Imber Contemporary Art Museum since approximately 2002 when it was swapped for a fake. Some speculate the switch went unnoticed for years. Even though Interpol, the FBI, and police in France and Spain have investigated the case, the details of the theft remain a mystery. However, Guzman and Lazo said in court that they were told museum employees hung the forgery in place of the original.

Although the painting has been recovered, it has not been returned to Venezuela. Guzman faces 10 years in prison for conspiracy to transport and sell stolen property, while Lazo faces five years. The pair is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

Fall may have just begun, but Art Basel Miami Beach is already gearing up for December. The mother of all American art fairs has compiled its exhibitor list for its 11th edition, which runs December 6-9. Over 680 galleries competed for 257 spots -- slightly fewer than last year's total of 264. They hail from 31 countries and include new faces from New York, Paris, Berlin, and London. Meanwhile, some familiar dealers -- including Tony Shafrazi, Zach Feuer, and Marc Jancou, all of New York -- will not be returning.