Recommendations Art Basel Miami Beach

The fairs, exhibitions and parties to visit during Art Basel Miami Beach art week by Cobi Kreiger of Alternative Tel Aviv.

More than 20 art fairs in one week – every December Miami transforms itself into an art Mecca, as the city is packed with different characters of the art industry from all over the world. The mix of warm streets and cool visitors seems to get most people mixed up, wondering where to and when? Check out our recommendations to smooth things out.

Photo: Art-Basel

Fairs

For those looking to go beyond the “must-see” Art Basel, there is a lot in store. Without a doubt, the best deal is to go to Art Miami and Context in Wynwood at their new location. Crossing to the other side of the Biscayne Bay from Miami Beach into Miami is easy with the complimentary shuttle services, running between Art Basel and Art Miami. Also, your Art Miami ticket includes an entrance to Context, so be sure to enjoy two for the price of one.

Photo: CONTEXT-Art-Miami-Fair

Exhibitions

Not far from the Context and Art Miami location, you can find the Perez Art Museum Miami. There you can enjoy the beautiful beach side while tacking in some art which can be categorized as “new media”. The current exhibition – Dara Friedman: Perfect Stranger, will be great for that, as the artist is known for her nonlinear conceptual video art.

Photo: pamm-terrace-people-photo-world-red-eye

Parties

Not straying too far, don’t miss the MANA Wynwood, which is an amazing facility that hosts artists residencies, exhibitions and during art week – even its own art fair! But art aside, MANA also throw great parties during art week. Don’t miss the special Bjork session on December 5th to get yourself ready for all the fun.

Photo: MANA 2ac

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Take a tour with Alternative TLV to discover the scene in Tel Aviv.
 

Los Angeles Art Guide - December

I.

Exhibition: f o r e p l a y
Artist: Nevine Mahmoud
Venue: M+B
Dates: Until January 6th, 2018

The playfully erotic works of Nevine Mahmoud are a surprising blend of tension and flirtation, possessing a delicate softness and alluring invitation to touch. Toying with ideas of functionality, the sculptures call to mind surreal objects. She isolates bodily references and fragments these parts for individual consideration. It's Alice in Wonderland a sexy, cheeky, feminine sense of humor.

Nevine Mahmoud, Lick, 2017, Persian onyx, stainless steel and steel hardware, 5 x 10 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches (12.7 x 26.7 x 16.5 cm)

II.

Exhibition: Kandors 1999 - 2011
Artist:  Mike Kelley
Venue: Hauser & Wirth
Dates: Until January 21, 2018

The exhibition is a playful, explorative, and hypnotizing presentation of one of Mike Kelley’s most impressive bodies of works. Mike Kelley’s series Kandors is so much more than miniatures of Superman’s fictional birthplace. They are simultaneously architectural models, commentaries on the subjectivity of storytelling, and fantasies of future worlds. While unique in their origins, this series of works is deeply psychologically and ideologically connected to Kelley’s oeuvre as a whole. 

Sharon recommends popping by Manuela, the restaurant in the Hauser & Wirth courtyard, for a glimpse of the stunning Mark Bradford painting on display.

Mike Kelley’s series Kandors

III.

Exhibition: Latin American Artists in the Marciano Collection
Artist: Various Artist
Venue: Marciano Foundation
Dates: Until January 20th, 2018

In conjunction with LA's citywide Pacific Standard Time presentation, the Marciano’s are showcasing a selection of contemporary Latin American artists they have acquired. A variety of Analia Saban's works question materiality time and again. A snarky Jose Dávila Untitled stack of found cardboard boxes à-la Donald Judd present an overt nod to Arte Povera and Minimalism. Another highlight is Dávila's impressive sculpture Esfuerzo común (Common Effort), a precariously balanced work that functions on dichotomy: industrial vs. natural, feminine vs. masculine, etc.

Jose Dávila. Untitled, 2015. Found cardboard boxes

Take a tour with Sharon in LA to discover more!

Melbourne Art Guide - December

As summertime begins in Melbourne, many of the smaller galleries finish their last exhibitions for the year before taking a long holiday, while the larger institutions are opening their summer blockbuster exhibitions just in time for the holiday crowds. This year is no exception. The Heidi Museum of Modern Art is presenting Jenny Watson: The Fabric of Fantasy, a large survey exhibition of one of Australia’s leading female artists. The National Gallery of Victoria is presenting the inaugural NGV Triennial, an exhibition focused on art and design in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art is presenting Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism a large group exhibition surveying a diverse number of artists within a feminist scope. 

I.

Exhibition: Jenny Watson: The Fabric of Fantasy
Artist: Jenny Watson
Venue: Heide Museum of Modern Art
Dates: Until March 4th, 2018

Jenny Watson is a leading Australian artist whose conceptual painting practice spans more than four decades. Jenny Watson: Fabric of Fantasy is curated by Museum of Contemporary Art Curator Anna Davis and the survey features works from the 1970s to the present, including examples of Watson’s early realist paintings and drawings, and a number of key series of works on fabric. Many of Watson’s works feature self-portraits and alter egos, a cast of longhaired women, horses, ballerinas, rock guitarists and cats, who enact life’s ongoing psychodramas. 

Jenny Watson, Self Portrait as a Narcotic, 1986, oil, ink, animal glue and collage of paper on linen, courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Art, copyright the

artist.

II.
 
Exhibition: NGV Triennial  
Artists: over 100 artists and designers from 32 countries  
Venue: National Gallery of Victoria
Dates: December 15th, 2017 to April 15th, 2018

Featuring the work of over 100 artists and designers from 32 countries, the NGV Triennial surveys the world of art and design, across cultures, scales, geographies and perspectives. The NGV Triennial is a celebration of contemporary art and design practice that traverses all four levels of NGV International, as well as offering a rich array of public programs to coincide with the exhibition. 

Ntozakhe II, Parktown 2016. Courtesy the artist and STEVENSON gallery, Johannesburg.

III.

Exhibition: Unfinished Business  
Artists: over 50 various artists
Venue: Australian Centre for Contemporary Art  
Dates: December 15th 2017 to March 25th, 2018

Asking why feminism is still relevant, necessary and critical, Unfinished Business is a major exhibition conceived to animate these discussions around a selection of artistic practices. Adopting a collaborative, polyphonic form which encourages diverse voices, practices and debates, Unfinished Business presents new commissions and recent work alongside selected historical projects, programs of film and performance, and a publication. The exhibition aims to stimulate new debates and discussions around the ‘unfinished business’ of feminism today. The curatorial team for this exhibition includes: Max Delany, Annika Kristensen, Paolo Balla, Julie Ewington, Vikki McInnes, and Elvis Richardson .

Sarah Goffman, I am with you 2017 (detail), cardboard, permanent marker, approx. 7.0 x 7.0 m. Courtesy the artist. Photograph: Andrew Curtis

Banner image: Jenny Watson: The Fabric of Fantasy, installation view.

Book a tour with Charlotte in Melbourne to discover more!

Brussels Art Guide - December

I.

Exhibition: Jean Glibert. Peintre en bâtiment
Artist:   Jean Glibert
Venue: Bozar
Dates:  Until January 7th, 2018

Since the late 1960s the painter Jean Glibert (Brussels, 1938) has pursued a creative logic in his work that is close to that of the architect. From the method of finalizing the designs through to completion and reception by the client, his work displays the same principal characteristics. Like an architect, he too works on the constructive image of the environment. Push and pull, stresses and rhythms… are all present in his work. 

II.

Exhibition: Gilbert & George, The beard pictures
Artists:  Gilbert & George
Venue: Albert Baronian Gallery
Dates: Until December 23rd, 2017

Albert Baronian exclusivley presents in Belgium, Gilbert & George's very last series of works. This production approaches with humor and impertinence the phenomenon of beard as a sign of the times.

III.

Exhibition: Paul Wackers, Parts of everything that are pieces of everything are all around us
Artist:  Paul Wackers
Venue: Alice Gallery
Dates: Until January 26th, 2018

In these paintings of shelves, windows, and interior landscapes, forms range from non-representational layers of abstract paint to discernible objects. While Wackers creates an illusionistic construction of space with subtle angles and perspectival lines defining depth, a physical dimensionality is built through varying levels of paint application.  

Take a tour with Jacinthe in Brussels to discover more!
 

Paris Art Guide - December

I.

Exhibition: William Forsythe x Ryoji Ikeda
Artists:  William Forsythe and Ryoji Ikeda
Venue: Grande Halle de la Villette
Dates: Until December 31st, 2017

You have one month to merge into the impressive large-scale light installation by Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda that just opened at La Villette. The piece is the latest iteration of Ikeda's test pattern project, in which the artist converts electronic music into binary barcode patterns, in real time. The installation goes with a piece by choreographer William Forsythe, also reflecting about the body in space and time.

II.

Exhibition: Etre moderne : le MoMa à Paris (Being Modern: MoMa in Paris)
Artists: Various artists
Venue: Fondation Louis Vuitton
Dates: Until March 5th, 2017

Etre moderne : le MoMa à Paris is one of the big exhibitions opened last October during Fiac week. The Fondation Louis Vuitton again demonstrates its strike force in the art world by bringing 200 MoMa masterpieces by Cézanne, Malevich, Calder, Joseph Beuys, Yayoi Kusama and others. The exhibition tells the story of modernity in the 20th Century, and how New York won the challenge over Europe thanks to powerful acquisitions. If you haven't seen it yet, Christmas in Paris is a great occasion!

III.

Exhibition: Lucien Hervé, Bâtisseur d'ombres
Artists: Lucien Hervé
Venue: Galerie Maubert
Dates: Until December 23rd, 2017

Maubert gallery invited me to co-curate a Lucien Hervé exhibition that I must recommend, even more if you're fond of photography and architecture. Lucien Hervé (1910-2007) was Le Corbusier's official photographer. He documented the construction works of Chandigarh, Marseille and Oscar Niemeyer's Brasilia. We decided to bring these famous pictures together with a more intimate part of his work, where his mastery with lines, shadows and composition shows. Take the occasion to shop Christmas gifts in the shape of witty, original artist editions at GDM just across the street. 

Take a tour with Judith in Paris to discover more!