Successful
Premiere of Art Basel Miami Beach
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Art Basel Miami Beach
PO Box, CH-4021 Basel
tel. +41 58 200 20 20
fax: +41 58 206 31 32
MiamiBeach@ArtBasel.com
http://www.ArtBasel.com
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Successful Premiere of Art Basel Miami Beach
Superior quality of works of art, excellent sales results, visitors from
all over the world
Miami Beach, Florida The first edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the
International Art Show, closed its doors on Sunday, December 8. The
exhibiting galleries, the world press and the international public rated
the premiere of Art Basel Miami Beach positively, and spoke of a
suc-cessful and exciting event. From day one, Art Basel Miami Beach
established itself as the most important art show for contemporary art
in
the USA. The 160 exhibitors from the USA, Latin America, Europe, Asia
and
Africa said farewell to their 30000 visitors after five days packed
with
events, discoveries and successful sales. Samuel Keller, Director of Art
Basel Miami Beach, had the following to say about the new art event:
«The
first edition of Art Basel Miami Beach exceeded all the expectations of
the Show Management with regard to the quail-ty of the works displayed,
the number of visitors, media attention and sales results. Art Basel
Miami
Beach was a complete success.» The next Art Basel Miami Beach takes
place
from December 4 to 7, 2003.
Art Basel Miami Beach is the sister event of Art Basel (Switzerland),
which is known as the world's most important art show. It is a new kind
of
art event, which combines an art show with an exciting program of
special
exhibitions, visits of private art collections and crossover events with
music, film, fashion, architecture and design. The mild weather of South
Florida welcomed 30000 visitors from all continents to Miami Beach.
The
160 participating leading gal-leries from all the world's important art
cities, the international press and the public agreed that the first Art
Basel Miami Beach was a complete success. Even before it opened, the
prominent list of participants had already shown the new art event to be
the most outstanding art show for contemporary art on the entire
American
continent.
Art Basel Miami Beach attracted several thousand leading collectors,
artists, curators, art critics, art dealers and art lovers from around
the
globe, including many celebrities from the art, entertainment and
fashion
world. Over 400 repre-sentatives of the media visited this new
international art event. That many foreign languages could be heard in
the
exhibition halls testifies, not only to the great international scope of
participating galleries (56% of the galleries were from abroad), but
also
to the large number of visitors from all over the world. On the
Vernissage
before the official opening, Art Basel Miami Beach had the privilege of
welcoming 7000 important guests. Several thousand attended the
opening
night of «Art Positions». The elaborately designed catalog book,
which
provides an extensive overview of the current offer on the international
art market, was highly popular with the visitors and was sold out on the
last day of the show.
Around 50 museum groups from all over the world flocked to Art Basel
Miami
Beach. The New York delegations came from the Museum of Modern Art, the
Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the
New
Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Friends of The
Tate American Fund. In addition, there were groups from the Museum of
Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, from the SF MOMA in San Francisco, from
the Hirshhorn Museum and the Sculpture Garden in Washington, from the
Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, from the Dallas Museum of Art in
Dallas and from many other cities. Representatives also came from the
Museo de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil, The Power Plant
Contemporary
Art Gallery of Toronto, Canada, and the Friends of the Contemporary Art
Museum, Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain. Curators and private collectors from
all the world's important art capitals gathered information on the best
that the international art market has to offer. Aside from important
representatives of the American and European art scene, there were,
above
all, many opinion leaders from Latin America.
UBS Financial Services supported Art Basel Miami Beach. It has also been
the main sponsor of Art Basel in Switzerland since 1994.
The art experts present rated the quality and variety of the works of
art
on display at Art Basel Miami Beach as excellent. The exhibiting
galleries
had spared no effort to show the most interesting works of art and to
present them in carefully designed exhibitions. Various booths showed
thematically grouped exhibits and one-person shows of artists. Many
galleries presented newly created works of art, but also video works and
outsize installations. Paintings and paper works made a comeback, and
photography was also much in evidence.
New platforms of the art show included the container village «Art
Positions» on Miami's beautiful beach, the «Art Video Lounge»
with its
futuristic archi-tecture in the Miami Beach Public Library and the works
created specially for Art Basel Miami Beach («Art Projects») shown
in the
Art Deco District of Miami Beach. In «Art Positions», 20 young
galleries
were able to show their avant-garde program at advantageous conditions.
Here, the international public gathered for a Happy Hour on the beach
every evening to enjoy the sunset accompanied by hot rhythms and cold
drinks. Danzas, the official logistics partners of the show, generously
supported the «Art Positions» platform. The extensive three-part
program
of the latest video works by artists from around the globe shown in the
«Art Video Lounge» attracted an interested audience, which was
particularly numerous for the special screenings in the evenings.
Another special crowd-puller proved to be «Art Statements» the
one-person shows of young artists from 11 countries in the Miami Beach
Convention Center. The participants were very pleased with the great
interest shown in this platform, which not only rewarded them with good
sales, but also brought them contacts to many exhibition makers from
around the world as well as great media interest.
The public's appetite for contemporary art appears to be unbroken.
According to surveys by the Show Management, all the exhibiting
galleries
succeeded in finding interested purchasers for their works. The majority
of participants spoke of good to excellent sales results. Objects were
sold in all price categories, from works by young artists costing less
than US$ 2,000 to museum-quality masterpieces with price tags in the
millions. Fears that the international art market could suffer
repercussions due to the difficult economic climate certainly did not
come
true at Art Basel Miami Beach. The international art market is strongly
supported by private collectors, while most public institutions still
have
access to limited funds. According to statements by many galleries at
Art
Basel Miami Beach, there is fortunately no lack of young collectors.
Societys interest in contemporary art and its forerunners have risen
sharply over the past few years.
Nicholas Logsdail, Chairman Lisson Gallery, London declared Art Basel
Miami Beach to be «a great and singular new impulse, and the singular
dominant fair in the US. It stands in a unique position, outside the
power
centers, on neutral ground, surrounded by the beauty and warmth of
Miami
Beach.»
Claudia Altman-Siegel, Director of the Luhring Augustine Gallery from
New
York also acclaimed the show. «It was great to come, and business was
very
good. We appreciated the support and generosity of the collectors, both
local and coming from around the world to visit the show. The
«vacation»
vibe of Miami Beach, greatly added to the event.»
Leslie Waddington, Owner of the Waddington Gallery, stated that «there
are
two or three great Art Fairs in the World and Art Basel Miami Beach is
one
of them. For the first time around, it is a real miracle.»
Alessandra Vilaca, Director of Galeria Fortes Vilaca, from Brazil, was
also enthusiastic. «Very good sales and very good people. This show
generated incredible interest and support from all that were
involved.»
Patricia Oritz Monasterio, Co-director of Galeria OMR also stated that
the
show as off to a good start. «This show has great energy coming from
all
those in-volved, from the galleries participating, from the collectors,
from the visitors and from the organizers. Their combined efforts
contributed to the success of the show. Great works were offered and
great business was done.»
The extensive program of receptions, events and roundtables taking place
in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach attracted a large
international
au-dience. The concept of the crossover events with film, fashion,
design
and music worked well. The Lincoln Theater where John Waters
presented
his favorite film «Boom» was completely sold out. Invitations to
the
evening at the Mynt featuring famous fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld
were
also snapped up in no time at all.
The «Art Conversations» in the «Art Auditorium» with leading
curators,
private collectors and architects such as Richard Gluckman, Maxwell L.
Anderson, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Fernando Romero, François Roche,
Katerina
Gregos and Eugenio López discussing contemporary art collecting, the
future of museums and architecture for collectors were highly popular
and
also completely sold out.
The «Art Loves Design» party in the Design District of Miami turned
into a
real public fiesta. Thousands of visitors were attracted by the twenty
exhibitions on art and design.
Another particularly popular feature was the series of visits organized
by
Art Basel Miami Beach to Greater Miami's most important private art
collections, which generously opened their doors to the international
public. The museums of South Florida had spared no effort to present
interesting special exhibitions and also reported a great influx of
visitors during Art Basel Miami Beach.
BMW provided a car service for VIP guests at Art Basel Miami Beach,
which
facilitated the transport of the VIPs to the numerous events surrounding
the show.
Cooperation with the representatives of the city of Miami Beach worked
excellently and contributed significantly to the success of this new
cultural event. The Host Committee, consisting of 150 leading
personalities from culture, politics and business and headed by the
Chairpersons Norman and Irma Braman, made sure that the international
guests felt at home in South Florida. The exhibitors and international
guests were overwhelmed by the unprecedented hospitality of the city of
Miami Beach.
In summary
The first edition of Art Basel Miami Beach was pleasing to the
international art world, as well as to the inhabitants of South Florida.
The high quality of the works on show, the broad offer of artistic
genres,
the excellent sales and the glittering side events made Art Basel Miami
Beach an excellent and exciting event. Over a short space of time, Art
Basel Miami Beach has established itself as the leading art show for
contemporary art in the USA and become a popular winter meeting place of
the international art world. The next Art Basel Miami Beach takes place
from December 4 to 7, 2003.
Art 34 Basel
Art 34 Basel, Switzerland, will take place from June 18 to 23, 2003. A
record number of 930 galleries from all continents have applied to
participate. The committee in charge of the selection process has chosen
260. They will present works by over 1,500 artists of the 20th and 21st
centuries. Special sectors show one-person exhibitions by young artists,
graphics and films. The «Art Unlimited» hall offers artists and
gallery
owners a platform where works can be shown that transcend the boundaries
of exhibition booths at art shows, and often also those of galleries,
museums and other traditional locations for the presentation of art. Art
Basel is the largest and most significant art show. Together with the
Venice Biennale, which opens a week earlier, it forms the highlight of
the
art summer 2003.
International Press
The Dom Perignon of the arts events.
The Miami Herald
Die Art Basel Miami Beach ist vielleicht die erste Ausgabe der
Kunstmesse
der Zukunft.
Die Welt am Sonntag, Berlin
La celebre fiera di Basilea che, non contenta di essere la piú
importante
del mondo, vuole cosi chiudere lei da sola e in grande stile la stagione
espositiva del 2002.
La Stampa, Turin
Direkt am schoenen Art-deco/Distrikt laedt die Ausstellungshalle, mit
schweizerischer Perfektion noch schnell auf Spitzenstandard gebracht, in
eine neue Kunstarena, deren Qualitaet der Mutterveranstaltung kaum
nachsteht. Erstklassig ist sie, und die Auswahl greift weit.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Press
Closing report / December 2002
Information on Art Basel Miami Beach can be obtained from:
Art Basel Miami Beach, PO Box, CH-4021 Basel, tel. +41 58 200 20 20,
fax +41 58 206 31 32, MiamiBeach@ArtBasel.com, http://www.ArtBasel.com
For the USA:
US Office Art Basel Miami Beach: FITZ & CO, Sara Fitzmaurice, 526 West
26
Street #916, USA-New York, NY 10001, tel.+1 212 627 1531, fax +1 212 627
0654, usoffice@ArtBasel.com
For Florida:
Florida Office Art Basel Miami Beach, Garber & Goodman Inc. 301 41st
Street Miami Beach, FL 33140, tel. +1 305 674 1292, fax +1 305 673 1242,
floridaoffice@ArtBasel.com
Media information on the internet:
Media information, photos and logos can be downloaded directly from
http://www.ArtBasel.com. This
is also where media workers can enter
themselves on the media mailing list in order to receive information on
and invitations to Art Basel Miami Beach in future.
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