Art Basel Satellite Fairs

From Art Miami to Scope to Zoom, alternative shows bring variety to Basel week

Art Basel Miami Beach can be described by several superlatives for its place in South Florida's art world: It's the biggest and most widely advertised art fair. It presents the most expensive works. And measured against other art events, it attracts the most collectors and gallerists.

Yet the main attraction at the Miami Beach Convention Center is just one of more than a dozen satellites spread across Miami Beach and Miami's Wynwood and Midtown neighborhoods that transform early December into an art bonanza.

Several vast, temporary tents spread through Midtown, which has become a can't-miss destination for the art crowds.

Celebrating its 10th year in Miami, contemporary Scope Miami moves back to Midtown this year - it had relocated to Wynwood in 2009 - in a 70,000-square-foot space for 62 galleries that range from local gems such as Miami's Spinello Gallery (showing interdisciplinary artist Agustina Woodgate, whose work investigates the relationship between childhood dreams and adult socialization) to newcomers such as Berlin's Dada Post, which is exhibiting internationally for the first time. There is also mainstay Christopher Genry Gallery from New York, which will feature work by Olek, a Polish-American artist known for her vast installations of fiber and crochet.

“It's great to be back in Midtown so we can have synergy with fairs such as Bridge and Art Asia,” says Scope director Mollie White. “We're also making use of the iPhone Collectrium application this year. You can take a picture of an image, and it recognizes that image and pulls up all the information on that artist and gallery.”

The geographically and culturally themed Art Asia, which shares Scope's tent, will host dozens of galleries from Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East, including Shanghai's Feizi Gallery, which will present “Li Xin's Ecstasy,” an eye-popping mixed-media installation that depicts the life of a virtual human.

Miami's most venerable fair is Art Miami. Now in its 21st year, it will display works from 100 international galleries in a 100,000-square-foot Midtown space.

Across the causeway at the South Seas Hotel, a short walk from Art Basel Miami Beach, Zoom Contemporary Art Fair will also take an intimate, thematic approach, focusing on Middle Eastern art. Twenty exhibitors will showcase artists representing galleries and nonprofit organizations from 11 countries.

“Zoom changes its focus every year to highlight something. This year we wanted it to be what is happening in the Middle East,” says Sam Bardaouil, a member of the Fair’s selection committee. Artists include Khaled Hafez (Egypt), Shoja Azari (Iran), Zoulikha Bouabdella (Morocco), Nazif Topcuoglu (Turkey), Sara Rahbar (Iran) and Halim Al Karim (Iraq).

Zoom will have a linear format and will explore a theme of “the clash of the icons.”

“Art that's described as ‘Middle Eastern’ is no longer confined to calligraphy or images of veiled women,” Bardaouil says. “Contemporary art should not be seen through the lens of religious affiliation.”

About 45 blocks north of the convention center, the popular New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) returns to the Deauville.

The fair, comprised entirely of nonprofit artists' organizations, is in its eighth year and includes a hip array of galleries from Miami's Twenty Twenty Projects and Bas Fisher Invitational to New York's 179 Canal and Le B.A.N.K of Paris.

“I'm also excited about The Hole from NYC run by Kathy Grayson [formerly at Deitch]. She's presenting an ‘arted’ living room where essentially everything is an art work,” says Heather Hubbs, NADA director. Hubbs says the overall booth design will be created by designer and architect Rafael de Cardenas, who also will oversee contributions from the artists, who include sculptor Robert Lazzarini, painter and graffitist Barry McGee and video artist Takeshi Murata.

Hubbs says the fair's 2009 move from a warehouse space in Miami to the hotel on the beach was a cost-saving measure that proved to be successful. NADA is teaming with nearby Canyon Ranch Hotel and Spa, where several gallerists are staying, to curate a sculpture garden by female artists during the fair.

While most of 2009's Basel satellites have returned, absent is Photo Miami, popular for its large-scale prints and creative photo displays. The fair was scheduled to return for a fifth year with the theme “The Lyrical and the Profane” and such artists as Penelope Umbrico, Fernando Montiel, Geraldo Montiel Klin and Els Vanden Meersch. But FOTOmarkt, the investment group that owns Photo Miami, canceled in late October, citing funding difficulties.

By Jaweed Kaleem11/22/2010

Tm Gratkowski - artistic look at social issues

Tm Gratkowski’s art is both concept-driven and process-driven.

Beneath a tangle of fragmented vignettes, patterns, colors and textures, one encounters thought-provoking words, images and stories – the experience is visceral as well as intellectual. Tm uses mass-media as a lexicon of information to contextualize popular media as a social criticism about the very things that we are surrounded by but pay little attention to.

Using paper as his only material, Tm layers hundreds of pieces of paper to construct a surface rich in patterns, images, and text, all with subtle shifts in color. At a distance his works appear as formal abstractions, as if painted, but upon closer examination the layers are made up of a dense juxtaposition of selected images and texts.

The majority of Tm’s work explores issues of social polarities and social conditions left unresolved in our social history. Tm juxtaposes political, social, and art images to tell a story rich in historical references and combines contemporaneous popular media to make these subjects relevant today.

What, at first, may appear as formal aesthetics will, upon closer examination, reveal a subject matter that is often complex, challenging, and difficult to take issue with. The process becomes evident as the viewer becomes engaged in a visual dialogue with the works hidden imagery and words. Tm hopes to engage the viewer and the art in a way in which they are at liberty to see, discuss, and challenge that which has been (re)discovered. more

Shin-Young An - portraits around the world news

Serious artists are constantly reinventing themselves, as they strive to achieve an illusive vision of “great art”. Often, world and national events impose an emotional response on the artist, who is otherwise powerless to influence such events. The canvas can become the artist’s vehicle of expression .

I am an artist in transition. In the past, I have faithfully recorded my subject, with an emotional response limited only to that subject. In portraiture, for example, the challenge has been to produce a work that reflects my response to the personality of the sitter. But I can no longer ignore the effect that outside events are having on me.

I am now painting my emotional response to such events. It is not always easy to move away from that which you are conformable with to explore a new area. But in life, one needs to progress and let go of the past, in order to achieve something greater. I hope I am worthy of this new challenge.

About “The Limb Series” (top):
The limb series of paintings juxtaposes ordinary routine tasks with exceptional and often disturbing events. MORE

Art Chicago - April 29 - May 2, 2011

Art Chicago® 2011, the annual international fair of contemporary and modern art, brings together the world’s leading emerging and established galleries. Art Chicago offers curators, collectors, artists and art enthusiasts a comprehensive survey of current and historic work, from cutting-edge to modern masters in a wide variety of media including: painting, photography, drawings, prints, sculpture, video and special installations.

Art Chicago is proud to be North America’s premier fair committed to intelligent and relevant educational programming, exhibitions, and special events, while also providing a unique showcase for artists, museums and cultural institutions from key regional and other US cities.

Art Chicago 2011 will take place April 29 - May 2, with an Opening Preview on April 28.
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Scott Ashley ... neon with thought

In my recent series of sculptures I have taken common everyday objects and transformed them in a way that expresses the psychological, emotional and perceptual attachments we have with the objects that surround us. In some of the works I have made a direct modification that denies the original use of the item rendering it non-functional; asking the viewer to re-evaluate it in its new state. In other works, additions have been made that reflect our own dysfunctions that we often project onto the objects and situations of our daily lives. By re-contextualizing these familiar items the viewer is asked not to rely upon pre-determined definitions but is challenged to use their own personal experience to redefine the object and its meaning.

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PULSE NY - Armory Arts week!

PULSE serves as the junction between central and satellite art fairs. Its exhibitors consist of a select group of leading and pioneering international galleries that present works by premier contemporary artists with those of emerging and undiscovered talents. A central component of the fair is its program of commissioned cultural projects that link its audience to all aspects of the visual and performing arts.

my top two favorites were both fiber / thread work:
ALICIA ROSS -

The Motherboard Series is an extension of my earlier Sampler Series. While the concepts of these two series are directly connected (the female conflict of the domestic woman vs. the woman of sexual desire), the execution has been taken one step further in scale and narrative.

Within my series of Motherboards, the line has been distorted between the types of websites that housed the original content. Though some of the figures were remediated from pornography sites, others were appropriated from sites that display famous works of art and fashion websites. By blurring the line between these female icons the viewer is invited to distinguish between them without context.

JEREMY DEAN – with Creative Thriftshop. Jeremy Dean has built a reputation for exploring the American dream and human progress through art. Deconstructing and re-contextualizing iconic symbols of power and wealth, his work addresses social, political, economic and cultural issues. His work spans the spectrum of film, animation, drawing, interactive sculpture, and installation.

Upstairs at IMPULSE: and emerging part of the fair
Andres Basurto with Antena Estudio. Broken bottle sculptures … skulls

JORDAN EAGLES - Blood, Copper and Resin paintings

For over a decade, Jordan Eagles has been using and preserving blood in his multi-dimensional works as a method to explore themes of regeneration and the metaphysical connections between body, spirit and nature. Eagles permanently preserves the blood on clear and white Plexiglas within layers of resin, suspending the organic medium's fluid forms under the resin's glass-like surface. His work is a dynamic wash of burgundy, crimson, ruby's - commingling with near blacks, and rust colors forming a rich vibrant surface that glows with energy. Now mixing his medium with copper, Jordan creates an effect that is not unlike erupting molten lava – a sparkling geology of vibrant colors and seemingly prehistoric textures that range from fiery orange to deep crimson – revealing as much about life as about death.

MARCUS ANTONIUS JANSEN - Urban painter

MARCUS ANTONIUS JANSEN
born 1968 in New York City

With a keen awareness of his surroundings he creates a surreal urban like atmosphere filled with subconscious revelations that foretell of a future fraught with consequence. Violent brushstrokes, changing textures, and instinctive contrast of color reflect an explosive spontaneity that is the direct and raw effect of emotion.

Jansen's Intellectually provocative and paradoxical work encourages discourse among viewers. Inspired by political and social events of today, he paints his own interpretations as he tries to separate truth from fiction in a world of increasing disinformation. His paintings ask us to look at the world in a new way and to consider not only our interdependence, but also the universal nature of our existence. We are forced to recognize the repercussions of our own apathy and then ask ourselves what are our responsibilities and how much are we willing to sacrifice.

Jansen continues to remind us that progress has a price. In his most recent work, the streets are now filled with the crumbling infrastructure of a previous generation. Isolated figures walk in the aftermath without refuge from the surveillance of new world technology. Spotlights illuminate the scenery, as the stage is set for a virtual wasteland rich in metaphorical imagery.

Cornered pigs wait with targets on their back, as we crossover into Jansen’s suburban landscapes and are confronted with foreclosed homes, receding farms and the scattered debris of industry. A school bus careens head on into a collision, the wheels no longer turning. Sheep graze in once green pastures replaced with the urban sprawl of the forgotten cities.
The themes that run through Jansen’s work are vast in scope and are indicative of his insightful ability to see the correlations that connect them. Genetically modified food, the degradation of education, corporate greed, and global dominance are just a few. In his work lies a deeply rooted spirituality that becomes evident by his willingness to explore the unknown. He brings our attention to the things we would normally overlook, while reminding us that within our struggle resides beauty.

Shin-Young An ... Limb series

Serious artists are constantly reinventing themselves, as they strive to achieve an illusive vision of "great art". Often, world and national events impose an emotional response on the artist, who is otherwise powerless to influence such events. The canvas can become the artist's vehicle of expression.

I am an artist in transition. In the past, I have attempted to faithfully record my subject, with an emotional response limited only to that subject. In portraiture, for example, the challenge has been to produce a work that reflects my response to the personality of the sitter. I can no longer ignore the effect that outside events are having on me.
I am now attempting to do paintings that convey my emotional response to such events. It is not always easy to move away from that which you are comfortable with to explore a new area. In life, one needs to progress and let go of the past, in order to achieve something greater. I hope I am worthy of this new challenge.

"My most recent work has given me the opportunity to comment on social, political and environmental issues through the interaction of portraits and limbs painted against a backdrop of current news articles that have touched me."

SANG SIK HONG ... different and unique contemporary sculpture

SangSik Hong’s sculptures go beyond the limit of the materials; the images of lips may be interpreted as symbols of desire. Connecting such symbolized images and meaning (power and sex) reveals clearly that his interest is focused on human desires.

“Power is strength, scarce and heading toward eternity. However, the straw, contrary to the properties of power, is a weak structure, easily available to anyone for it is produced on a large scale and a disposable material”. This juxtaposition symbolizes semantic relationships and the structure of desires, connoting the pathos of reality. MORE

“Power is strength, scarce and heading toward eternity. However, the straw, contrary to the properties of power, is a weak structure, easily available to anyone for it is produced on a large scale and a disposable material”. This juxtaposition symbolizes semantic relationships and the structure of desires, connoting the pathos of reality.

ART PRIZE 2010 - Grand Rapids, MI

ART PRIZE
September 22 to October 10, 2010
* $449,000 prize ($250,000 to 1st place)
* Top 10 entries receive a prize
* Artists can submit one entry
* Property in downtown Grand Rapids can be a venue
* Venues choose the artists they exhibit
* Anyone attending the event can vote
* WINNER IS DETERMINED BY PUBLIC VOTE

ArtPrize is part arts festival, part social experiment
- this international contest is decided solely by public vote.
The event is designed for you to take it into your own hands and make it what you want it to be.
The outcomes of ArtPrize are infinite. What will you bring to the equation?

ArtPrize is a platform for creation. The event's organizers are just a small part of the whole.
Everyone brings something unique to the table, and we're excited to see what you will bring.

Art is the focus of the competition, but the main event is community. Artists take over the city, visitors explore and new relationships form. Communities open to new ideas organically.

The community keeps growing, even after the event is over.

Cheongju International Craft Biennale

23 September - 1 November 2009

The over all theme for this years show was "Outside the Box" I think they did a teriffic job of showing 'craft' in it's many forms! From a traditional functional craft stage to fine art installations.
There were Four Main Exhibitions to experience
each was curated seperately with a very different feel and angle - all professional and well done!

1 Pressing Matter
This exhibition urges us to consider the crafts not in egotistical isolation, but in vital and continuous connection with each other. Inevitably, modernist themes of substance, subject and meta-narratives will be resurrected, but the purpose is to demonstrate the variety of elements that meet in the work: the energy released from each object by another and diffused among the whole; the diverse perspectives of producer and consumer, youth and maturity, the egalitarian and the elite, the classical and the romantic, the developed and the developing world. Pressing matter is a stimulating array of works, materials and initiatives.
2 Dissolving Views
This exhibition takes us further beyond the concept of craft as contained in the object as product, or fetish, and towards the idea of craft as a living human impulse, seizing the day, something that has momentum. It includes an open space or performance and other time-based events. Traditionally static gallery pieces are stationed amidst and around works conceived in the world of the passing hours and days: the political, social and cultural, in the form of music, dance, theatre, film, poetry and prose. Dissolving views is neither about the object only, nor about motion only; it is about the meetings and interventions between both in which meaning is discovered and affirmed.
3 The river within us, the sea all around us
The title of this project is borrowed from the last of T.S. Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets,’The Dry Salvages: ‘- for the river is man’s time, the microcosmic rhythm of life, but the sea is the earth’s time, the macrocosmic rhythm of eternity; both are frontiers.’2 The river within us is not another exhibition as such but a conception for a community arts program. As host of the Biennale, the city of Cheongju seeks through this project to integrate artists with its community and to establish a common idea of its history; to embody the corporate tenancy of its culture and past. In this way modern crafts may begin their reinstatement in the lives of the people from which they have vanished. The project therefore takes place within those remembered and actual lives, and is acted out in various public spaces in the city, rather than as a work enshrined in the exhibition space.

4 Unity and Diversity - Canada (guest country)
Canada, hosted this years event with a plenitude of indigenous cultures represented in their display of artifacts by some two hundred artists and craftspeople. The items have been selected by the Canadian Crafts Federation, and the show curated by Dr. Sandra Alfoldy, editor of ‘Neo-Craft: Modernity and the Crafts.’ ‘Unity & Diversity’ is a vital contribution to the contemporary theme of representing cultures, and the fruits of interchange between art, nature and humanity.

There was also a Craft Competition, Craft Fair and Educational and Interactive booths which included potters, flame workers, tea experts ... and we can not forget the performance stage that continuously kept atmosphere going with a beat from the music or dance that was expressing themselves. 'Home Sweet Home' was a fabulous part and different take on things as well - showing viewers how to live with craft / art in your home setting - from contemporary to traditional.

This was a great fair with SO much to see - give yourselves two days at a very fast pace, or more time if you wish to fit in the The Early Printing Museum, Cheongju National Museum and the Cheongju Craft Museum ...

SOFA WEST: Santa Fe

June 11-14, 2009

The first annual SOFA WEST: Santa FE was held at the Santa FE Convention Center located in Santa Fe's historic downtown. The line-up was 40+ top fine craft dealers from all over the world - a selective feature of top artists who work in a variety of media from glass, to metal, wood, ceramic ... and combinations thereof.

SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) shows are primarily exhibitions of three dimensional art, which entices the viewer to approach the work and consider it from different perspectives. These forms of object art are really crossing borders that one would consider 'craft' - much of the works / galleries / artists were very much contemporary, edgy, fresh and leaned further into the fine art realm than to the traditional works one would come to expect. The exhibition was a nice blend of established and emerging artists - $100, 000. to $100.

Santa Fe was billed as the Boutique version of the well established, and much larger, SOFA Chicago. The community was out in force supporting this great event - overall attendance and feedback far exceeded expectations!