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| Art Basel Miami Beach Marita Batņa, Culture Theorist 04.12.- 07.12.2008. Miami, USA | |
| The yearly Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) is the world's greatest concentration of avant-garde art. Last year's ABMB was accompanied by 22 smaller fairs and around 50 exhibitions. The main fair was structured in sections, involving 240 established and emerging galleries. The young Pulse Miami provided strong competition to other satellites: Art Miami, Scope Miami and Nada Art Fair. The largest specialized fairs offered design (Design Miami), and photography new media (Photo Miami). Due to the financial crisis previous market rules did not work this time. Nevertheless dealers were aware of the changes, so the fair became a catalyst for new trends. Flexibility of prices was evident. Deals were made with 10-30 percent discounts, and some dealers related this to earlier overestimates. Relatively democratic levels prevailed in buying: sales were slow above USD50 thousand, and even more so above USD100 thousand. Only a few deals amounted to hundreds of thousands or a million dollars. What is the impact the new rules of the game have on trends? Collectors questioned by "The Art Newspaper" (TAN) admitted that the artists who were overlooked in the money-driven market could now achieve recognition. This means greater depth of the market. Also, gallery owners are not likely to finance expensive projects without definite demand. Showy art will need to be reconsidered. The new trends were close to the market paradigm outlined by curator Eivind Furnesvik, owner of the "Standard (Oslo)" gallery. When visiting the Riga Contemporary Art Centre in January, he shared his experience of arranging exhibitions in unusual locations and successful commercial activity with the minimum of funds. Furnesvik took part in the ABMB new gallery section Art Positions, placing the works of Alex Hubbard in one of 20 beachfront shipping containers - a 12 metre long corridor-type room. This ABMB concept of relations between art and art consumption became very symbolic. | |
 Art Basel Miami Beach | |
| However, a shipping container is not likely to be the only context for art in the future. Miami deserves to be named art paradise also because, with a local and cosmopolitan approach, art gets integrated into a life style often associated with luxury, as well as community life. "We open the house to anyone who is interested - the Rotary Club, senior citizens, school children", said collector Rosa de la Cruz to TAN; she is building a gallery in the Design District of Miami. Design Miami director Craig Robins as well revealed plans about a private museum; he will be looking for international partners to exchange exhibitions. Don and Mera Rubell, owners of the Albion hotel and the gallery for the Rubell Family Collection, belong to the tribe of travelling collectors: this allows them to maintain the high quality of their collection. "The winter rendez-vous of the international art world" - this is the name the organizers have given to ABMB, knowing that the art market evolves through relationships. Unlike other art events, all can meet here: gallery owners, artists, collectors and curators. Large amounts of art and people, as in case of ABMB, give it a competitive edge. This density intensifies the supply of energy to a process where the art market and art life become inseparable. A fair is an ideal format for the distribution of art and art experience. | |
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