Artscope correspondent J. Fatima Martins is filing ongoing reports from Art Basel Miami Beach 2016 and many Art Week Miami fairs taking place throughout the week. Here she offers her ‘top 5’ selections based on her professional and personal preferences. At Artscope, we believe that art is most relevant when the viewer is able to find an authentic connection with the artist or their work that transcends market value, celebrity status or historical pedigree. In her next report, Highlights Part 2, Martins will focus more specifically on artists showing at Art Basel Miami Beach.
By J. Fatima Martins
December 1, 2016 — Miami Beach.
As expected, the Miami Art Fairs are exhilarating and perhaps overly abundant, making it impossible to see and analyze everything they have to offer. While Art Basel Miami Beach, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary as the world’s primer art fair and showcase, remains the grounding force this week, setting the thematic curated tone, and functioning as a market for top collectors, it does not hold complete dominance in terms of artistic voice. The true character of the visual arts and how it’s developing nationally and internationally is found at the so-called satellite fairs such as Scope Art Show, which has a massive and dynamic pavilion directly on the sands of Miami Beach on Ocean Drive, and Art Miami and CONTEXT Art Miami, who have separate pop-up like buildings across the bridge away from South Beach in Midtown Miami in the Wynwood Arts District.
1.Arnix Wilnoudt (arnixwilnoudt.com), who is originally from the Netherlands, considers himself a conceptual artist. He presented several of his now iconic sculptures and installations, including “Seven Deadly Sins,” “The Forbidden Fruit Tree” and “The Tragedy of Lucretia,” at Scope. These are inspired by his Roman Catholic upbringing and evoke serious Biblical stories and religious ceremonies as well as mythological stories and fairytale in a subversive, unexpected and revelatory manner with great sense of humor. His most shocking and thought provoking works depict highly realistic depictions of human genitalia within objects associated with sacred church rituals.
2.Jorge Otero (ngartgallery.com), who is Cuban, creates photographic figurative realism through the process of weaving paper and other materials. The ‘photographs’ are hand cut and woven in the same manner as traditional peasant hats and baskets made in Cuba.
3.Eric Baudart (baudarteruc on Instagram) is a French artist who has gained attention for his use of readymades. He was selected by Art Basel to display “Atmosphere” in “Ground Control” at The Bass Museum, a sculpture depicting a metal floor fan within a clear aquarium filled with yellow peanut oil. While the work is a clear evocation of many artists from the Modern artistic cannon, what’s important about “Atmosphere” in this situation is its placement in an outdoor exhibition space which engages a conversation about our human impact and wastefulness on the environment.
4.Fabio Carvalho ( fabiocarvalho.art.br) is a Brazilian artist who uses traditional craft process to create objects with a masculine tone. In Miami he is showing ‘lace guns’ from the “Delicado Desejos” series. The objects were made from a variety of different patterns commonly found in women’s clothing evoking a conversation about domestic violence which is an important topic in Brazil today. The work also engages gender identity stereotypes and vulnerability.
5.Abigail Goldman ( abigailgoldman.com), who currently lives in Bellingham, Washington, is well-known for her miniature “Dieoramas” depicting human made disastrous scenarios which often include extremely bloody murders within seemly peaceful and bucolic environments.