Artscope Magazine had the pleasure of showcasing our November/December issue to the over 70,000 visitors of Art Basel Miami Beach 2019, an international fair bringing together artists, collectors and gallerists for five days of eating, sleeping and breathing art. For the first time, we had the opportunity of having our own booth in the Magazines sector decorated with a variety of work from East Coast-based Artscope artists, rather than our presence in the collective booth in previous years.
Paul Pedulla’s “Beyond the Coral Sidewalk” magnetized guests to the booth with its rich colors and one-point perspective of Ocean Drive, free from cars and tourists. The acrylic painting acted as a window to the outdoors underneath Artscope’s logo on the wall, where trees lined the greenway beside Miami’s iconic pink sidewalks that trail out to endlessness. Pedulla voiced that this painting was different from anything he had created before due to the rough, distressed edges without a definite border. There is an openness to the piece which resembles classic symbolism of a road as a place of journey, a path, a choice, a freedom, a direction into the unknown.
Marilyn Kalish’s “Human Rights” presented a bare figure flickering out of the darkness with strokes of red, purple, white and orange. Kalish explained that the piece “begs the viewer to think of the ideas of the human body as a source of Power, particularly energy, radiance and inherent complexity” with its melding of colors and lines through the paint. The light from the abstract figure rises to the surface and is juxtaposed with the dark background. As a part of her “Human Rights” series, this piece speaks to Kalish’s expressive oil painting quality and ability to convey feelings of struggle and hardship, but ultimately a sense of bravery and elegance in her work.
“Roasted Cashews” by Andrew Devries, a bronze relief sculpture, also hung on the wall, displaying a woman sitting diagonally across the bronze with one hand to her mouth and the other resting on her thigh as she looked upwards. Devries’s sculpting technique allows for all of the ridges and valleys in the bronze to be seen and touched, creating a visual and textural story. This piece in particular, brought about a different way of seeing the artwork for Art Basel visitors from each angle depending on the light that created different areas of shadow and glistening.
Nancy Nesvet, an Artscope writer, also exhibited her photography at the booth with her work titled “Bye, bye, bayou,” which pictures timber pilings in water beneath a pier. The piece is a C-print, a process of creating an image from a slide, color negative or digital photo and the result is a realistic, but “inky” effect, as Nesvet describes it. The teal water with white and yellow reflections creates a tranquil, yet mysterious scene with the dark pilings up top. The piece transports viewers to stand in the deep waters and observe this unusual, unique perspective.
We appreciated the opportunity to present these works at Artscope’s booth in Miami and to all who stopped to learn more about the magazine, buy a t-shirt, or sign up for email blasts, we give a huge thank you.