Artscope Magazine’s presence at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019 is not the only enterprise growing there this year. Our growth to a booth in the magazine sector mimics that of the international art fair itself. Its latest addition is Meridians, the new sector located in the Grand Ballroom of the Miami Beach Convention Center, Art Basel Miami Beach’s home. With 33 monumental works inside and one outside, Meridians was created to house large-scale installations that Art Basel’s website admits, “can only fit in a museum or art warehouse.” Having reported for Artscope on Art Basels in Miami Beach and Switzerland for the past three years, on the last two Venice Biennales and the Cleveland Biennale, I agree that most collectors do not have room for these large works, so they must go to museums or art warehouses awaiting new owners, governmental or private. Because art collectors and museum … [Read more...] about ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2019 PREVIEW
Basel
BASEL 2019 DAY FOUR: VOLTA AND LISTE
Day four in Basel, Switzerland, took me to the Volta and Liste art fairs. Volta, Basel’s art fair that declares itself the show of “new international positions”, made good on the name. Paying close attention to the precarious predicament of the world’s inhabitants due to climate change and political upheaval, Volta subtly informed and involved those who viewed the work at the fair. Geraldine Swayne’s, oil and acrylic canvas painting, “Queer Altarpiece,” 2019, at CHARLIE SMITH LONDON’s booth was perhaps the most beautiful figurative work on view. Depicting a seated woman, looking off to the side, the figure’s haircut, clothes and mood recalled artists’ work of 1930s Germany, explaining the title. A quiet, thoughtful work, it allowed painting, done in a contemporary way, to elicit empathy for the subject. Valerie Hegarty’s “Five Tulips with Frame Elegy,” 2019, made of wood, wire and … [Read more...] about BASEL 2019 DAY FOUR: VOLTA AND LISTE
The Art World returns to Miami; Artscope’s 2017 Art Basel Miami Beach Preview: Part Two
By Nancy Nesvet Miami South Beach, FL - It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhoods of Miami and Miami Beach, with the sun shining, waves mild, murals in Wynwood overwhelming and the Bass Contemporary Art Museum no longer under construction, showing off the Leo Rondicone colors in the totem outside. Striped flag garlands are hung high over Collins Park, marking the territory that Philipp Kaiser, Public’s curator, alludes to. There is a sense of unpredictability that dictates we’d better enjoy the moment because we don’t know what tomorrow or even the next turn in the road will bring. There is also a sense of ominousness, leading to a heightened awareness of all around us. Granted, the artists at Art Basel Miami Beach 2017 are saying something about what they personally see and feel, but the viewer also seems aware of what is around them. Apparently, the hurricanes in Miami and Puerto … [Read more...] about The Art World returns to Miami; Artscope’s 2017 Art Basel Miami Beach Preview: Part Two
ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY TWO
by Nancy Nesvet TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2017 Day two at Art Basel. In this wonderland of art, I am still totally at play, seeing the installations at Parcours, in the cathedral square and down by the Rhine River, but coming around to reality via some installations and sculpture at "Unlimited" in the city square called Messerplatz. First confronted by Al Wei Wei’s “Iron Tree” (2016), which changes patina as it ages, it also brings nature and the manmade relationship with nature into perspective. That relationship seems a theme of Parcours, curator Samuel Leuenberger’s brilliant trek through the city through the following of artwork installations. Reza Aramsh recreates Michelangelo’s “Slave” in resin, but tiesits hands behind his back with a rope, making him captive and towering on a plinth over the river. Katinka Bock’s “Parasite Fountain” (2017) creates ametal fish that draws water … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY TWO
Artscope @ Art Basel
Art as a World Power by Nancy Nesvet Exciting, innovative, confrontational art covered six halls and exhibition spaces at ArtBasel, the world’s biggest art fair, held in Basel, Switzerland from June 11-19, and artscope was there. Over 200 galleries showed work by contemporary, practicing artists in every art form, along with work by earlier artists. The Parcours sector included performance and site-specific installations around the medieval Cathedral Square; the Liste art fair exhibited young artists’ work, and the Volta art fair held emerging artists’ solo exhibitions, providing a comprehensive look at worldwide art currently produced. Art Basel 2016 was a testament to the power of art to engage and create awareness of our world, its issues, our place in it and the image we, as individuals and artists, show to the people of the world. As noted in its end-of-show report, … [Read more...] about Artscope @ Art Basel