Sheep at the beach, an inverted statue dripping chocolate: A guide to must-see art

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Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich’s “Order of Importance,” which is made of 66 life-size sand sculptures of cars, can be seen on display in Miami Beach on Tuesday, December 3, 2019. The exhibition can be found at the end of Lincoln Road on Miami Beach.

Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich’s “Order of Importance,” which is made of 66 life-size sand sculptures of cars, can be seen on display in Miami Beach on Tuesday, December 3, 2019. The exhibition can be found at the end of Lincoln Road on Miami Beach.  MOCNER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

We haven’t seen it all — not nearly. But we have dashed from fair to fair, trolled Miami Beach and tucked into many of the city’s nooks to find our recommendations for must-see art this Art Week weekend. We’ve focused on art that’s here only for a flash; unlike the out-of-towners, we can visit the museums after the crowds go home.

Enjoy!

ON MIAMI BEACH

 

JAMMED

The Instagram scene of the year is Argentine artist Leandro Erlich’s traffic jam in the sand, a 66-vehicle installation of minivans, trucks and cars (complete with highway guardrails) bringing attention to the climate crisis. Some cars appear to be sinking in the sand; others appear to be rising. The $300,000 site-specific public art project, “Order of Importance,” was commissioned by the city and was curated by Ximena Caminos in collaboration with Brandi Reddick, the city’s cultural affairs manager. Don’t tarry; the installation will be gone after Dec. 15.

 

Located on the beach at Lincoln Road. Free.

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In the Raleigh Garden: sheep and other creatures by Lalanne. Jane Wooldridge

TROPICAL WILDLIFE

Stroll on up the boardwalk to 18th Street. While The Raleigh is closed for renovation, the surrounding gate opens at 18th Street so you can step into the garden created by Miami’s star landscape architect, Raymond Jungles, and artist/architect to the retail stars, Peter Marino. Kids (and adults too) will get a kick out of the sheep, gorilla, monkey and other creatures created by Les Lalanne, the late artists Claude Lalanne and wife François-Xavier Lalanne.

Located at 1775 Collins Ave.; access from the beach boardwalk. Free.

 

PLASTIC DANGER

Continue north on the boardwalk to the 1 Hotel. Enter from Collins Avenue, turn left and head for the bar. Behind it you’ll find the Rainbow Cave installation, artist Basia Goszczynska’s “earthwork” created from 50,000 salvaged plastic bags, said to be equal to the amount used in the state of Florida every four minutes. The installation is meant to explore both the benefits of re-use and color on the human brain. Stop by the concierge desk for a list of other activations throughout the hotel.

1 Hotel, 2341 Collins Ave. Free.

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Basia Goszczynska’s “Rainbow Cave” installation at the 1 Hotel in Miami Beach during Art Week 2019. It is make of plastic bags. Jane Wooldridge

NEAR COLLINS PARK

Just one more block north are a trio of worthy stops. On the beach between 21st and 22nd streets, skincare brand La Prairie has unveiled an immersive light installation by Pablo Valbuena. Back along Collins Avenue, in Collins Park, Audemars Piguet is presenting a climate-oriented sound installation, “The Art of Listening: Under Water” by Norwegian artist Jana Winderen in the rotunda. Throughout the park are works by Argentine sculptors — the result of the collaboration between the city of Buenos Aires and the Art Basel organization under its Art Basel Cities program.

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Work by Ike Ude is featured in the show “Facing Ourselves” at The Betsy during Art Week 2019. Jane Wooldridge

 

FACE IT, AT THE BETSY

Stop by The Betsy any evening, and you’re likely to find an art exhibition, musical performance, poetry reading. During Art Week, The Betsy hotel is showcasing photographic portraiture in the show “Facing Ourselves,” featuring images of Miami Beach in the 1970s by the late Andy Sweet, photos of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat by Michael Halsband, and photographic “light portraits” by Ike Ude in a stunning array of self-portraits mixing costumes and hairstyles from different epochs and countries. By night, passersby can see images flashed on the side of the “orb” that acts as a connector between the Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive buildings that make up the hotel. Various free talks and events are scheduled throughout the weekend.

The Betsy Hotel1440 Ocean Dr. Free.

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Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares have created a pavilion strung with the constantly moving flags of 16 nations, challenging conventional views of power and underscoring the changing dynamics between the various countries. At the entrance to Untitled, 1200 Ocean Dr.

 

SHIFTING SANDS

On the walkway at 12th Street leading to the Untitled fair’s waterfront tent are two fair-related installations challenging the status quo.

To the north, Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares have created a pavilion strung with the constantly moving flags of 16 nations, challenging conventional views of power and underscoring the changing dynamics among the various countries.

To the south, Facebook is presenting “Futurescape Miami: Skyline to Shoreline,” a series of installations and performances focused on climate change. Artists hail from Finland, San Francisco and Miami (Thom Wheeler Castillo, Xavier Cortada, and Misael Soto.) Schedule at futurescapemiami.splashthat.com.

1200 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach. Free.

 

INSIDE THE FAIRS

 

MIAMI BEACH

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Betye Saar’s “Gliding into Midnight” at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019.

ART BASEL AT MIAMI BEACH

There are so many fascinating works in this year’s show that you may want to go twice. Here are just some of our picks:

▪ The Ben Brown gallery is no newcomer to the Basel fairs — but it is its first showing in Miami. Don’t miss its booth at A1, which includes a Sam Francis painting and a mosaic designed by Fernand Leger and completed posthumously by his production partner.

▪ Germany’s neugerriemschneider gallery (H6) always delivers showstoppers. This year they include an Ai Weiwei self-portrait in Lego bricks and an installation by Thomas Bayrle whose early work showed in 2016 at the ICA-Miami.

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Michele Scheck and her husband, Steven Scheck, take a selfie next to “Flowers that speak all about my heart given to the sky” by Yayoi Kusama during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, December 4, 2019. MATIAS J. OCNER MOCNER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

▪Installations by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama are on display in the Miami Design District and at the Rubell Museum. Visitors can have their own Kusama flower, for sale at the Victoria Miro booth, H7.

▪ One of the most poignant works in the show is Betye Saar’s canoe filled with hands reaching up from the cobalt interior and hanging above a diagram from the interior of a slave ship from the Middle Passage. Gallerist Bennett Roberts of Roberts Projects (J11) explains it as Saar’s contemplation on her origins as the 93-year-old artist contemplates the inevitable next stage in her journey.

▪ Jack Shainman (C19) has long represented some of the country’s top black artists, including Nick Cave (of the sound suits) and El Anatsui (of the metallic weaving.) This year’s must-see: Hank Willis Thomas’ dynamic bronze-and-steel sculpture “Looking for America.”

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Pope.L’s chocolate-dripping inverted statue makes an incendiary statement on black history at the Mitchell Innes-Nash booth at Art Basel 2019. The artist himself is black. Jane Wooldridge

▪Fans of the late Miami artist Purvis Young won’t want to miss the striking facade of Hirschl & Adler (C4), covered with Young works from the 1970s.

Another Miami artist in the spotlight: Hernan Bas, the hometown hero whose original paintings fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars. His works fill the booth at Frederic Snitzer, A9.

▪ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (F5) once again shows an eye-popping work by Pope.l. This year it’s an inverted, chocolate-dripping sculpture with the head of Martin Luther King on the body of a female pirate — an incendiary statement on history.

Art Basel in Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Dr.; artbasel.com.

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Oscar Tuazon’s “Quonset Tent, 2016” is on display at Meridians at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019. Jane Wooldridge

 

MERIDIANS, AT ART BASEL

Art experts may debate the spatial flow of exhibitions, but for those seeking to view first-rate large-scale works and learn along the way, the Meridians section of Art Basel on the third floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center is worth several hours. (It’s also got a pop-up Joe’s Stone Crab restaurant.) Each of the 33 works within (the 34th is outside near the fair’s northern entrance) comes with a sheet of explanation and a QR code for downloading the free audio guide.

Portia Munson’s overstuffed “The Garden” is at once beautiful and shudder-producing as it explores traditional gender definitions. The 26-foot-long Sam Francis painting showcases rhythms within free-flowing color. Most astonishing, perhaps, is Theaster Gates’ “Dance of Malaga,” a new video exploring race and inequality in which one woman declares pride in her whiteness. “I’m white today because my parents practiced segregation,” she says. All works are for sale but are suitable only for museum-size spaces.

Included with entry to Art Basel in Miami Beach, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Dr.; artbasel.com

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At Design Miami/ 2019, Perrier-Jouët commissioned Andrea Mancuso to create a wine cellar of ceramics.

 

ULTIMATE WINE CELLAR, AT DESIGN MIAMI

Like the first sips of a fine wine, Andrea Mancuso’s “Metamorphosis” exhibit at the Perrier-Jouët booth (location X08) transports one to a warm, happy memory. The Milan-based artist created a chic, six-arched wine cellar in ceramic shapes reminiscent of the bottom of the champagne bottles found in the Perrier-Jouët wine cellar in Épernay, France. Mancuso assembled some 11,000 ceramic saucers in colors ranging from the grass green of spring to the ambers and umbers of autumn. He also designed a wine bucket and six long-stemmed wine glasses using the lost wax method and created individual pedestals of white wax to showcase the glasses. The artist plans to produce a limited edition of each glass.

Also at Design Miami/:

▪ Delta Airlines and The Sacred Space Miami provide an oasis in the midst of a madding crowd in the form of a meditative mangrove. The space, titled “ROOTS,” is the brainchild of Brazilian architect Marko Brajović; HONEYLAB founder Ximena Caminos curated the project, which was produced by Alberto LaTorre, a graduate of the University of Miami School of Architecture. The underlying aluminum structure is covered in layers of wound rope and includes natural fiber hammocks from Brazil. Horrified by the fires that continue to devastate the Amazon rainforest — which according to National Geographic magazine have so far destroyed an area roughly the size of New Jersey — Brajović uses the project to emphasize alarming changes the region is currently undergoing. Location: X17

▪ Plastic pollution is choking the planet, and the Lonely Whale foundation is on a mission to reverse the damage. Co-founded by Adrian Grenier, the star of the TV series “Entourage,” Lonely Planet has teamed up with the Point Break Foundation to present “Tick Tock,” two dozen sculptures created from trash collected from the beaches of 12 nations. Colorful and almost cute, the sculptures include baby dolls, an umbrella handle, computer cords, plastic tubing and other detritus of daily life. Each sculpture represents a ticking time bomb that illustrates the explosion of trash that accumulates despite countless beach cleanups. Location: X18

▪ For the first time in its 15-year history, Design Miami/ announced “Best Of” awards. The Miami-based gallery ESPASSO won in the “Best Curio” category for its presentation of lamps by acclaimed Brazilian artist Claudia Moreira Salles. Inspired by Renaissance-era cabinets of curiosities, the Curio program allows for the presentation of small-scale immersive installations, and ESPASSO provided one of subtle beauty. Made of the rare element niobium and reclaimed wood, the semi-spherical lamps exhibit delicate colors derived from an electrolysis process that produces color without the use of pigment. Location: C10

Design Miami/ tent, 1900 Convention Center Dr..; designmiami.com

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Siebren Versteeg’s digital newspaper replaces the front page daily. At Bitforms gallery at Untitled art fair, 2019. Jane Wooldridge

GET YOUR NEWS! AT UNTITLED

When it comes to Siebren Versteeg’s work at Bitforms (B8), we’re admittedly biased. Versteeg mixes photography with technology powered by an algorithmic routine that downloads a new front page each day. The artist explains the work is part of his ongoing efforts to document the dematerialization inevitable amid the digital revolution. The $40,000 work comes with your choice of major daily in perpetuity. (It’s cheaper to buy an annual subscription.)

The highly curated Untitled is a fair-season favorite for discovering emerging artists and galleries. (As a result, it also draws some well-known galleries that prefer the relative sanity of a smaller fair.) New York-based Yancey Richardson (A8) is showing photographs by superstars Zanele Muholi and Mickalene Thomas; New York’s Pratt Institute of Art (A28) has works by recent black graduates, while Jenkins Johnson Gallery (B29) focuses on established black artists. Colombia’s La Balsa Arte (B37) is showing black-and-white watercolors by Bosnian Radenko Milak so realistic they look like historical photographs.

1200 Ocean Dr. on Miami Beach; untitledartfairs.com/miami-beach

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Glittery versions of Superwoman and Batman are offered for $11,000 at Larenland Art Space at the Scope fair in 2019. Jane Wooldridge

SUPERHEROES, AT SCOPE

For pop culture fans — including teens — there’s no better stop than the SCOPE art fair tent on the sand. Sneakerheads won’t want to miss Jason Dussault’s mosaic kicks (the shoe is still inside) at the booth of Santa Monica gallery Axion Contemporary (D13); Shyglo’s hyper-realistic oils overlaid with neon of Karl Lagerfeld and Marilyn Monroe ($11,680 each) at the Von Ewegen booth (C07); or the glittering frames of Superwoman and Batman ($11,000) at Larenland Art Space (D23).

HUMANITY PREVAILS, AT PULSE

SPOEK 1, by South African-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ralph Ziman, is installed outside the entrance to the Pulse art fair tent in Miami Beach. It’s an 11-ton Casspir military vehicle notorious for its use in repressing the anti-Apartheid movement. Every bit of the armored truck, including its interior and underside, is covered in glass beadwork in traditional patterns by African artisans working under Ziman’s direction. The piece turns a symbol of oppression into a work of beauty and humanity, Ziman says. His Casspir Project, on view at The Rendon Gallery booth, includes photos that use the vehicle to reproduce famous photographs of resistance from the Apartheid era and machine guns made from wire and beads. (Outside the fair)

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SPOEK 1, by South African-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ralph Ziman, at PULSE-Miami 2019.

Also at Pulse: Pulse fair prize winner “Videooasis,” by Lin Yi-Chin. The installation, which fully occupies the 182 Artspace gallery booth, combines throwback tech with edgy video by the young Taiwanese artist and filmmaker, who is not yet well known outside of her country. It consists of two viewing stations, each with a VHS player and an old Sony monitor, and a shelf with six works on videocassette (also available as digital files). Visitors can choose a cassette, put it in a VCR, and watch enticingly atmospheric performances by Lin as she explores family relationships and the ghosts of her native Taipei. The videos range in price from $1,000 to $9,200. The entire installation: $29,500.

India Beach Park, 4601 Collins Ave., pulseartfair.com

DOWNTOWN MIAMI

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Artist Chakaia Booker and her work, “Egress,” made of rubber tires and stainless steel, at Art Miami 2019. Al Diaz ADIAZ@MIAMIHERALD.COM

ART MIAMI/CONTEXT

Chakaia Booker’s massive rubber sculptures are hard to miss; two of them stand out front of the entry to Art Miami, the city’s most-attended art fair. Don’t be satisfied by what’s on the street. Inside, gallerist Mark Borghi has devoted his entire booth to Booker’s work: 6-foot high sculptures and a 21-foot-long wall hanging, among others. The works — made from reclaimed tires — are arrayed in a surprising complexity, creating textures that sometimes seem like leather, sometimes ribbons, sometimes dragon scales. The artist is a work of art herself and often near the booth. (Location: AM328)

Also at Art Miami/CONTEXT:

▪ At the Debra Force Fine Art booth, Rolph Scarlett’s early oil on canvas titled “Red Form” was created in 1946 and used to hang in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The list price: $125,000. Scarlett once served as the museum’s chief lecturer and designed the theatrical set for the premier of Eugene O’Neill’s “Lazarus Laughed.” While at the booth be sure to see the Edward Hopper watercolor of the “Cliffs Near Mitla, Oaxaca,” which, according to gallerist Force, look the same today as when the artist painted them more than half a century ago. (AM333)

▪ Jason Martin’s massive “Ultramarine blue cork stack” from 2013 is one of the many eye-poppers at Art Miami/CONTEXT. Find it at it Galerie Forsblom (AM 117.)

One Herald Plaza (at the former site of the Miami Herald), downtown Miami. artmiami.com

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Phyllis Steven’s hand-made tapestry made of sustainable fabric, the booth of Richard Bevers gallery at PRIZM art fair, 2019. Jane Wooldridge

LOVE ACTUALLY, AT PRIZM

This year’s PRIZM fair of works by black artists centers on the theme “Love in the Time of Hysteria.” High quality works by galleries, mostly from the South, explore the idea in all its facets, from romantic love to self-esteem, protest to sadness, with prices ranging from $500 (for a photograph) into the thousands. One of the most deceptively beautiful pieces comes from Ghanian-born artist TAFA, who uses thick layers of oil to create an exquisite abstract painting topped by a pair of black gloves. The title, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” says all you need to know. At the booth of Little Rock-based Hearne Fine Art (No. 6), $45,000.

169 East Flagler St., downtown Miami; www.prizmartfair.com

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More ceramics are available at this year’s fairs, including this whimsical work by Korean Jiha Moon at Laney Contemporary at NADA.

LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE: https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/visual-arts/art-basel/article238107274.html