Take a look at what we saw at Art Basel Miami Beach VIP opening day
Matias Ocner
·1 min read
The annual Art Basel Miami Beach is all about buying and selling, market trends and the like, and so the big question on almost everyone’s mind on the vast floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center, given mixed success at recent New York auctions and depressed sales, was: Are collectors willing to shell out, and if so, for what? The 285 anxious gallery owners from around the world who fork out tens of thousands for a booth have until Sunday to find out.
The fair is of course also very much about the art, and this year’s version, on an initial survey at Wednesday’s VIP opening, appears to extend the trend away from glitzy, eye-candy frivolity of the fair’s nascent years and towards high-minded questions about the meaning of art, representation and society.
Which leaves plenty of room for humor and fun, too. Including the banana that just keeps on giving.
Take a look at what we saw at VIP day at Art Basel Miami Beach.
‘Goya’ by Alice Aycock is on display during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
Eda Ozdoyuran, from Istanbul, looks through Alicja Kwade’s ‘Tunnel-Tell’ presented by OMR during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Nyoka’ by Wangechi Mutu is presented by Galdstone during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Mobile losange doré’ by Julio Le Parc is presented by Nara Roesler during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
Elena Kazlas, from Boston, takes a photo of ‘Bound Angel’ by Portia Munson during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Bound Angel’ by Portia Munson is on display during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Seeding’ by Yuichi Hirako is on display during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Kaleidoscope’ by Olafur Eliasson is on display by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is on display during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
Artist Nina Surel is photographed next to one of her works displayed by Spinello during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Deluge XI’ by Curtis Talwst Santiago is presented by Rachel Uffner during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Tears of a Clown’ by Curtis Talwst Santiago is presented by Rachel Uffner during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
People make their way past ‘Untitled’ by Virginia Overton, which is presented by Bortolami, during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘I be…’ by Ryan Gander is presented by Lisson Gallery during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘CBE RA’ by Yinka Shonibare is presented by Stephen Friedman Gallery during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
People make their way past Anne Imhof’s ‘Untitled,’ which is presented by Sprüth Magers, during Art Basel Miami Beach on Wednesday.
Katya Kazakina, from New York, sits on a swing by Mark Di Suvero, which was presented by Paula Cooper Gallery, during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Incarnator’ by Paul Pfeiffer is presented by Paula Cooper Gallery during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Necronom / Alien III’ by HR Giger is presented by MAI 36 Galerie during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Necronom / Alien III’ by HR Giger is presented by MAI 36 Galerie during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
‘Flowers That Bloom Now’ by Yayoi Kusama is presented by Lévy Gorvy Dayan’ during Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
Begum Yasar, left, and her mini-poodle, Philos, meet Rozann Arena and her shih tzu-poodle, Lola Diamond, as they attend Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla.
