Upon arriving in Miami for Art Basel, I found the city's creative energy was palpable. For one week, Miami becomes the epicenter of the international art world, as art and design fairs, gallery exhibits, fashion shows, film debuts, museum openings, and pop-ups descend on the beachfront city. Here, Barnebys reveals the seven takeaways and news stories from Art Week:
1. The Banana Bonanza
Despite the controversy surrounding the "art" of a banana taped to the wall, the Maurizio Cattelan work titled Comedian was undoubtedly the star of Art Basel, for better or for worse. Drawing crowds that could be compared to Mona Lisa-level mania to the Galerie Perrotin booth, the work had to be removed from the fair before the last day, after the banana was eaten by New York performance artist David Datuna. Each of the three editions sold for $120,000-150,000, with certificates of authenticity, and may be donated or loaned to museums. As the Duchampian-style work has become a global phenomenon, the fact that a simple banana taped to the wall stole the show speaks to the increasing power of conceptual art.
Related: The Story Behind Cattelan's Banana
2. Bigger and Better: Introducing Meridians
This year, Art Basel held the first edition of Meridians, a new portion of the fair that focused on large-scale paintings, sculptures, and installations. Set in the ballroom above the main conference hall, expansive works by Sam Francis, Frank Bowling and Ana Mendieta, as well as videos and performance art, were on display. The new section dealt with issues such as race, gender, and geography, all on a large scale, creating dialogues about art and its spatiality. The Garden by Portia Munson (above), an over-the-top 15 x 15 room exploding with color in the form of flowers, textiles, furniture, kitschy objects, and more was one of the most popular and photographed installations. It sold for $225,000.
3. Fashion Meets Art
Fashion has long been touted as wearable art, so combining the two during Art Basel was a no brainer. The most celebrity-attended event in Miami this year was Dior's Men 2020 runway show, the first time Dior has shown a menswear show in the US. In a space across from the new Rubell Museum, Dior Homme showed its colorful pre-fall menswear line by designer Kim Jones.
Related: Inside the House of Dior
Another major menswear designer, Thom Browne, also made his first sculpture debut at the Moore Building in the Miami Design District with Palm Tree, a 21-foot tall palm tree made out of layers of gingham and pastel-colored fabric. Browne told Barnebys the palm tree reflects the American Dream, of which vacation, and resort wear, is a large part.
4. Spotlight on Female Artists
Female artists topped the lists of most expensive sales at Art Basel this year, which shows that female artists are finally getting the popularity, and prices, they deserve. One of the most expensive sales at the fair was Quartet, a 1961 painting by abstract artist Carmen Herrera, which sold for $2.5 million at Lisson Gallery.
Helen Frankenthaler, whose works peppered many booths at the fair, was also one of the most expensive sales with her 1981 panting White Joy, which had an asking price of $1.65 million at Mnuchin Gallery. Mnuchin also sold Alma Thomas' Azaleas for $1.25 million, after Thomas set a record at Christie's this fall. David Zwirner sold a Bridget Riley work for $1.5 million, and Pace sold an untitled Agnes Martin work for the same price.
In other news, Cindy Sherman debuted her first non-photographic works at Art Basel. Her self portraits in tapestry form in an edition of 10 were extremely well received.
Related: The 14 Most Expensive Female Artists
5. A New Home for the Rubell Museum
Art collectors and entrepreneurs Don and Mera Rubell transplanted from New York City to Miami in the early 1990s and are responsible for the genesis of Miami as an art-minded destination. In fact, Mera brought Art Basel to the city in 2002.
Now the couple has moved the Rubell Museum to a new location in Allapattah, outside of Wynwood, where the stark, light-filled museum is home to their extensive contemporary art collection. Highlights include two Yayoi Kusama Infinity Rooms, a Keith Haring-decorated State of Liberty and early drawings (the Rubells were some of his first patrons), works by Japanese artists Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, and enormous spray-painted canvases by Sterling Ruby.
Related: Who is Yoshitomo Nara?
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is also hosting the most comprehensive museum survey to date of Ruby, including over 100 works spanning more than two decades of his career. The exhibit will run through February 2, 2020.
6. Les Lalannes In the Garden
The pioneering Lalanne couple, known for their whimsical sculptures and home design, were honored in Miami with the Les Lalannes garden behind the Raleigh Hotel. The lush garden was adorned with the creative animal designs of Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, including a flock of their iconic sheep, a gorilla that holds court against a leafy backdrop, and ponds and nooks where their fish, owls, and turtles appear. Even if you missed Art Basel this year, the garden will be open through Feburary 29, 2020.
7. Contemporary Chinese Art on Display
Contemporary Chinese art was also a big focus in Miami this year. The Faena Festival kicked off its second edition of art, installations, dinners, films, and more, and one of the most Instagrammed sculptures of the whole week was by Chinese artist Zhang Huan. On Miami Beach in front of the Faena, he constructed his installation Miami Buddha featuring two Buddhas sitting face to face, one crafted from an aluminum mold, the other composed from incense ash collected from temples across China. Another extraordinary exhibit of contemporary Chinese art was at Eli Klein Gallery's Miami pop-up at the newly opened Zaha Hadid-designed residences at One Thousand Museum in Downtown Miami. In the soaring penthouse space overlooking the panorama of Miami, painting, photography, sculpture, and video works by significant contemporary artists, such as Cui Xiuwen, Huang Rui, Liu Bolin, Chow Chun Fai, and Shi Jinsong, were on show. The oceanfront Scope Art Fair also highlighted contemporary Chinese art with an exhibit titled Focus: Art China.
