#Burgoyne Diller 2 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mcgiggers · 6 years

Text

Miami (and Beantown Postscript) - December 2017

Just back from two-and-a-half intense days in Miami navigating art fairs and visiting several of the private foundations that make up the city’s rich and deep cultural fabric. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, unseasonable temperature drops and mobs of people moving in all directions did not deter the resolve and enthusiasm of art fans who seemed to dismiss any notion of a looming market correction and its likely implication on the art world. Among the 20 plus fairs and countless other cultural outlets, this year’s circuit included visits to: five fairs (Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Miami, Untitled, NADA and Pulse); five private collections (Cisneros-Fontanals Art Foundation, De la Cruz Contemporary Art Space, Juan Carlos Maldonado Art Collection, Margulies Collection at the Warehouse and The Rubell Family Collection); and the recently opened Institute of Contemporary Art. While each venue staged its own unique experience, Art Miami and NADA, among the fairs, and the De la Cruz and Maldonado collections, among the foundations, rose above the rest in terms of vibe and visual treat.

Art Basel, as always, was omnipresent as the perennial anchor of Miami art week. Its 250 plus gallery roster dwarfed that of other fairs, and while the trophy pieces offered by leading international galleries attracted the most significant draw, the endless corridors of exhibitors and the mind-numbing number of works on display made it challenging to fully appreciate in a few hours. Art Miami benefited from a new waterfront downtown location and a significantly spruced up presentation and exhibitor lineup. Concurrently, NADA moved to a nearby downtown location from South Beach, and the five minute walk between fairs allowed for a very complementary and synergistic art viewing experience - Art Miami, by and large, presented more established post-war contemporary artists while NADA showcased emerging artists. Highlights at Art Miami included: Ray Parker’s classic floating colour masses in “Untitled”, 1965,oil on canvas (30 x 24 in.); Park Seo-Bo’s signature language in “Ecritures No. 22-81”, 1981, pencil and oil on hempcloth (25.5 x 23.8 in.); and Esteban Vincente’s immersive “Red”, 2016, oil on canvas (68 x 56 in.). NADA standouts included: Mika Tajima’s visual interpretation of sound in “Negative Entropy (Argraf, Rapida, Black, Double)”, 2017, cotton, polyester, rayon, wood, wool and acoustic baffling felt (54 x 42 in.); and Evan Nesbit’s paint infused “Strange Relief” and “Strange Relief 2”, 2017, acrylic and dye on burlap (each, 27 x 17 in.). At the other fairs, highlights included: Bridget Riley’s mesmerizing “Measure for Measure 21”, 2017, acrylic on canvas (61.4 x 61.4 in.) at Art Basel; David Quinn’s minimalist “Grid Triptych”, 2017, mixed media on panel (each, 9 x 12 in.) at Pulse; and Roberto Turnbull’s “Black Numbers, Red Numbers”, 1991, oil on linen (39.4 x 27.6 in.) at Untitled.

Interest in the foundations increased significantly relative to prior years. Attendance and enthusiasm were at a high at every stop on the tour as art fans fully appreciated the more finely curated nature of the private collections and the incredible physical spaces that housed them. Influenced by the preferences of their patrons, the foundations each had a distinct character. Common to the De la Cruz and Maldonado collections was the focus on painters, albeit from different periods, as opposed to installation-based and/or conceptual art. The De la Cruz collection featured fantastic contemporary works by Peter Doig, Joe Bradley and Dan Colen. The Constructing Constructivism exhibit at the Maldonado foundation reached back further in time with a focus on geometric abstraction through the eyes of Burgoyne Diller, Carlos Rojas and Larry Zox, among others. Elsewhere, the Rubell featured monumental works by 2017 artist-in-residence, Allison Zuckerman; Carmen Herrera shared the spotlight in the Cisneros-Fontanals space; and large sculptural Anselm Kiefer works were ever-so-present at the Margulies warehouse. Also noteworthy was the great response to the recently opened ICA and the cutting-edge experimental art on display.

In terms of memorable sightings, Chuck Close was seen holding court in front of the entrance at Art Miami. Sporting a colourful and crazy patterned outfit, the accomplished American photorealist commanded as much presence as the most striking of works inside the fair. Once again, there was no sign of D-Wade this year. The Egomaniacal One was known to frequent Art Basel during his salad days while with the Heat, but he just hasn’t made it back since leaving town. Now that his bromance with fellow rat packer and Heat alum King James has been reignited in Cleveland, maybe he’ll make the road trip next year.

Earlier last week and up the coast from South Beach, more relevant sports news was made when the “Masked One” and the “Greek Freak” squared off on the parquet floor at the TD Garden. The two dazzled and painted their canvases on the most iconic of playing surfaces. Showcasing their individual styles and skills, Kyrie zigzagged around helpless defenders at surreal speeds, while Giannis effortlessly applied his craft way above the rim and seemed to stop time while doing so. The outcome of the game was almost secondary, although the deeply engaged rapping leprechauns in Section 9 were not disappointed.

While the parquet was being lit up by the newly-minted modern masters of the game, eleven Rothko’s were pulling their own weight in a discrete corner of the cavernous Beantown MFA. The mini-retrospective featured several powerful large-scale works that traced the evolution of Rothko’s palette from bright to somber and stirred the range of emotions the iconic colour field paintings were created to evoke. Highlights included “Untitled”, 1955, oil on canvas and “No.1”, 1961, oil and acrylic on canvas.

For more information on any of the artists or works mentioned, the foundations, the Rothko exhibit or the exploits of Kyrie and Giannis, “Just Google It”.

There you have it sportsfans,

MC Giggers

(www.mcgiggers.tumblr.com)

Reporter’s Certification

I, MC Giggers, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views and that no part of my compensation was or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific views expressed herein.

I also certify that I may or may not own, directly or indirectly, works of artists mentioned in this report and that I may or may not have a strong bias for such artists and, more generally, for “Pictures of Nothing”.

0 notes