Art Basel Miami Beach 2008
The Art Newspaper presents exclusive coverage of Art Basel/Miami Beach 2008. For other fair editions and previous years click here
Soft landings in hard times
The pace has been slower, the prices lower, but collectors are still buying art
Expectations were low as the seventh edition of Art Basel Miami Beach opened to VIP guests last Wednesday. The November auctions had been disappointing in New York, and the Florida fair was the first opportunity to assess how much life there was still in the market. Three days in, it was becoming clear that sales had indeed been affected, but for some it marked a return to the way the fair used to be before the “irrational exuberance” of the art market boom. For others, it was the start of a new kind of fair. Dealers were realistic. “The art market cannot remain immune to the financial meltdown,” said Gerd Harry Lybke of Eigen+Art (B7): “We have sold 80% less than last year, and what’s happening in the outside world affects us.” Nevertheless, he had placed Neo Rauch’s Der Altar, 2008, with a British collector for well over $100,000 and a Tim Eitel with a US collector. Other dealers reported drops in sales running from 30% to 50% compared with last year—at the height of the art market...READ ON
Craig Robins to open private museum in Design District
Miami developer Craig Robins is to open a private museum in the Design District to show his art collection. The new building, designed by Spanish architects Abalos and Herreros, will include 40,000 sq. ft of display space. Construction should begin in nine months’ time and the gallery should open by January 2012. The private museum will exhibit changing selections from Mr Robins’ 1,000-strong collection, which includes works by US artists Richard Tuttle, Paul McCarthy and John Baldessari as...READ ON
TV interviews from Art Basel Miami Beach 2008
David Lynch’s diamond dome
The cult filmmaker shows off his skills as an artist and has installed a new, atmospheric work in the Cartier pavilion
American film director and screenwriter David Lynch is best known for his dark and unsettling films such as “Eraserhead” (1977), “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Lost Highway” (1997) that have become international cult favourites, but few people realise that he began his career as a fine artist. A major exhibition of his work was presented last spring at the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris including a selection of digital images of vintage erotica, Post-it note drawings and...READ ON
To whom the bell sells…
The largest work at an art fair is rarely the most poignant, but Kris Martin’s three-ton bronze bell, which swings from a steel frame that is bolted into a concrete plinth, is surprisingly poetic. Titled For Whom…, 2008, and exhibited by Sies + Höke (N34), the sculpture sold for $200,000 to Adrienne Arsht, former chairman of Totalbank and a well-known Miami patron. Ms Arsht became a local hero when she saved the Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, which now bears her name,...READ ON