The Art Newspaper

In the good old days the art market overheated. Last night it was the art. At The Most Combustible Art Show in the World the smell of barbecue smoke wafted through the Wynwood air but this was no sausage-and-steak fest; instead the New York artist El Celso was burning over 35 works of art by the (literally) “hottest” young artists on a sizzling grill. “We should try and remember that art is fun and shouldn’t last forever,” he said. And is this bonfire of the art vanities some kind of caustic commentary on the once-white-hot-now-coldish art market? “Because the works aren’t for sale, consider them priceless,” he added, pointing out the plus points of the pyrrhic event. “This is the easiest show in the world to curate. And at least we don’t have to return works we don't sell.” But there was one item that just wouldn’t burn. The Art Basel Miami Beach catalogue refused to go up in flames proving that the mothership fair really is indestructible.

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