Five years ago, the folks who run Switzerland's Art Basel launched Art Basel Miami Beach, a winter-in-paradise complement to one of the most important annual art fairs in the world. Almost instantly, ABMB (informally known as Miami Basel) was a hit; collectors, curators, artists and even celebrities came from all over to mix and mingle, party and spend. Miami's South Beach became the lucky beneficiary of a windfall of tourist dollars and cultural cachet.
With the economy sputtering, anticipation surrounding this year's fair is tempered by a wait-and-see attitude. (Will European collectors jet in to take advantage of the weak dollar?) Regardless, Florida artists remain one of the biggest winners in the Miami Basel boom. Cracking the main fair is nearly impossible if you're not represented by a high-end gallery in New York or L.A., but the odds of scoring a show — individual or group — in one of the many concurrent satellite fairs or in Miami's up-and-coming gallery district, Wynwood, during Basel aren't too bad. Collectors and curators will be scouring the fringes for bargains and discoveries — if you've got the right stuff, a star could be born.
For my money, Deon Blackwell is an artist with some serious star potential. By the time you read this article, he will have turned 29 (Dec. 4); six months out of USF's MFA program, he's at the very beginning of his career as an artist. But through merit and luck, Blackwell has landed a coveted solo show — his first in a private gallery — in Wynwood this week. At Undercurrent Arts, nearly 40 of his crusty, multicolored salt chandeliers will fill a white-walled gallery. Hopefully, someone with the power to jump-start his career will stop by.
To me, Blackwell's chandeliers are incarnations of beauty and joy, but for the artist, their roots lie in personal tragedy. After experiencing the deaths of several family members in quick succession (including his father, who committed suicide) Blackwell, who was in graduate school at the time, became fascinated with chemical processes of death and decay. He tried slowly eating a 10-pound bag of salt until his blood pressure shot through the roof and his doctor warned him that his eyesight would go next.
Now Blackwell lets salt eat away at the clay bodies of his handcrafted, chandelier-like constructions. After throwing and firing vessels made of clay, he fills them with very salty water; seeking the clay's pores, the salt penetrates the vessel and emerges on the other side as a re-crystalized crust or fur. Adding coats of vibrant pigment or pendulums made of stockings and rock salt, he pieces the salt-coated ceramic forms into uniquely magical creations. Blackwell says making his chandeliers has helped him move beyond the experience of pain and loss; what's left is a stunning body of work and a career waiting to take off.
Here are some other highlights to watch for if you're headed down to Miami Basel this weekend. I'll be on site, reporting daily on the sights and sounds — including Blackwell's exhibit — at my blog, artsqueeze.com.
At Art Basel Miami Beach, ogling the crowd — from high-rolling collectors to Miami high-school students — is at least as much fun as checking out the art. Prepare yourself for a football field's worth of galleries from the major art and cultural capitals of the world: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Buenos Aires, Beijing, etc. If you must limit yourself to an hour or two, be sure to hit the following galleries: 303, Mary Boone, Deitch, Roberts & Tilton, Sikkema Jenkins, Gagosian, Sperone Westwater. ABMB also includes a handful of fairs-within-the-fair; Art Supernova features galleries like New York's Jack Shainman backing emerging artists; Art Kabinett presents curated mini-exhibits; and Art Positions (a few blocks away) situates galleries in shipping containers along the beach.
Up and down South Beach's Collins Avenue, look for the smaller satellite fairs where price points are lower, and the art is a treasure trove of lesser-known possibilities. At Bridge Art Fair (bridgeartfair.com), look for Tampa's Bleu Acier to showcase artists Neil Bender and Elisabeth Condon (who recently won a prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant), Marie Yoho Dorsey, Steve McClure and others. Sarasota's Greene Contemporary will feature contemporary works at Bridge and modernist painting and sculpture at Art Miami in the Wynwood gallery district.
Head north on Collins to Ink Miami (inkartfair.com), where USF's Graphicstudio will ply its wares for the second year in a row, along with 19 other topnotch print studios from around the country. Stop by Pool Art Fair (poolartfair.com) on Ocean Drive to see drawings and videos by [5]art's Kurt Piazza; stay for Pool's daily absinthe party at 7 p.m.
Wynwood is the place to find new artists and edgy artworks, as well as some well-funded independent collections. Don't pass over exhibits at the Rubell Family Collection, MOCA at Goldman Warehouse or the Margulies Collection. Tampa artist Brandon Dunlap joins a group show of psychedelic and pop surrealist art at Harold Golen Gallery (haroldgolengallery.com), and BASK (myspace.com/baskinyourthoughtcrimes) and Sarah Gail Hutcherson serve up a two-person show at a club called Aquabooty Warehouse.
Sketchbook
Looking for an art fix closer to home this weekend? Try the Atomic Holiday Bazaar, Sun., Dec. 9, from noon to 5 p.m. at Sarasota's deco-licious Municipal Auditorium. The second annual alternative craft show offers "affordable, DIY, edgy craft for the terminally hip," per atomicholidaybazaar.com, where a link to Flickr provides an extensive preview of the show. For $5, peruse the handcrafted goodies of more than 50 vendors, including Tuff Betty Bags, Daisycakes Soap, Owl Movement (graphic T's), melimade (children's apparel) and more.
Salt Creek Artworks (1600 Fourth St. S., St. Pete; 727-894-2653) puts a youthful spring in its step this month with a show of emerging artists opening Fri., Dec. 7, 6-9 p.m. The untitled exhibit features Roby MacDougall, Adam Turkel, Noah Howell and Amanda Stiles, who won our Reader's Choice Best of the Bay award for Best Artist earlier this year. Look for expressive, figurative works in the emerging style some call "lowbrow" art or pop surrealism.
This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2007.