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Design Miami 2021, The Fair That Focuses On The Functional

12/2/2021

by Patrick Ogle

It is redundant to write that Design Miami 2021 is dedicated to ...design... but a mention of it being the only fair during Miami Art Week totally dedicated to design is difficult to avoid.

This merits discussion.

Many fairs will have furniture as art or textiles. In most cases, however, these are non-functional versions of those items. Design Miami is much more about the functional--although not totally so as you will note from the photos below. It is a unique fair and if you are attending a number of the fine art focused fairs it can be a bit of a visual palate cleanser.

Side Gallery (Barcelona) showed work by Czech designer, Tadeas Podracky. Podracky is an experimental designer whose work from The Metamorphosis series is below. In addition to Design Miami, he has been shown at FOG San Francisco, Maison et Objet Paris, Mudac Museum Lausanne, Designblok Prague, Salone del Mobile Milano, London Design Festival and Dutch Design Week. This is in addition to a number of prestigious residencies.

Find out more at tadeaspodracky.com.

Also below is the booth from Objective Gallery (New York, Shanghai). You will be rewarded by checking out their Instagram page. The Twist Column Lights that bookend the booth manage to be both elegant and powerful.

Pieces from The Metamorphasis by Tadeas Podracky

Jason Jacques Gallery (New York) 's booth with its Nick Weddell pieces and dome will probably be the booth the average visitor will most readily recall. Some of Weddell's whimsical textile pieces are also below. He is a native of Austin Texas. His pieces mix the absurd with the unsettling with a dash of the primitive (in the literal meaning of the word, not the "art" one).

by Nick Weddell

The two function, lovely pieces below were shown by Twenty First Gallery (New York). These two pieces sat across from each other in the booth and are quite the juxtaposition--smooth, elegant and obviously man-made next to what appears a crumpled rock wall.

Below those are photos of the Moderne Gallery (Philadelphia) booth and a piece shown by R & Company Gallery (New York).

Design Miami Runs from December 1 to 5, 2021.

Shown by Twenty First Gallery (New York)

Moderne Gallery (Philadelphia) booth

Shown by R & Company Gallery (New York)

IFPDA Ink Miami 2021 Dedicated To Printed Art, A Small Fair With Substance, You Will Find Young Artists Mixed In With Man Ray & George Braques

12/1/2021

by Patrick Ogle

IFPDA Ink Miami 2021, at the Dorchester Hotel ( Miami Beach) is always a fair with substance and diversity. There are print artists who also work as painters. There are world renowned artists sharing wall space with little known young artists. You will also see a smattering of the likes of George Braque and Man Ray tossed in for measure. There are not many photos here and that is because MANY of the pieces in the fair are behind glass and in this context that makes them difficult to photograph. This is just a sampling of work that you can see online where you register for tickets (Ink is free but you need to register for tickets in advance). The fair closes at 3 p.m. Sunday December 5.

One of the most impressive pieces at ANY fair in 2021 is Donald Teskey's Pharos, a carborundum print of significant size shown by Stoney Road Press (Dublin). If you didn't know better you would not think this piece was a print. It seems more like a painting.

David O’Donoghue, co-founder of the fine art press, says that these massive sized prints were a project conceived during the pandemic. See? Some good came of this mess!. O’Donoghue says that the process to create these prints is physically and mentally taxing and therefore when they work on them they only do it two days a week. When you see this , and you should , you will see how thick the result is.

It is magnificent work that is in an edition of 40 costing $9750.

Pharos by Donald Teskey

Tandem Press (Madison, WI), like Stoney Road Press, takes up two rooms at this year's fair. Paula Panczenko, of Tandem says that for the past few years the press has been working with new artists but fortunately not TOO new.

"The really interesting thing is we'd begun to work on projects with all these people and Covid hit but because we worked with them before we were able to do things on Zoom and by phone or through the mail," she says. "They are very familiar with our printers and studio. We didn't bring anyone in but they'd been to Tandem so they knew what was possible. We'd do the proofing and send things to them. It worked out well. It wouldn't have been possible to do that with a new artist."

Work by Alison Saar is always unique and unmistakable. Below are two of the pieces shown at the fair--Congolese Resistance (2021) and Wrath of Topsy (2021). As you will notice these are not typical "prints." The former is screen print and acrylic spray paint on an aluminum tin. The latter is screen print on found cotton and seed sacks with sewn edges and grommets.

Congolese Resistance & Wrath of Topsy by Alison Saar

Flying Horse Editions (Orlando) showed work by Lavar Munroe Beware of the Dog IX, VII and II. They've shown this series before but we always write about them. Probably for the same reason they bring them to the fair; they are interesting. The pieces are mixed media on a three color lithograph on Arches En Tout Cas. This is a paper that has a rough side and a fine side.

Beware of the Dog IX, VII and II by Lavar Munroe

GraphicStudio (Tampa) showed work by Mark Dion. This piece, Chart 35, Anatomy of Global Warming, is part of a series of similar pieces and is a screen print on book cloth in an edition of 20. They had a number of other great work, as all these galleries do, including an atypical piece by Alex Katz.

This piece by Louis Lozowick is close to actual size and was shown by Susan Teller Gallery (New York). Lozowick was a Russian-American painter and printmaker. He was a friend of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitsky. Many of his pieces were more geometrical than this, which sells for $400. It is a small piece by an important artist and a piece of history.

IFPDA Ink Miami 2021 Starts At Today, December 1, at Dorchester Hotel (Miami Beach)

12/1/2021

IFPDA Ink Miami opens today at 10 a.m. December 1, 2021 at the Dorchester Hotel (1849 James Ave., Miami Beach). Ink Miami is a small, manageable fair that focuses on prints and printmaking (there are some other media tossed in here and there occassionally). Ink Miami is free but you will need to register for tickets.

This year's fair features many of the galleries and university fine arts presses that always grace the fair. Among casual art fans I am often told that this is their favorite fair. Hell, some art collectors have said the same. This may relate to the fact that this is the only fair that focuses on printed works. While you can surely find pieces that are incredibly expensive you will also see work that most can afford.

IFPDA stands for the International Fine Print Dealers Association , in case you were wondering. This year's list of exhibitors can be found HERE, along with other information on attending the fair. This link also includes the virtual version of the fair if you are unable to attend (or are not currently in South Florida).

Scope Miami Beach 2021, An Eclectic Mix, At One Of Miami Art Week's Lynchpin Shows

11/30/2021

by Patrick Ogle

Scope Miami Beach 2021 had some new galleries and some that have shown there for years. The show is a lynchpin of Art Week.

Katharine Story works out of Laguna Beach, California bridging the gap between couture and fine art. The pieces in the middle of her booth are clothing to be sure but they are not to be worn but displayed (for one you'd likely need to be nine feet tall to wear them). The clothes around the sides are the wearing kind of clothing. A single example of her work is below the group shot.

Her art, and this is art, is unique. Not all that long ago textiles were not considered fine art. Tattoo artists and graffiti artists were derided. Now they are embraced and shown alongside painting, sculpture. Just because something is functional doesn't mean it isn't art.

by Katharine Story

by Katharine Story

Rizomiarte (Parma) showed these tapestries by Tomaso Buldini. The artist is a painter and video artist who works and lives in Bologna. Find out more about the artist and his technique at tommasobuldini.com.

Robot Love Art calls Melbourne, Florida home. Yet, the sign above their booth said "Space Coast." Artist, James Meagher said that the reason for this was that they'd tired of explaining that it was Melbourne Florida rather than Melbourne, Australia (presumably they were also tired of all the "shrimp on the barbie" comments as well).

The first image is work from a recent group exhibition by Orlando, based artist, Clifton Chandler.

The flowered pieces below are by Meagherr and are both made of repurposed skateboard decks. The one that looks less like a skateboard, Morphos on Daisies, sells for $500. These pieces are beautiful.

Find out more at robotloveart.com.

Roberta De Mutiis' work, shown by Arte Globale (London) is as if ancient cultures had embraced the CoBrA School. You can see more pieces , including others on display at Scope, at the gallery website. There is something both whimsical and scary about the work.

by Roberta De Mutiis

The Contemporary Art Modern Project (Miami/Westport) and Parlor Gallery both represent artists that may be interviewed soon on this site.

The former showed Idris Habib's Chinua. The subtlety he represents black skin and black features is subtle and masterful. He is an artist whose work you can recognize from across the room, like (but obviously different from) Kandinsky or Picasso. He is unique.

Moses Zibor's piece, also shown by The Contemporayr Art Modern Project, captures the attention partly with the theme. What is going on here? Any painting that can make you ask that question is already a success.

Porkchop's work was shown by Parlor Gallery (Asbury Park). When you first see it you may also ask yourself a question; is this what would happen if the Pope formed a black metal band? (a development that should be encouraged). If an interview ever comes to pass? This may be the first question.

Chinua by Idris Habib & Up by Moses Zibor

by Porkchop

Parlor's booth

Untitled Art Miami Beach 2021, Still More Art From An Exceptional Fair (Part 3)

11/30/2021

By Patrick Ogle

Untitled Art (Miami Beach) 2021 is wonderful this year. One thing to keep in mind about the three posts on the fair here is that I had to cut some things because the photos were too bad to share or because the art was photo or video-based and hard to get across in this context.

There is more to this fair than just this work.

That said, the two pieces below by Radu Oreian are magnificent small pieces. The first, Composition with Two Figs, is oil and medium on canvas. It is an eye -catching piece even though it isn't even 20 inches wide. There is such exceptional detail in this and in the second piece, Molecular Landscape II (it is possible I mixed up the name here), it is hard to get at even when you enlarge the photos (you can do this by clicking on them). There was an even more detailed piece by the artist that photographed poorly. These pieces were shown by Novo (Milan, Italy).

Another piece that doesn't show up quite like it should in a photo is Nir Hod's 100 Years is Not Enough, shown by Makasiini Contemporary (Turku, Finland). This is, of course, why you should go to the fairs. The piece is oil under a chromed canvas. You can get some of the reflective nature of the painting in the photo but nowhere near what you would see in person.

Composition with Two Figs & Moleculare Landscape II by Radu Oreian

100 Years is Not Enough by Nir Hod

Usually when paintings catch your eye across a room it is because they are bright, flashy or startlingly colored. Daphne, by Anna Kenneally, shown by Fredericks & Freiser (New York) is 21 3/4 inches by 17 1/2 inches. The oil painting simply has personality. Daphne certainly looks like someone you've met.

See more from the artist at annakenneally.com.

Bienvenu Steinberg & Partner (New York) showed paintings by Deborah Brown, including the vaguely eerie piece below. Not all the pieces by Brown had the same quality as this one. In others the figures were more focused and central. There is something a little unsettling about how the figure is NOT central here but immersed in what seems to be a stark nightscape.

The cutlery with paintings on them are likely one of the collections that will attract many Instagram posts . Shown by Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston) they are memorable small paintings on various cleavers and chopping tools. Are they eroticly humerous or representing something darker? Or are they both? At some point the NAME of this artist will be magically revealed.

by Deborah Brown

Untitled Art Miami Beach 2021, A Group Of Exceptional Galleries And Artists (Part 2)

11/29/2021

by Patrick Ogle

Untitled Art (Miami Beach) 2021, not only has an excellent selection of artists who, in turn, have an outstanding selection of artists, the venue itself is always bright, without the lights so often required to illuminate pieces at art fairs and shows. It is spacious too which is comforting in the current climate.

Unfortunately some art translates less to photos even in such a well lit environment than others. Reader by Sylvia Maier is one of several pieces shown by the artist at the Malin Gallery (New York) booth. In the previous piece an artist was compared to Hieronymous Bosch. Maier calls to mind Renaissance artists and even Rembrandt. This isn't referring to some attempt to copy or even necessarily stylistic similarities but intent. These are portraits not just of people but of their context, of their time. You need to see them in person

You can go to her page at the gallery website to see and read more. Go HERE.

Reader by Sylvia Maier

The bat's below were created by Aidan Rumack and shown by Bertrand Productions (Philadelphia). Hopefully there will be an interview with the artist going into the details. One tantalizing part is his use of the same material used in scratch off lottery tickets. You can see that in some cases he has done some "scratching off" on these pieces.

Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art (Milwaukee) showed work by Shari Urquhart. The artist is a Wisconsin native and her rug hookings span a period of over 20 years and use a variety of materials ranging from hand dyed yarn to mohair and metallic fibers (and more). It wasn't all that long ago that such textile work was not considered fine art by many. Now? Such marvelous work is embraced as it should be.

This is likely one of the half dozen most eye-catching pieces at Untitled Miami Beach 2021.

Demetri Broxton's pieces here are boxing gloves adorned with a variety of items. The pieces are shown by Patricia Sweetow Gallery (San Francisco). The closest glove is adorned with cowrie shells which were often used as currency in West Africa. The particular cowries here were from a species from other areas (including the Philippines where one of the artist's grandmother came from). The title of this piece is Worst Come to Worst and is inspired by hip hop artist, Dilated Peoples. Another of the gloves was inspired by a Kendrick Lamar song. These are not just complex in construction but in conception as well.

Untitled Art Miami Beach 2021, A Selection Of Outstanding Galleries And Artists (Part 1)

11/29/2021

Instead of a series of small pieces on individual galleries, this year we will be posting a series of two or three posts about fairs with work from a variety of galleries.

by Patrick Ogle

Untitled Art (Miami Beach) 2021 is exceptional even by the already high standard the fair has set for itself since its inception in 2012. The fair runs November 29 to December 4, 2021.

Elsewhere(s), curated by Estrelita Brodsky and Jose Falconi, showed work by a number of artists in a remarkablely curated collection of art. Perhaps most notable is Santiago Yahuarcani, a Peruvian artist. His Covid-19 devora humanidad is what Hieronymous Bosch would have painted this past year if he'd been resurrected. Read more about him at the Human Rights Defender Hub. The painting is natural dyes and acrylic on llanchama (a parchment produced in the Amazon from the inner bark of a native tree).

Among the other works shown by Elsewhere(s) are The Second Sex Change by Meyer Vaisman and El ojo del relojeo by Jose Manuel Macias. The former is fabric and process links on cotton while the latter is constructed from glasses and watch parts.

Covid-19 devora humanidad by Santiago Yahuarcani

The Second Sex Change by Meyer Vaisman & El ojo del relojeo by Jose Manuel Macias

Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery (Luxembourg) showed work by Summer Wheat (among others). She is not something you make bread out of , of course but rather an artist originally from Oklahoma City. You can find out more at summerwheat.com. The "mother" sculptures are fiberglass, stones and grout. Twins is acrylic on aluminum mesh. It gave the impression of being a textile piece.

Mother Black, Mother Pink & Mother White by Summer Wheat

Twins by Summer Wheat

A Lighthouse Called Kanata (Tokyo) showed work by Masanori Maeda and Mana Konishi. Both Forgotten, by Maeda, is Japanese pigment on aluminum leaf, mounted on canvas. Both of Konishi's pieces are oil on canvas. While NONE of these pieces look like they do in person (hence why you go to art shows), you should also visit the linked galleries and websites to see photos not taken at a fair. These photos are images taken of paintings and are roughly the equivalent of a picture of you on a bad hair day.

Go see art.

Both Forgotten by Masanori Maeda & Untitled by Mana Konishi

Refection by Mana Konishi

The multi-national Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery showed this piece and it is magnificent. Likely more than five feet across. I believe I overheard the person manning the booth telling a prospective buyer that it was made of recycled material. I can guess , from the website, who produced this but I don't like to guess. This happens all the time and usually I don't use the image but this was too spectacular for that.

Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (UK, Norway, Germany)

Satellite Art Show Opens Tomorrow, Runs Until December 4, 2021

11/29/2021

Satellite Art Show Runs November 30 To December 4, 2021.

This year's fair will take place at 1655 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach (right around the corner from Art Basel). This year's Satellite is focusing on installation, time-based media and performance. Satellite is always a fair that pushes boundaries. There will be 30 live performances, immersive installations and a slew of video and tech projects.

There will even be a "Official Billy Joel Piano Man Karaoke Bar," that is interactive (which sounds terrifying).

Capucine Safir Showing Work At Three Locations During Miami Art Week 2021--Sculpture, Paintings And Drawings

11/28/2021

Capucine Safir will be showning her work at three different locations during Miami Art Week. The work consists of sculpture, drawing and painting. If you are not going to be in Miami you can check out her posts during the exhibits on Instagram (@capucinesafirart).

Dec 1 - 5: Solo show at Blanc Kara hotel, 205 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Dec 2 : Sotheby's private event in Cocoplum
Dec 2 - 5 : Show curated by and with Carefully Curated Studios at Life house Hotel, 528 SW 9th Ave, Miami .

Find out more at capucinesafir.com.

Fridge Art Fair Returns With 8th Edition At Esquina De Abuela In Allapattah, November 29 To December 4, 2021

11/27/2021

Fridge Art Fair returns with its 8th edition at Esquina de Abuela at 2705 NW 22nd Ave in Miami (Allapattah). The fair takes place from November 29 to December 4, 2021. The pet friendly event is themed this year "Welcome to the Wild West."

Esquina de Abeula is an urban commununity center founded by Fabian Martinez and is a haven for local and international artists who can work together there free of charge. The organization is the legacy of Martinez' grandmother Zoila Caridad Guerra who was a revolutionary who then turned against the oppressive regime.