Interview With Show Director, Donna Davies
by Bertil Vallien (Schantz Galleries) by Patrick Ogle
FORM MIAMI is a newcomer to Miami's Art Week. There are new fairs in Miami every year and sometimes fairs vanish after a year. Other times they carve out a niche in the crowded field. Form is likely to be among the latter; it is a fair with a unique focus and approach.
"Form Miami is the only art fair during Miami Art Week dedicated to contemporary applied arts. We are a material-based art fair therefore, the galleries exhibiting at Form Miami will have museum-quality, unique works of art in glass, ceramics, fiber, wood, and other material-based work by contemporary artists." says Donna Davies, Show Director and VP of the Art Group at Urban Expositions.
Urban Expositions, based in Georgia with offices in Connecticut, Florida and Illinois, manage 35 different events. Six of these events are art related including: Art Aspen, Art Hamptons, Houston Art Fair, Art Palm Springs and SOFA Chicago. SOFA, another material-based fair, is one of the longest running art fairs in the USA. They've been around for 24 years. That fair is the sister fair of the new Miami effort.
"The artists and galleries are very similar to those you will find in our SOFA CHICAGO fair with the applied arts focus. SOFA Chicago and Form Miami are singular in this focus versus Art Palm Springs and Art Aspen, which are much more focused on two-dimensional artwork with some sculpture exhibited in the fair." says Davies.
FORM MIAMI is a newcomer to Miami's Art Week. There are new fairs in Miami every year and sometimes fairs vanish after a year. Other times they carve out a niche in the crowded field. Form is likely to be among the latter; it is a fair with a unique focus and approach.
"Form Miami is the only art fair during Miami Art Week dedicated to contemporary applied arts. We are a material-based art fair therefore, the galleries exhibiting at Form Miami will have museum-quality, unique works of art in glass, ceramics, fiber, wood, and other material-based work by contemporary artists." says Donna Davies, Show Director and VP of the Art Group at Urban Expositions.
Urban Expositions, based in Georgia with offices in Connecticut, Florida and Illinois, manage 35 different events. Six of these events are art related including: Art Aspen, Art Hamptons, Houston Art Fair, Art Palm Springs and SOFA Chicago. SOFA, another material-based fair, is one of the longest running art fairs in the USA. They've been around for 24 years. That fair is the sister fair of the new Miami effort.
"The artists and galleries are very similar to those you will find in our SOFA CHICAGO fair with the applied arts focus. SOFA Chicago and Form Miami are singular in this focus versus Art Palm Springs and Art Aspen, which are much more focused on two-dimensional artwork with some sculpture exhibited in the fair." says Davies.
While you will find material-based galleries and artists there is no fair totally dedicated to three dimensional material focused art. That makes this fair a destination for collectors and art aficionados interested in material-based pieces.
The fair's location on Miami Beach is nearby Art Basel Miami, Design Miami and Ink Miami as well as Lincoln Road. In fact the availability of the location is a big part of why FORM came to Miami.
"The location was a key factor in our decision to be in Miami. We had been looking at the market for quite some time but did not want to make a move into Miami unless we had the right venue and location," says Davies. "With our venue being across from Art Basel, steps from Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, it made perfect sense to be in this highly desirable location."
The fair's location on Miami Beach is nearby Art Basel Miami, Design Miami and Ink Miami as well as Lincoln Road. In fact the availability of the location is a big part of why FORM came to Miami.
"The location was a key factor in our decision to be in Miami. We had been looking at the market for quite some time but did not want to make a move into Miami unless we had the right venue and location," says Davies. "With our venue being across from Art Basel, steps from Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, it made perfect sense to be in this highly desirable location."
The fair is also about education; there is more to fine arts than paintings with a few sculptures tossed in.
"Our hope is that we make collectors who have been attending Miami Art Week and perhaps unaware of material-based work, to learn more and of course, acquire these exciting pieces! Three-dimensional work has such tactile and organic qualities, sculptural qualities that can be quite realistic or amorphous and organic," says Davies. "We hope that what collectors and art patrons who visit Miami that week is to have a fantastic, educational and enlightening experience viewing these exciting works of art in a variety of mediums presented by some of the most prestigious galleries who represent these artists and dedicated programs."
"Our hope is that we make collectors who have been attending Miami Art Week and perhaps unaware of material-based work, to learn more and of course, acquire these exciting pieces! Three-dimensional work has such tactile and organic qualities, sculptural qualities that can be quite realistic or amorphous and organic," says Davies. "We hope that what collectors and art patrons who visit Miami that week is to have a fantastic, educational and enlightening experience viewing these exciting works of art in a variety of mediums presented by some of the most prestigious galleries who represent these artists and dedicated programs."
RSS Feed