Just one month after Donald Trump’s re-election as US president, the 22nd edition of Art Basel Miami Beach could prove a microcosm of a politically divided country. “It is an incredibly pivotal moment and an interesting time to be having the fair,” says Bridget Finn, its new director. “I’m sure that artists and gallerists will approach it in unique ways.”
Exhibitor Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle, partner and co-owner of New York gallery Canada, sums up the widely different reactions within the art world. “Lots of artists are feeling downtrodden and are still trying to make sense of [Trump’s re-election], while collectors feel a bit grounded now, more protected in terms of their finances. So they are more open to spending, which should at least support the artists.”
While Floridians voted decisively for the Republican party, there will be plenty of art within the fair that goes against Trump’s politics. These include works that address climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and feminism.
Meridians, the section of the fair for large-scale art, includes a work featured in Peru’s pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale: Roberto Huarcaya’s “Amazogramas” series (2014-24), including a three-metre-long photogram — a process that exposes paper to light without using a camera — highlighting the precarious environment of the rainforest (Rolf Art Gallery, $160,000).
Elsewhere in this section, PPOW brings Portia Munson’s “Bound Angel” (2021), an installation of bound everyday objects displayed on a wedding dress to present restrictive ideals of femininity ($200,000). The work, “can be immediately understood as a powerful commentary on the rampant misogyny that has resurfaced in the US,” says gallery co-founder Wendy Olsoff.
Boyle describes Canada gallery’s mixed-artist booth in the fair’s main section as a “celebration of a multitude of diverse voices — artists who identify as cis-gender, non-binary, queer, of colour, or a wide combination of these listed identities.” They include Katherine Bradford, Xylor Jane and Joan Snyder.
Previously unseen sculptures and paintings by the late Indonesian artist I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, which confront the autonomy of the female body and female pleasure, will be on display in the Survey sector through Gajah Gallery (S$9,700–S$110,000; £5,731–£64,994). New York’s Kasmin gallery is showing a gestural charcoal by feminist artist Judith Bernstein (“Signature”, 1995–2007, $35,000).
The good news for galleries is that interest in such works in high among the international and coastal collecting community. “I’ll be looking for Trump-related commentary — though please no images of him — more works that address things like what ‘Maga’ actually means, where are we going?” says New York collector Kim Manocherian.
Italian collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, who runs a private museum in Turin, says that “It isn’t an easy moment, all over the world, and I will absolutely make sure to find work [in Miami] that addresses the current political climate.”
As the US continues its political realignment, the art market has its own issues to address. Art Basel’s Finn, a former gallerist, is acutely aware that her fair comes at the end of a difficult year during which even New York — the most active and largest art trade hub — has experienced gallery closures and disappointing auction results. At the moment, “helping galleries to reach a larger audience is key,” she says. “I’ve tried to listen as much as I could to their feedback and to think about strategies to help them.”
One result is that Art Basel has rolled out the option of smaller booth sizes to its main sector exhibitors. This year’s fair has 34 new entrants among its total of 283, with 13 taking up the smaller booth option. Charles Moffett starts in the Nova section for new work brought by young galleries — where a 36 sq metre booth costs around $24,500. He brings a joint presentation by gallery artist Kim Dacres, who works with discarded rubber tyres (price range $7,000–$35,000), and Melissa Joseph, who uses felt ($10,000–$25,000), including a work they have made together. “They are good friends,” he says, “and we want their work to be in cohesive conversation.”
Ultimately, she says, whatever the political climate, “anything we can do to expedite people making sales is a priority”. Nerves might be jangling more than usual this year, but so far, so good at the leading US fair, says Nicholas Olney, president of Kasmin gallery. “The timing is good — it comes at the end of the year, when lots of collectors have clarity about their finances and just now the fundamentals of the economy are good. Whatever people feel about it, we have got past an election that had sucked up a lot of our headspace and we’ll have to see what the next four years bring. For now, it’s time to get to business.”
Art Basel Miami Beach, December 6 – 8, 2024
