Art Basel Miami
By Ian Witlen
26 Mar 2008
I was lucky enough to receive a press and photo badge for the entirety of this year's Art Basel Miami. As if Art Basel Miami isn't a big enough event in itself, it is a bit overwhelming to view the event from the standpoint of the press. After attending Art Basel in the past, I entered the Miami Convention Center with high expectations. After viewing the first six exhibiting galleries, my expectations were not only met, but far surpassed. Each gallery had a unique perspective to offer and each gallery had a different take on what they felt was true art.
I approached one of the numerous galleries from New York to see what progressive artworks they might have to offer. The gallery had paintings, sculpture, and photographs from artists around the country, but one installation in particular stood out. On display, right in front of my very eyes, were roughly seventy-five of Ed Templeton's photographs; hung in Templeton's stylistic juxtaposition of frames. Templeton's photographic style is reminiscent of Larry Clark's, but his presentation takes his work to the next level. The subject matter of the photographs ranges from the tame documentation of the lives of teenagers to their explicit sexual encounters. Even in the somewhat pornographic images, the composition does not lack in the least bit. The variety of the imagery in the installation along with the juxtaposition of each photograph truly makes Ed Templeton's photography grab the viewer's attention and leaves them wondering what they will see next.
While Art Basel Miami has its fair share of the bizarre, the exhibition certainly doesn't lack simplistic contemporary art. For example, many galleries had variations of a white canvas with a splash of cyan or magenta paint to serve as positive space. I stood by and watched many curious collectors ask the gallery curators what the meaning behind these paintings was. It seems that each time the question was asked, the answer varied in order to cater to aesthetic properties of the person asking. I found this to be interesting occurrence in itself.
I decided to roam around the convention center for the next hour, just trying to absorb everything that I came into contact with. As I explored the different exhibition halls, I came across art could have been created by a four year old, yet was masterfully done by a man in his fifties. I encountered sculptures from Tokyo that appeared been plucked from a rather surreal future, not unlike that of Blade Runner. There were sculptures that weren't necessarily sculptures at all, yet simply, they were large-scale found objects put on display. Some of the most interesting sculpture was that of the kinetic variety. Towards the back of the convention center I heard a rather loud grinding and scraping noise. Upon further inspection I found an enormous rust-colored metal ball that had the ability to stretch out and walk with its front four legs. The metal monstrosity would reach forward, dig into the concrete floor and drag its rear legs behind it, all the while leaving behind a wake of impressions in the concrete.
Overall, this year's Art Basel Miami was the best that I have been to in many years. Not only was I able to see masterworks by some of the great artists many have only seen in textbooks, but I was able to see the next wave of contemporary art. From Picasso to Warhol, and Crewdson to Wing Shyua, the artworks on display were enough to make any viewer want to come back for more.
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