The 2012 Miami Beach edition of Art Basel has been announced, with this year’s show to feature 257 international galleries, with work ranging from the Modern period of the early 20th century to the most contemporary.
Application numbers have again been high, exceeding those for 2011, with more than 680 galleries competing to participate. Taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from December 6 to December 9, 2012, the show, whose main sponsor is UBS, will present a geographically diverse selection of galleries from 31 countries across five continents.
Roughly 50% of the galleries come from the US and Latin America. Exhibiting galleries include 99 from the United States; 34 from Germany; 18 from France; 19 from Great Britain; 14 from Brazil; 11 from Italy; 10 from Switzerland; nine from Spain; four each from Austria, Belgium and Mexico; three each from Argentina and China; two each from Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Japan, Portugal, Turkey and South Africa; one each from Greece, Ireland, Israel, India, Iceland, Korea, Norway, Peru, Russia, Sweden and Uruguay.
Art Galleries, the main sector of Art Basel's Miami Beach edition, will feature 201 exhibitors. This year’s selection brings a showing of Modern material, underlining the historical dimension of Art Basel Miami Beach. The sector includes such participants as Art: Concept, Konrad Fischer Galerie, Galeria Graça Brandão, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Kewenig Galerie, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, Esther Schipper and Galerie Daniel Templon.
Art Nova offers younger galleries a platform to present artworks made in the last three years by two or three artists. With 40 galleries on display, the sector will feature work by more than 100 artists from across the world.
Presenting a range of projects by a single artist, Art Positions features a selection of 16 galleries, 12 of which did not exhibit at Art Basel in Miami Beach last year.
Select galleries participating in these three sectors of the Miami Beach edition of Art Basel will present further work at Art Kabinett, Art Video and Art Public. As part of Art Kabinett, select galleries admitted to the Art Galleries sector will present curated exhibitions in separately delineated spaces within their booths.
As part of Art Video, galleries will present works by some artists working in the media. Screenings will be presented in two different locations: in SoundScape Park on the 7,000-square-foot outdoor projection wall of the New World Centre, designed by architect Frank Gehry, and within five viewing pods inside the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Art Public will turn Collins Park into a public outdoor exhibition space with large-scale sculptures and performances. Curated by Christine Y. Kim, associate curator of Contemporary Art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and co-founder of the Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), this sector is produced in collaboration with the Bass Museum of Art.
The gallery presentations will be accompanied by an engaging program of talks and panel discussions as part of Art Basel Conversations and Art Salon, offering audiences access to first-hand information on the main aspects of the international art world and market. Further details on Art Basel Conversations, Art Salon and Art Film will be released in the coming months.
Entering its second decade in Miami Beach, Art Basel week will spotlight museums and private collections in Miami Beach putting on their strongest exhibitions of the year. Miami’s private collections will be opening their exhibition spaces to guests of the international art show. The museums of South Florida will be staging exhibitions to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach, including: “New Work Miami 2013” at the Miami Art Museum; and “The Endless Renaissance - Six Solo Artist Projects: Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Barry X Ball, Walead Beshty, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Ged Quinn, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook” at the Bass Museum of Art.
This year marks the eighth edition of Design Miami/, from December 5 to December 9, with design galleries presenting contemporary and historic work. Design Miami/ will again be located alongside the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Art Basel stages the art shows for Modern and contemporary works, sited in Basel, Hong Kong, and Miami Beach. Defined by its host city and region, each show is said to be unique, as reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. The first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from May 23 to 26, 2013. The 44th edition of Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland will take place on June 13 to 16, 2013.