Miami Beach Celebrates 20 Years of Art Basel

Visual Arts

Miami Beach Celebrates 20 Years of Art Basel 
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Art Basel Miami Beach, the centerpiece of the city’s widely acclaimed Art Week Miami Beach, which brings together thousands of collectors, galleries and artists from across the globe amid a celebrity-studded atmosphere and dozens of glamorous events.

Art Week Miami Beach 2022 runs from Monday, Nov. 28 to Sunday, Dec. 4 as the city once again welcomes the art world to its 7 miles of pristine beaches, chic hotels and upscale dining scene.

“Art Week Miami Beach is the Super Bowl of the art world,” shared Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “We are proud and excited to once again host this incredible gathering of top contemporary artists, galleries and collectors in America’s year-round arts and culture destination by the sea.”

This year’s Art Week Miami Beach will feature the largest installment yet of Art Basel Miami Beach (Dec. 1-3) with 282 exhibitors from 38 countries and territories. In addition to its Galleries, Positions, Nova, Survey and Edition sectors, the fair will host 20 large-scale projects as part of the Meridians sector, 29 curated installations within exhibitors’ booths in the Kabinett sector as well as nine panels with leading art world voices in its Conversations series at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

The City of Miami Beach will also curate its own special programming and exhibitions during Art Week Miami Beach, including temporary and permanent works being installed in Pride Park near the Miami Beach Convention Center, above tourist-favorite Española Way and in Henry Liebman Square along the 41 Street Corridor.

Elevate Española, a new dedicated art presentation site featuring aerial installations on Española Way, will debut on Monday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. with an installation entitled Trapeze Contortionists by Haitian-born, local artist Edouard Duval-Carrié to mark the kickoff of Art Week Miami Beach. The work features the silhouettes of 15 dancers cut from lightweight aluminum. Elevate Española is a new city initiative to enhance the corridor and encourage pedestrian connectivity to Ocean Drive.

Later, at 5 p.m. that same day, the city will welcome visitors to Starchild, a 50-foot figurative sculpture by artist duo FriendsWithYou at the corner of Pine Tree Drive and 41 Street along the 41 Street Corridor. Starchild is the main character in FriendsWithYou’s newest body of work, a longform conceptual project in which the artists are renaming the Earth to “Ocean” as a means to unify the planet by a name. This artwork was funded by the Miami Beach OnStage! program.

At 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the city will dedicate the monumental public artwork Minna by Jaume Plensa in Pride Park, which was gifted to the city by philanthropist Norman Braman, who was also one of the visionaries who helped bring Art Basel to Miami Beach two decades ago.

Other highlights of Art Week Miami Beach include the third edition of the city-produced and curated No Vacancy, Miami Beach, which will match 12 artists with 12 iconic Miami Beach hotels. Funded in partnership with the Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, this year offers an expanded art competition that features $35,000 in prize money, including a $10,000 public prize by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and a $25,000 juried prize to be decided by local art experts. Each artist will also receive a $10,000 stipend. The installations will be available for viewing between Nov. 17 and Dec. 8.

The popular Art Basel Legacy Purchase Program will return for its fourth year with previously acquired works by artists Sanford Biggers, Amoako Boafo, Ebony G. Patterson and Farah Al Qasimi on behalf of the residents of Miami Beach.

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