Miami Art Week 2024 Hints at a Still Vibrant and Evolving Art Scene
Another Miami Art Week has come to a close. So begins the annual tradition of unpacking the results. Of course we want to know what sold and for how much. But Miami is also the perfect place to gauge the mood of the global art market, and to spot emerging trends. After all, it’s a massive event featuring not only Art Basel Miami Beach, but no less than 19 satellite fairs.
If we measure anticipation strictly according to mainstream press coverage leading up to the week, the most hotly anticipated event this year was not Art Basel, Art Miami, or any of the other high end fairs. Rather, it was a smaller fair called Spectrum Miami, thanks to a booth sponsored by an organisation called Save the Chimps. The booth featured paintings created by chimpanzees in collaboration with Canadian rock star Bryan Adams. The chimps did the actual painting. Adams chose the color palette and signed the canvases. According to Dan Mathews, Director of Events for Save the Chimps, the exhibition was a complete success, resulting in the sale of 16 paintings, and raising $28,500 for the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida.
But of course the best place to gauge the economic temperature of the week is by looking at the most highly attended fair, Art Basel Miami Beach. This year’s iteration attracted around 75,000 unique visitors and featured 286 galleries from 38 countries. All of the dealers we spoke to reported high traffic and strong sales.
Global powerhouse Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery made multiple seven-digit transactions from its preview email before the fair even opened, including a Georg Baselitz sculpture Dresdner Frauen - Die Elbe (1990/2023), which sold for $2,642,450.00, and a Baselitz painting titled Die Seine, die Seine, die Seine (2023), which sold for $1,268,291. Robert Rauschenberg’s silkscreen Everglade (Borealis) (1990) also sold for $2,300,000, while Flag after Jasper Johns (1967) by the artist Sturtevant sold for $1,100,000.
Richard Gray Gallery, which operates locations in New York and Chicago, also reported a strong showing on day one, including the sale of three works by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa: a 309-centimeter-tall, stainless steel sculpture titled Juana (2022) for $825,000, and two smaller glass sculptures, Hortense in Slumberland (2021) and Juana's Frozen Dreams (2021), for $125,000 each. Gray also reported sales of two works by Alex Katz from the artist’s Study for Autumn series for $150,000 each; a historic painting from Chicago Imagist artist Roger Brown (1941–1997) titled The Rose Garden (Rosa Rugosa Rubra) for $150,000; a painting by Torkwase Dyson titled Sensoria (2024) for $75,000; and two new works by McArthur Binion—the painting self:portrait (2024) which sold for $150,000, and a work on paper titled summer:detroit (2024) which sold for for $35,000.
San Francisco’s Jessica Silverman gallery cited strong interest from institutional collectors. The gallery’s group presentation focused on international representation, diversity and hope. Gallery founder and CEO Jessica Silverman said, “We’ve received a lot of positive attention from curators from all over America and placed works in celebrated private collections and public institutions.” The gallery reported the sale of Rupy C. Tut’s titled Bowing to the Cosmos (2024) for $50,000; Julie Buffalohead’s painting Earth People Sky People (2024) for $48,000; four watercolor and ink on paper works by Masako Miki that sold for a total of $117,000; Atsushi Kaga’s painting The Full Moon in October (2024) for $36,000; two oil stick on linen paintings by Hayal Pozanti for a total of $105,000; a stainless steel sculpture by Pozanti titled Giddy and incandescent (2024) for $58,000; two works by Sadie Barnette for $49,000 total; the painting Press On It Harder (2024) by Julia Chiang for $35,000; Emma Cousin’s painting Pike (2024) for $17,000; several works by Woody De Othello for a total of $120,000 total; an oil on linen painting by Guimi You titled Nocturne (2024) for $56,000 USD; two 2024 works on paper by Claudia Wieser for $15,000 each; Catherine Wagner’s photograph History of Cinema I (2024) for $38,000; Chelsea Ryoko Wong’s painting In Tandem (2024) for $32,000; and a sculpture by Rose B. Simpson titled Present (Verb), which sold for an undisclosed sum.
It wasn’t just Basel’s main gallery sector that attracted eager buyers. In the fair’s NOVA sector, the Los Angeles-based Nazarian / Curcio gallery presented a solo exhibition of works by Korean-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ken Gun Min. Co-owner Seth Curcio called the response to the works “incredible,” adding that the enthusiasm they witnessed “indicates a revised momentum that feels exciting and optimistic of what is to come.” Associate Director Aryn Foland reported that the entire booth had sold out by the end of the fair, along with some additional inventory of the artist’s work, with several of the pieces going to “notable private collections and two museums.”
The Satellite Scene
There are other currencies being traded during Miami Art Week besides art and money. The best way to assess what those currencies are, and who’s buying, is to look at the satellite scene. These smaller, although sometimes equally well-attended fairs sometimes highlight a specific identity group, sometimes focus on a particular medium, or sometimes seek to create a unique visitor experience. For example, SCOPE highlights more economically accessible works from smaller galleries; Pinta bills itself as “the only fair dedicated exclusively to Ibero-Latin American art;” and Design Miami centres the work of designers.
Untitled Art is easily the most well-attended satellite fair. Held under a massive tent on the beach, it has a reputation for offering a less institutional, more edgy vibe. Dealers tend to offer works at a more approachable price point, though still in the four-to-five digit range. The fair is also considered a place where new collectors can go to learn, with multiple non-profit entities and smaller galleries going out of their way to provide reading materials, ephemera, and conversations that help contextualize the work on view. Lisa Carlson, Director of Jane Lombard Gallery in New York, said this year’s vibe pleasantly proved more active and positive than people feared. “There was a buzz early in the week about a slower market, so we approached the fair prepared for any outcome,” she said. “However, we’ve been thrilled to see new collectors actively engaging with younger artists and making decisive purchases right on the spot. Even more exciting, we’ve transacted with both emerging collectors and seasoned collections tied to public museums, reflecting not only a strong week in Miami, but hopefully a brighter landscape for 2025.” Carlson reported that the gallery sold out of works by Swedish artist Ulla-Stina Wikander, for a combined total of around $30,000, with some of the works being placed in “a prominent Miami-based public collection.” The gallery also reportedly sold five works by Canadian artist Bradley Wood for a combined total of around $50,000.
Several of the smaller satellite fairs this year overtly prioritised community and ideas over pure sales. The grand dame in this category was The Satellite Art Show. This venerable, nomadic fair has sometimes been hosted in out of the way locales where it can easily be missed by the masses. This year’s 10th anniversary edition was situated right in the thick of things, two blocks south of the Miami Beach Convention Center where Art Basel is hosted. It featured more than 50 art installations as well as a large selection of curated booths from a mix of artist-run spaces, collectives, independent artists, and experimental entities. Promoted with the tag #NOTBASEL, the fair’s open and edgy vibe loudly proclaimed that ideas were being exchanged, not just money. Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn, one of the fair’s most beloved recurring participants, is the artist behind SPANKBOX.ATL, a photography project that celebrates sexual autonomy within the disabled community. For her the main currency offered by the fair is visibility. Blinkhorn describes the Satellite Art Show as a family. “While most art shows happening near Miami Beach Art Week, or any fair for that matter, have a certain amount of elitism,” Blinkhorn says, “the people behind Satellite Art Show, Brian Andrew Whiteley and assistant Brittney Wherry, create a welcoming atmosphere and an accessible stage to showcase relatively unknown artists.”
Fridge Art Fair fostered a similarly anti-big-fair scene this year. This fair’s name is a play on Frieze, and the only rule is that all artworks must be small enough to fit inside of a fridge. This year’s edition unfolded across four venues. According to the fair’s founder and co-director Eric Ginsburg, approximately 3,700 unique visitors were in attendance. “At our flagship venue, The Mini Fridge at the LGBT Visitor Center, the atmosphere was particularly reflective,” Ginsburg says. “Many visitors expressed a sense of trepidation regarding the current political climate in the U.S., which sparked thoughtful conversations about the role of art in addressing societal challenges. This introspection underscored the importance of creating inclusive and thought-provoking spaces during such pivotal times.” The fair’s other three hosts were The Dream South Beach (The Rainbow Fridge), The One 50 Hotel (The Walk In Fridge), and Habitat Hyett (The Vintage Fridge).
Perhaps the most simultaneously loved and hated satellite fair this year was BitBasel, which returned to Miami for its fifth iteration. Billing itself as “The Future of the Arts,” this fair focuses on digital, artificial, augmented, and “minted” art. The debate around this fair and its proclamation of importance revolves mostly around public attitudes toward crypto and NFTs. The topic did little to keep attendees away this year, however. According to Tiffannie Ramos, Senior Account Executive at TARA INK, the fair’s PR firm, more than 5,000 people attended this year’s edition, which was hosted by the Sagamore Hotel on South Beach. Dominated by DJs, discussions, and a vibe of intellectual openness, BitBasel seems to have found its stride in being more of a scene than a marketplace.
A Tipping Point
As for the health of the Miami Art Week scene in general, one informed observer—a seasoned dealer, collector, and critic speaking on condition of anonymity—said this year marked a tipping point. “This was the year Art Week Miami officially became the exclusive domain of elites,” they said. They were not talking about the quality, nor the prices, of the art on view, although both, they said, were “quite high.” Rather, they were referencing the cost of admission to the fairs. A general admission one day ticket to Art Basel Miami Beach this year was $85. Art Miami, Context, and Untitled Art each charged $65. SCOPE charged $60. Design Miami, NADA Miami, and BitBasel each charged $45. Spectrum and Red Dot charged $50 for admission to both fairs. Pinta charged $29; Aqua Art Miami charged $27.50; Prizm charged $25; Satellite Art Show charged $20; and photoMIAMI charged $10.
Notably, four of the most beloved side fairs—the aforementioned Fridge Art Fair (which is also pet-friendly), Art Beat Miami (which showcases artists from Haiti), INK (which features modern and contemporary works on paper), and Afrikin (a non-profit fair showcasing contemporary African and Black artists)—offer free admission to the public. Nonetheless, the total price for someone wanting to visit all the fairs during Miami Art Week reached an astonishing $636.50 this year, or about double the cost of a plane ticket to Miami from almost anywhere. It begs the question: is it time for Miami to invent an affordable “all-fair pass” for the serious, hard-core art lovers? And even if it did, with more than 2,000 galleries and 10,000 artists participating, would anyone have the headspace to be able to look at all that art?
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