Art Basel Miami Beach
December 8-10, 2023
Miami Beach Convention Center
Art Basel, whose Global Lead Partner is UBS, will take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) from December 8 to 10, 2023, with Preview Days on December 6 and 7. The leading fair in the Americas will welcome 277 premier international galleries this December, with 25 newcomers joining an outstanding line-up of veteran exhibitors, two-thirds of which hail from North and Latin America. Dedicated to monumental artworks, the Meridians sector will host 19 thought provoking projects including new and site-specific works, with a focus on new perspectives on how we collectively inhabit our planet. The Kabinett sector will feature 30 galleries showcasing 28 carefully curated installations within their main booths.
Free to the public, Art Basel’s Conversations program will return with a series of live debates among thought leaders on the key topics shaping the world of art and culture, with a focus on celebrating Latin America. Beyond the fair halls, Art Basel will collaborate with world-class institutions, private collections, and cultural partners for an expanded program of exhibitions and events across Miami Beach throughout the fair week.
‘We welcome the art world back to Art Basel Miami Beach this year with curated sectors and programming as inspired and ambitious as ever,’ said Vincenzo de Bellis, Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms at Art Basel.
‘Meridians will host 19 exceptional projects that go beyond the traditional art fair format to explore how we engage with our shifting natural and cultural environments. Our Kabinett sector will return with several first-time exhibitors, and our Conversations program will celebrate Miami Beach as the geographic and creative nexus of North and Latin America.’ De Bellis is spearheading this year’s edition of the fair. Bridget Finn, newly appointed Director at Art Basel Miami Beach, will lead the show starting in 2024.
Meridians
Featuring 19 projects this year, including new and site-specific works for Art Basel Miami Beach, Meridians invites exhibitors to showcase monumental historical and contemporary works which transcend the traditional art fair booth. Curated for the fourth consecutive year by Magalí Arriola, Mexico City-based curator and Director of Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, this edition of the sector brings together works ‘that speak to nature, to the land, and to various cultural and spiritual geographies in a world of changing boundaries and shifting identities,’ said Arriola.
Highlights include ‘Private Collection (2023)’, a new sculptural installation by Bay Area-artist Saif Azzuz in the form of a painted fence yard, probing questions of access, the privatization of land, settler colonialism, and Indigenous resilience, presented by Nicelle Beauchene Gallery (New York), as well as four sculptures in the form of trophies by Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke reflecting on the exercise and representation of power, in a suite titled ‘Gilt’ (2022) created for The Met’s historic façade niches and referencing works of art in the museum’s collection, presented by Almine Rech (Paris, Brussels, Shanghai, London, New York), among others. For the full list of artists and galleries presenting in Meridians, visit artbasel.com/miamibeach/meridians.
Kabinett
A mainstay section of the Miami Beach show, featuring art-historical and solo showcases, Kabinett will return with 28 concisely curated installations presented within exhibitors’ main booths. Highlights include Cafe Cleopatra (2023), a site-specific installation of new sculptures and drawings by New York-based artist Elisabeth Kley, known for her black and white ceramic sculptures, vessels, drawings, and paintings inspired by modernist theater sets and costume designs, presented by Canada (New York, East Hampton), as well as new works in ceramics and watercolors by Brazilian artist Sallisa Rosa, prepared especially for the fair and forming part of the Brazilian artist’s ongoing investigations into memory through materiality, presented by A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo), among others. For the full list of artists and galleries presenting in Kabinett, visit artbasel.com/miamibeach/kabinett.
© 2023 The Estate of Tom Wesselmann / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Conversations
Running from December 7-9th and free to the public, Conversations is a series of live debates bringing together some of today’s most inspiring cultural figures. Curated by Emily Butler, the renowned series this year features 35 thought leaders across nine panels celebrating Latin America and providing insights into the evolving global art scene. The program draws inspiration from the city of Miami’s position as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean to honor Afro-Latino, Latino, and feminist histories, the artistic ecologies of Florida, and other topical issues in 2023. Highlights include singer-songwriter, producer, and activist Chance the Rapper, and Collector, curator, and philanthropist Estrellita Brodsky with artist Guadalupe Maravilla, among others. All panels will be live-streamed on Art Basel’s Facebook page. Recordings will be available on Art Basel’s website following the event.
About Art Basel
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through new digital platforms and initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. Art Basel’s Global Media Partner is The Financial Times. For further information, please visit artbasel.com.
