Peter Demetz at White Room, CONTEXT
Sister fairs to Art Miami (covered here), CONTEXT and Aqua are the upscale fair’s more youthful counterparts with their focus on emerging artists and low brow cult icons. The two smaller fairs took place during Miami Art Week, which ended this past Sunday, with CONTEXT in an exhibition tent in Midtown and Aqua at a retro hotel (with each room serving as a gallery booth) in Miami Beach.
At CONTEXT, we spotted a small, cross-shaped painting by Mark Ryden featuring one of his doll-like characters covering herself with an oversized steak. Part of the series that inspired Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress, the painting irreverently riffs on Northern Renaissance religious painting, combining it with details that evoke the butcher stall scenes of genre paintings of the same period.
Another stand-out piece at CONTEXT, Peter Demetz’s life-size installation of gallery goers at an exhibition tricked the eye with its disorienting use of perspective. The floor, which was also part of the piece, was placed at a steep incline and the figures were flattened to create a convincingly realistic scene that could only be comprehended from a specific angle. If looked at from the side, the piece’s illusion dissipated.
At Aqua, William Baczek Gallery presented an elaborate monochromatic painting series by Travis Louie (HF Vol. 32 cover artist). Known for his painstaking acrylic and graphite work, Louie creates portraits of monsters that resemble 19th-century photographs. Antonio Colombo’s booth at Aqua featured many artists Hi-Fructose readers will recognize — influential street and tattoo artist Mike Giant, low brow painters the Clayton Brothers, and pulp sci-fi illustration aficionado Ryan Heshka.
Take a look at some highlights from CONTEXT and Aqua below.
Arnix Wilnoudt at The McLouhglin Gallery, CONTEXT
Mark Ryden at Coagula Curatorial, CONTEXT
Seung Mo Park at Blank Space, CONTEXT
Zezao at Galeria Athena Contemporanea, CONTEXT
Richard Stipl at Galeria Enrique Guerrero, CONTEXT
Samuel Sacledo at Galerie Robert Drees, CONTEXT
Lucong at Gallery Henoch, CONTEXT
Troy Simmons at JanKossen Contemporary, CONTEXT
James McNabb at Robert Fontaine Gallery, CONTEXT
Travis Louie at William Baczek Fine Arts, Aqua
Alex Yanes at Thinkspace Gallery, Aqua
Mike Giant at Antonio Colombo, Aqua
Clayton Brothers at Antonio Colombo, Aqua
Ryan Heshka at Antonio Colombo, Aqua
Clark Goolsby at Victori Contemporary, Aqua
Laurent Chehere at Muriel Guepin Gallery, Aqua
Ivan Yazykov at Roza Azora, Aqua
Among the largest fairs during Miami Art Week has always been the extensive Art Miami, which was conjoined with its sister fair CONTEXT Art Miami in Wynwood, and Aqua Art Miami on the other side of the causeway. We first attended Aqua Art Miami, so named for its host, the Aqua Hotel. Since 2005, the fair has filled room after room, and even the hotel's hallways, with works by emerging galleries and mid-career artists. Tampa based gallery CASS Contemporary was among the stand outs this year, with their selection of new works by artists like Oakland based painter and street artist Allison Torneros, better known as Hueman, whimsical drawings with fantastical characters by French artist Amandine Urruty, and ink and gouache paintings by Berlin based Andrea Wan. Take a look at more of our highlights after the jump!
A couple-dozen art fairs and work from thousands of artists takes over Miami each December. Here, we’re looking at pieces inside and outside just a few of those venues, distributed between Miami and Miami Beach. Click through to see some of the works that grabbed our attention while surveying the city.