Os Gemeos at Lehman Maupin
While Miami Art Week has more art fairs than one could possibly attend in five short days, the event that started it all is Art Basel Miami Beach, colloquially known as the main fair. A major market place for the world’s most high-profile artworks, it’s the kind of place where snippets of conversations like, “Did you tell him 33 million dollars?” can be overheard while walking through the aisles.
Art Basel Miami Beach is currently taking place at the enormous, labyrinthine Miami Beach Convention Center and one must sift through hundreds of art works — contemporary, modern, conceptual, figurative, 2D, and 3D — to find pieces that are suited to one’s tastes. Takashi Murakami’s kawaii sculptures, Kehinde Wiley’s baroque portraits of anonymous African American men, Brazilian twin street artists Os Gemeos’ colorful assemblage work, and Wim Delvoye’s laser-cut steel sculptures stood out among the seemingly endless gallery booths. Take a look at our highlights from the main fair below and see it in person through December 7 if you’re in Miami.
Keiichi Tanaami at Sikkema Jenkins & Co
Keiichi Tanaami detail
Keiichi Tanaami detail
Takashi Murakami at Blum & Poe
Takashi Murakami at Blum & Poe
Takashi Murakami at Blum & Poe
Keith Harring at Dominique Levy
Ai Weiwei at Galeria Continua
Paul McCarthy at Hauser & Wirth
Yinka Shonibare at James Cohan Gallery
Wim Delvoye at Kewenig
Ed Templeton at Nils Staerk
Takashi Murakami at Galerie Perrotin
Takashi Murakami at Galerie Perrotin
Urs Fischer at Sadie Coles
Wim Delvoye at Sperone Westwater
Yinka Shonibare at Stephen Friedman Gallery
Kehinde Wiley at Stephen Friedman Gallery
Ernesto Neto at Tanya Bonakdar
Yayoi Kusama at Victoria Miro
Will Cotton at Mary Boone Gallery
There was no escaping the madness that was Miami Art Week. While collectors and art fans alike were inside taking in all of the fairs and staying dry, more street artists than ever before descended upon the Wynwood area to leave their mark. Heavy rains and wind posed a challenge for most, but that could not keep artists like D*Face, Twoone, Nychos, Tristan Eaton, Boxhead, 1010, Caratoes, and countless others from killing several large-scale walls and collaborations. Take a look at our highlights from Wynwood after the jump!
Interesni Kazki detail While the collectors were busy at the fairs during Miami Art Week, street artists descended upon the Wynwood neighborhood to add new murals to the urban landscape, with thousands of eager tourists with cameras at the ready following not far behind. While many murals from past years have been preserved, we spotted new additions by the likes of Interesni Kazki, Nychos (who painted five separate walls), Faith47, Alexis Diaz, Swoon, Cleon Peterson, and many others. Colorful new pieces spilled out of the designated 
Miami Art Week is back in full force for another year, with 267 galleries and thousands of artists from all over the world descending upon the city's shores. The fair that started it all is 
Francisco Esnayra When you’re faced with fairs measured in dozens, visiting every Miami Art Week offering isn’t feasible if you really want to enjoy it. Our suggestion: Check their social feeds or websites and pick a couple fairs that speak to you. Each one is going to offer some surprises. And even in repeat visits to events like Art Miami and Spectrum Miami, we saw gems that eluded us the first time around.