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
The number of events cashing in on Miami Art Week was extensive and impossible to list, but one that stood out was Sarah Potter and Hannah Stouffer's prismatic "IRIDESCENCE" exhibit. The show took place in the 3rd floor Gallery at the Shore Club South Beach, where a friendly mermaid in the lobby pointed you to a futuristic installation featuring international artists including Justin Lovato, Adam Friedman, Lala Abaddon, Francesco Locastro, Gustavo Torres (KidMoGraph), Ultramajic, Jose Di Gregorio, Jonny Alexander, and Hilary White.
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 
Cranio Since its debut 15 years ago, 
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.