Opinion
Let Us Now Praise Famous Shills: Art Basel Preview Edition
If you aren't already quaking with anticipation for the latest installment of Art Basel Miami Beach, you obviously don't matter.
Art Basel Miami Beach
News
One of World's Biggest Art Collectors Charged With Insider Trading
In a statement released earlier this afternoon, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Steven A. Cohen of SAC Capital with supervising, and profiting from, the insider trading of two of his employees. The move followed years of severe scrutiny for the Connecticut-based hedge fund m
Opinion
Three Takes on the Art Basel "Rioters"
Over the weekend, a group of 100 or so activists protesting Tadashi Kawamata and Christophe Scheidegger's "Favela Café” were teargassed at Art Basel. The café, in attempting to mimic the desperate conditions of Brazil's tragic slums, meant to bring introspection and perspective to Art Basel's air of
News
Is it Time to Blow Up the Art Fair Model?
Occupy Museums thinks the art fair model needs to be reworked. Occupy Wall Street’s art offshoot has announced a new initiative, DebtFair, which seeks to radically deconstruct the commercial art fair. After essentially sunning themselves in a distant corner of Frieze New York last May, distributing
Art
Looking Back: What I Saw and What I Learned at Art Basel Miami Beach
Puzzled. That’s a good word to describe my state of being for my first Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB). One of the primary things I learned is that art fairs can be fun — when you’re standing on the right side of the velvet rope and you have all the right RSVPs and a prepared partinerary printed out.
Art
10 Actually Fun Works to See at Art Basel Miami Beach
MIAMI — Entering into the cavernous mouth of an art fair, it's pretty easy to know what to expect — some blue-chip art, some provocative booths, and a few rare modernist works sprinkled throughout the contemporary avalanche. Thankfully, there are usually a few pleasant surprises. Here are ten works
Art
A Street Artist's Remembrance of Cuba in a Pop-Up Coffee Shop
MIAMI — Street artist José Parlá, known for his energetic paintings of figures, animals, and abstractions that explode into swirls of twisting ribbon, has turned into a restaurateur. At The Standard spa and hotel in Miami Beach, he has helped transform a leftover hotel room into a fully-functioning,
Art
Domesticity as Subversion at Miami Art Basel
MIAMI — This morning the mother of all Miami art fairs, Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB), opened its doors for a press and VIP preview. Although it was pretty crowded for a preview day, the fair also felt calm and subdued. And the art matched the tone: much of what was on view seemed safe — tried and tr
Art
A Mother-Son "Nerd Bag" Sweatshop at Art Basel Miami Beach
MIAMI — Including your mother in an art fair installation might seem like an odd way to get back at your parents, but for Japanese artist Atsushi Kaga it makes perfect sense. At Dublin gallery mother's tankstation’s Art Basel Miami Beach booth, part of the Art Positions solo-show section of the fair
Art
Artists Open the Floodgates of Philanthropy on Art Basel
As members of the art world head to the home of The Golden Girls to peruse, critique and/or roll their eyes at the displays of one of the most popular art fairs in the world, a noble bunch of New York artists intend to intervene the glorified shopping mall to mitigate the devastation Hurricane Sandy
Opinion
Why Slate's Takedown of the Art World Is Totally Wrong
As a longtime reader and admirer of Slate, I've often lamented the fact that there's pretty much zero visual art content on the site (although, to be fair, they're only one of a handful of culture publications that ignores the category, and their new photo blog is great). So I was excited when I saw
Art
The Art-Fair-ification of the Art World
The town of Basel, located on a bendy segment of the River Rhein, is where France, Germany and Switzerland meet. Basel is not the place to go if you are on a budget; if you have to ask the price of a wiener and a pint, you probably can’t afford it. Each year in June the art world power elite comes t