review Bienvenido a miami Miami: the Mecca of the art world in the first week of December. Myrna Ayad checks out Middle Eastern art at Art Basel Miami Beach, as well as the Canvas-organised N panel and the inaugural ZOOM Contemporary Art Fair. othing – not rain, wind, tains were displayed at the W Hotel’s entrance Facing page, clockwise: Mr Brainwash’s Star Wars storm troopers snow or even delayed and, on a daily basis, groups of people could on the balcony of an apartment block on Collins Avenue, South Beach. airplanes – did anything to dampen the spirits be found taking photos of the apartment block of art devotees attending the ninth incarnation on Collins Avenue, which featured Star Wars German artist couple Eva and Adele. of the Art Basel Miami Beach fair (ABMB). “It took storm troopers on its balconies. And then there The Zaha Hadid-designed Galerie Gmurzynska booth. Image courtesy me 10 hours to get here!” laughed Lebanese-born were the giant snails, which one Dubai collec- Galerie Gmurzynska. New York-based Nabil Nahas (Canvas 4.6), “but tor dubbed “Miami’s answer to Dubai’s falcons”. hey, it’s the one time a year that I come to Miami.” On until 3 January, 45 pink acrylic snails, brought One Canvas rep quipped, “yeah well, it took me by Galleria Ca’ d’Oro and the Cracking Art Group, 24 hours!” South Beach buzzed with a flurry of were scattered around South Beach in an artistic the glitz and glamour that ABMB promises, and attempt to encourage viewers to consider the with a record attendance of 46,000 visitors to the environment. Well, the snails didn’t quite do that: fair’s 250-plus participating galleries, the overall eight were vandalised and police are still looking mood was nothing short of the infamous Miami for the culprits. Speaking of pink, German artist motto: work hard, but party even harder. Aside couple Eva and Adele were spotted in hot pink from exceptional Contemporary art, Miami also jackets and fuchsia skirts near Galerie Gmurzyns- perfects the ‘Art of the Party’, as was evident in ka; “Hey! Dubai magazine man!” they yelled out to gatherings such as White Cube’s gig at the Soho Ali Khadra, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Can- Beach House, the Vanity Fair shindig at the Mu- vas. Gmurzynska’s Zaha Hadid-designed (Canvas seum of Contemporary Art, Whitewall Magazine 3.2 and 6.6) booth was constantly packed. Hadid and Ruinart Champagne’s bash at The Betsy, and reps flew in before the fair opening to assemble of course, more dinners and parties at South the fantastic structure, which “took two months Beach’s vintage venue, The Raleigh. I heard it one of planning, 10 days of setup and four parts to too many times: “Got back to the hotel at 3am” or be shipped from New York”, smiled the gallery’s “Have you got an Advil on you?” Krystyna Gmurzynska. The display was a “mini ver- South Beach also did a good job with the sion” of the Zurich gallery’s Hadid-transformed public art on show. Tom Sachs’s Hello Kitty foun- show Zaha Hadid and Suprematism, which show- cased the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s de- something French gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin signs alongside works from the Russian Avant- once told me during his gallery’s participation at garde. The show was also extended several times Art Dubai in 2008: “We know many people who due to its popularity. Gmurzynska reported “good are still rich”. sales by mainly Americans”, and added that the fair “is quite strong”. It was hard to pin down one general view Regional Art In Miami on fair sales, but the resonating comment was ABMB reported a record 130 museum and col- “the Brazilians are buying”. While most genres did lector groups in attendance, among them the well, Latin American art sold particularly strongly, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Canvas perhaps largely due to Miami’s proximity to the 5.3), Paris’s Centre Pompidou, Mexico City’s Mu- continent and a reported interest in its art from seo Tamayo and New York’s Brooklyn Museum, museums. “Brazil is waking up, in terms of artists, which acquired the second of five versions of collectors and museums,” said one European gal- Mounir Fatmi’s (Canvas 6.3) Maximum Sensation lery rep, adding that the market “is getting much for $67,000 – 50 skateboards draped in prayer car- better”. Good stuff – “trophy pieces” – always sell, pet tapestries. The first version was sold to Louis recession or no recession, which reminds me of Vuitton during FIAC 2010 and the third was on re- The resonating comment was “the Brazilians are buying”. review Mounir Fatmi’s Maximum Sensation at Lombard-Freid Projects. Mona Khazindar of the Institut du Monde Arabe, collector Hani Farsi and Canvas’s Ali Khadra during the Canvas-organised Public Art in Jeddah panel. Full house at the Canvas panel. serve at the time of press. “We’re delighted that it was such a great welcome for Mounir,” smiled Lea Freid of New York’s Lombard-Freid Projects, who added that a number of museums are keen on projects with the Moroccan-born artist. Maximum Sensation drew in a great deal of attention, not solely from institutions, art press and collectors, but also skater magazines. “One guy asked, ‘do you do surfboards?’” laughed Freid. Also shown at the booth were paintings and “rare” drawings by Iranian artist Tala Madani, which sold for a price range of $2500–$16,000 to European and Ameri- can collectors. Early sales included a painting by Haluk Akakçe (Canvas 5.6) for $40,000 at Galerie Bob van Orsouw and a mild steel work by Mona Hatoum (Canvas 6.1) at Galerie Max Hetzler, bought for $198,000 by a Latin American buyer. “Of course it’s been sold,” smiled the gallery’s Ala Sernetz. During a residency at the Beirut Art Centre last summer, Hatoum showed a prototype of Bourj, which then became a triple edition piece. Paris-based Galerie Kamel Mennour was particularly pleased with the reception received by Latifa Echakhch’s (Canvas 6.3) Frame and Green Tea Gunpowder, which, while separate artworks, looked harmonious as one. Frame, sold for $13,000, is Echakhch’s trademark 54 review The Canvas-organised Public Art in Jeddah was the only panel related to Middle Eastern art on the ABMB discussion roster and drew in an impressive crowd. cut-out carpet and underneath it lay a scattering wanted Ali’s work,” added the gallery’s Thaddaeus Jeddah residents in the room could be heard. “My of finely ground smoked tea (Green Tea Gunpow- Ropac, who had also sold pieces by Jason Mar- house was next to the César sculpture,” added Sau- der), which sold for $20,000. “Latifa loved the idea tin, Anthony Gormley, Georg Baselitz and Robert di-born Khazindar, “and I couldn’t find my house of throwing the tea on the floor, similar to what Longo, among others. anymore when they relocated the sculpture!” The the American Minimalists did,” said the gallery’s success of the plan, added Khazindar was “the Kamel Mennour; “People smell it, love it, touch fact that Saudi Arabia is about segregation, but it, it’s so engaging.” Works by Ghada Amer (Can- Saudi’s Open-Air Museum the open-air museum means the whole family vas 6.1) could be found at Cheim & Read, Kukje “The one panel I want to come to,” smiled Ropac, can visit”. This statement brought about a com- Gallery and Goodman Gallery; the latter will be was the Canvas-organised Public Art in Jeddah, ment from a Saudi audience member: “We can’t participating in the upcoming Art Dubai fair and the only panel related to Middle Eastern art on bring people to a museum, but we can bring the will present works by William Kentridge, among the ABMB discussion roster and which drew in museum to the people.” Also discussed was the others. Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin showed an an impressive crowd. Moderated by Canvas’s Kingdom’s flourishing Contemporary art scene, as embroidery piece by Farhad Moshiri (Canvas 1.5) Khadra, the discussion featured Mona Khazindar is evident through Edge of Arabia’s second plat- for $130,000. Having already sold works by Wim of the Institut du Monde Arabe and Hani Farsi, a form at this year’s Venice Biennale, which will also Delvoye, Aya Takamo and Takashi Murakami, Saudi London-based collector, whose father, ex- feature Saudi Arabia’s first Pavilion. Works by Saudi among others, the gallery’s Philippe Joppin as- Mayor of Jeddah, Dr Mohamed Farsi (page 66), artists have featured in Dubai Christie’s sales, as serted: “I am confident it [Moshiri] will sell.” At the procured over 400 sculptures from regional and did the impressive Farsi collection of Modern Arab time of press, the piece hadn’t sold but Joppin international sculptors in what became one of art, which made art headlines through the sale maintained his confident stance, adding that, “it the world’s largest open-air museums. Works by of some landmark artworks. In 2011, Hani hopes is a really nice work and we sold two of his pieces the likes of Henry Moore, Victor Vasarely, Joan to publish “an entirely new edition” following the at FIAC”. Miró and Alexander Calder dot the Jeddah cor- earlier Jeddah, City Of Art, a book which discusses It was refreshing to see new Middle Eastern niche (built on reclaimed land) alongside pieces his father’s achievements. Among the panel’s ob- names on the Art Basel circuit; among them an by Mustafa Senbel, Aref El-Rayess and Salah Ab- jectives was the education of audiences about acrylic work by Nahas – similar to one recently dulkarim, among others. one man’s cultural legacy in his country, which, purchased from Beirut’s Agial Art Gallery by Farsi related the story of his father’s cultural as one attendee put it, “was otherwise associated Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (page 84) legacy to the Saudi port city, achieved largely from with money, sheikhs and oil”. What the panel also – at Sperone Westwater, sold for $120,000 to an private donations. In 1972, the acquisitions budget did was inform one lady who asked whether any American collector. Another regional newcomer totalled $2 million and by 1986, it had reached a Middle Eastern artists live and work in the West. I to the fair was Ali Banisadr at Paris- and Salzburg- staggering $2 billion. “We had no street names immediately turned to look at the startled Shirin based Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (page 76), who [then],” said Farsi of Jeddah in the 1970s. The sculp- Neshat (Canvas 3.5), Shoja Azari (Canvas 6.3) and is currently showing at the gallery’s Paris space. tures, he continued, were landmarks, allowing Nahas, all of whom live in New York. Some smiled, A painting by Banisadr sold for $20,000 to a Eu- people to navigate through the “labyrinth of roads”. others shook their heads, but it’s OK, the panel ropean buyer familiar to the gallery. “Four people An audible confirmatory murmur from Saudis and had served its educative purpose. 55 review Zoom On Zoom Where Public Art in Jeddah sought to inform and However weak it [ZOOM] was, educate, the inaugural ZOOM Contemporary Art Fair disappointed and depressed. Not that the the art on show was greater two are comparable of course, but a premier art fair which aimed to introduce Middle Eastern art than the overall fair. to Western audiences may have done more harm than good in the West’s perception of regional works by Topçuoğlu. “We found out much later art. Allow me to explain: it was American retail gi- that there was a window in the booth and they ant William Dillard who coined the term ‘location, charged $1200 to cover it,” said Nadine Knotzer location, location’, and yet, for a USA-based fair, of Dubai’s Carbon 12 Gallery, which exhibited ZOOM didn’t adhere to this most fundamental pieces by Rahbar. “The sad part is that ZOOM of principles with its location at the South Seas has not been promoted in any way,” she added; Hotel (SSH). There’s nothing wrong with SSH or a sentiment echoed by a number of participat- art fairs at hotels, but the combination of fantastic ing galleries which cited the fair’s lack of effec- Contemporary Middle Eastern art at SSH was little tive public relations and marketing. “Footfall short of a tragedy. Even the fair’s director, Angeliki and sales are slow,” admitted Georgiou. The $20 Georgiou agreed: “The space is not ideal.” The fair entrance fee was also discouraging for some curators, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath of Art Re- collectors. “It’s not enough to come with good oriented, were not in Miami, much to the dismay artists if you don’t know anyone,” said Agial Art of some gallerists. The duo was held up in Doha in Gallery’s Saleh Barakat, who sold a work by Ay- the lead-up to their Told/Untold/Retold, part of the man Baalbaki (Canvas 5.2) to an American col- opening of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. lector and a piece by Abdul Rahman Katanani to The way in which an artwork is hung is abso- a Turkish buyer. “There should have been more lutely critical and, more often than not, has im- marketing and the location could have been im- plications for the work’s visibility, power and ulti- proved,” added Bahrain’s Haifa Al-Jishi of Albareh mately, its value. So, you can imagine what works Gallery, which showed works by Shadi Ghadirian by some of the region’s hottest artists – think Na- (Canvas 3.1) and Faisal Samra (Canvas 1.2); the zif Topçuoğlu (Canvas 6.5), Zoulikha Bouabdella latter will exhibit at the first Saudi Arabian Pavil- (Canvas 6.3), Sara Rahbar – look like on two- ion at the upcoming Venice Biennale, alongside metre walls in 28 square-metre bedrooms. Yes, Shadia Alem. bedrooms. Four of the 20 participating Middle Unfortunately, ZOOM’s drawbacks did not Eastern galleries were lucky since their ‘booths’ stop there. Galleries discovered preferential Above, clockwise: The corridor of the South Seas Hotel in Miami, were set up either in the hotel’s lobby, or – past treatment was given to some, as was realised by home to participating galleries at the ZOOM the narrow corridor of ‘bedroom-booths’ – at the Green Art Gallery, which was charged for ship- Contemporary Art Fair. other end of SSH. Floor-plans were sent to the ping costs, while some others were not. “I re- Bourj by Mona Hatoum at Galerie Max Hetzler. galleries, who were aware that bedrooms would ally doubt the whole organisation,” said Atassi, “I Latifa Echakhch’s Frame and Green Tea Gunpowder at Galerie Kamel Mennour. be made into booths, “but I didn’t imagine it would rather have paid $40,000 to participate in Works by Faisal Samra and Shadi Ghadirian at to be a small, rundown hotel room with zero NADA or Scope and to arrive with respect. Nazif the Albareh Gallery booth at ZOOM. transformation as a booth!” said Dubai-based deserves to be in a much better fair; he’s not a All images by Myrna Ayad unless Green Art Gallery’s Yasmin Atassi, who showed second-rate artist.” None of the artists at ZOOM otherwise specified. 56 review were second-rate and while footfall was poor, an impression but we did.” Atassi concurred: their artists – those very people who move and the fair did manage to attract some museums “Despite the severe drawbacks, those who did shake our growing art scene. Tessa de Caters of and curators – an effort largely thanks to Leila come were very impressed with the quality and Dubai’s Isabelle Van Den Eynde Gallery summed Heller of LTMH Gallery. “I was invited to partici- standard of Contemporary Middle Eastern art.” it up best: “What people don’t always under- pate in other satellite fairs but I felt it was better In November 2009 Canvas created a self-ad stand is that Middle Eastern art has a market. We to be among my Middle Eastern galleries,” said in response to the challenges of the recession have numerous galleries, international auctions Heller, “we need to be united; my clients bought on the art market. Art > Recession was our take and prolific artists whose works are in museums, works from other galleries and that makes me on combating the downturn; that art prevails foundations and important private collections very happy.” Heller showed spectacular works and will stand the test of time and economy. around the world. We even have a magazine by Azari – new painting and video projected That statement can be extended to ZOOM – [Canvas] dedicated just to us.” For those whose pieces as well as powerful photographs which however weak it was, the art on show was great- introduction to Middle Eastern art was their first feature Iranian artist Nicky Nodjoumi (Canvas er than the overall fair. The participating galler- at ZOOM, I hope they were not dismayed, be- 5.3). “Two museums have showed serious inter- ies ought to be commended for holding their cause, as the saying goes, ‘you never get a sec- est in the videos,” added Heller; “It’s hard to make heads high and being consistently proud of ond chance for a first good impression’. 57
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