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