Gallery • 9 Photos

Art Basel Miami Beach, the most comprehensive international contemporary art fair across North America, returned for its 21st year from December 8-10.

The gallery was started in 1970 by Ernst Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner and Balz Hilt, in Basel Switzerland. These Basel gallerists began to impress Swiss buyers and collectors, drawing attention immediately. Within a few years the gallery became one of the biggest art shows in the world, now showcased in Basel, Switzerland, Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Paris. Some of the most famous works of art are imported from 34 countries including Egypt, Iceland, the Philippines, and Poland. 

This year’s 2023 theme was “Design and the Environment,” highlighting the work from some of the leading galleries from five different countries.

The fair is strongly committed to reducing its environmental impact and inspiring curators and critics to create sustainable art in order to encourage wider change across the art world. The development of their strategy across all four fairs reduces carbon emissions by using 100% renewable energy generated from European wind farms and by using recycled materials throughout the building, sourced locally in Miami. 

Art Basel is the cornerstone of Miami Art Week, inspiring new trends and styles around the world. It is typical for institutions and private buyers to purchase well-known pieces; however, it’s not only prestigious collectors that can attend the fair. Anyone can buy tickets through the fair’s website.

Some of the pieces this year in the gallery included a new series of photographs by Texas Isaiah, Wolfgang Tillmans, figure paintings by Lisa Yuskavage, and pieces taken straight from Ghada Amer’s studio. The galleries this year included New York’s 56 Henry, Vito Schnabel and Deli, and L.A.’s Château Shatto. 

Art Basel celebrates 21 years on South Beach, and over time the city has transformed into a global art hub, while also increasing the presence of Latin American artists within the market. It has also boosted revenue throughout the city and has had a positive impact on Miami-Dade County’s residents. The Knight Foundation has funded the fair since 2005 and, since then, they have watched Miami transform.

Lori Mertes, director of Locust Projects, a non-profit alternative art space, believes this is because Art Basel allows anyone to participate. With Art Basel, “art became a social and lifestyle thing, rather than just an elite thing, and that’s why it’s so madly successful.”