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guide to Art Basel Read more… - Art Basel Miami Beach be a private spectacle or even a public one? I wondered that as I headed off to the art world’s ritualistic week of gawking, power schmoozing and peacocking, which is now a decade strong. Certainly top collectors dominate the calendar, awaken the selling floor and preside over exactly what are sometimes ludicrous displays of privilege. But some also open their houses, or at least their warehouses, for the masses. And although you could need a V.I.P. card to party alongside A-Rod or celebrate the newest Ferrari model, as some revelers did this year, those that intend to make art viewing the main activity have sufficient more accessible options. Not minimal of them will be the fair itself, that has swelled to include some 260 international exhibitors plus a full program of outdoor sculpture, video and performance. And whether you want to be occupied by Art Basel or Occupy it, you can’t deny the event’s role in revitalizing Miami culture within the last 10 years. (The Miami Art Museum and MoCA North Miami have new buildings inside the works, as well as the Wynwood district is chockablock with galleries, studios and street art.)

basel art - Everything that said, a backlash seemed possible this coming year. There was rumors of the Occupy Wall Street-style protest, along with a high-profile collector declared an intention to boycott the fair (Adam Lindemann, as part of his column within the Ny Observer). Mr. Lindemann appeared anyway. And also the only activism I saw was folded, shrewdly, to the fair’s “Art Public” section: a celebration space for Miami community groups, courtesy of the artists Andrea Bowers and Olga Koumoundouros, where you could grab a leaflet or buy a T-shirt having said that “99%.” No one seemed particularly worried about protests or the euro zone on the fair’s V.I.P. preview within the Miami Beach Convention Center. The task, though, appeared more conservative than in years past. The blue-chip selections were plentiful, among them a stylish display of Calder and Miró sculptures (at Helly Nahmad) plus a stuffy-looking but rewarding exhibition of Modiglianis, Soutines along with other School of Paris artists (at Galerie Thomas). Those looking for more of a party atmosphere could find it at Mary Boone, where Barbara Kruger’s huge wall texts shouted “Money makes money” along with other turns of phrase on the topic of filthy lucre. Just across the aisle, L&M had an equally snazzy booth wallpapered with Warhol’s cows and festooned with a wide range of his drawings. Many other exhibitors relied on size to produce a statement. Edward Tyler Nahem gave nearly all of its booth with a 30-foot-long Frank Stella, “Khurasan Gate Variation III,” from 1968. Everywhere, dealers were taking out their tape measures.

basel art - What it's all about, over-all, was “We’re here to do business,” not “What creates this change all mean?” Only some dealers, like Peter Blum, took shots in the fair environment. At his booth two paintings from your series called “Bankrupt Banks,” from the Danish artists’ group Superflex, caused many double-takes with their prominent corporate logos. Not used to the collection circuit was “Home Alone,” an exhibit sampling the Adam and Lenore Sender Collection. This show in the Senders’ bayside home was available only by invitation, that was understandable, because of the intimate spaces. The curator Sarah Aibel made mischievous technique home’s nooks and crannies, installing a Sarah Lucas rooster inside the master shower and 2 Elizabeth Peytons inside a child’s closet. It absolutely was a really private experience. But throughout the week - even over the course of each day - I needed many public ones that have been just as memorable. In that spirit was the renegade mini-fair SEVEN, where entry is free of charge, and galleries share space on a “salon wall.” There, a vending machine from the artist Jennifer Dalton dispensed wristbands like that used to pass through velvet ropes. They read, “What this says matters not.” Art Basel Miami Beach runs through Sunday on the Miami Beach Convention Center; artbaselmiamibeach.com.