Art Basel announces further highlights of its upcoming show in Miami Beach
MIAMI BEACH | NOVEMBER 4 | 2021
• Meridians, curated by Magalí Arriola, Director of Museo Tamayo, Mexico
City, returns for the second time to the Miami Beach Convention Center
(MBCC) with 16 large-scale projects on display by renowned and emerging
artists.
• 25 Galleries from the main sector will present carefully curated exhibitions
within their booth as part of the Kabinett sector.
• Edward Winkelman will program Art Basel’s renowned Conversations
series, comprising 10 panels.
• Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, will take place from December 2 to
December 4, 2021 at the MBCC.
The 2021 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach – Art Basel’s first in-person fair in Miami
Beach since 2019 – will feature 253 leading galleries from around the globe presenting
the highest quality of works across all media, from rare and historical masterpieces to
new pieces by today’s emerging artistic voices. In addition to showcasing exceptional art
within its Galleries, Positions, Nova, Survey and Edition sectors, the fair will also present
16 large-scale artworks in Meridians; 25 carefully curated exhibitions as part of the
Kabinett sector; as well as 10 panels as part of the fair’s renowned Conversations series.
‘There’s enormous excitement within the artworld on both sides of the Atlantic about Art
Basel Miami Beach 2021,’ says Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel. ‘Not only
because it’s our first fair in two years in the Americas, but also because the show has
never before featured such a diverse range of voices.’
Meridians
Meridians, Art Basel in Miami Beach’s unique platform for large-scale projects, provides
galleries the opportunity to showcase monumental works that push the boundaries of a
traditional art fair layout, including large-scale sculptures and paintings, installations,
video projections, and live performances. The sector, which will newly be staged in a
dedicated space on the main show floor, will once again be curated by Mexico City-based
Magalí Arriola, Director of Museo Tamayo.
Meridians highlights include:
• A new work by Maxwell Alexandre as part of the artist’s ‘Pardo é Papel’ series
presented by A Gentil Carioca.
• A site-specific installation and a performance-based activation of six body
devices by Brendan Fernandes titled ‘Contract and Release’ (2019–2021)
presented by moniquemeloche.
• Todd Gray’s ‘Sumptuous Memories of Plundering Kings’ (2021) presented by
David Lewis, a 14-part work exceeding 30 feet in length, exploring the history and
enduring impact of European colonialism, slavery, and the African diaspora.
• A monumental double-sided painting by Jacqueline de Jong titled ‘De
achterkant van het bestaan’ (The backside of existence), (1992) presented by
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery.
• Howardena Pindell’s iconic ‘Sweatshop’ (1998–1999), an expansive canvas
presenting advertising cutouts of quotidian objects: combs, scissors, glasses, and
other items, presented by Garth Greenan Gallery.
• ‘Moving Up’ (2021) by Yinka Shonibare, CBE, an installation presented by
James Cohan Gallery capturing the vertical move of six million African Americans
from rural Southern states to the cities of the North, Midwest, and West from
1916 to 1970, known today as the Great Migration.
Magalí Arriola, curator of Meridians, says: ‘Many of the works included in Meridians
question the traditional representations of class, race and power to resist social
conventions, and to bridge the physical and cultural boundaries that surfaced in our
society in recent times.’
For the full list of artists and galleries represented in Meridians please visit
artbasel.com/miami-beach/meridians.
Kabinett
Providing galleries with an opportunity to present curated exhibitions in separately
delineated spaces within their booths, this year’s Kabinett sector will include 25
presentations by established and emerging artists.
Kabinett highlights include:
• Jorge Mara – La Ruche’s presentation of Ellen Auerbach, Grete Stern and
Horacio Coppola, three influential figures of Avant Garde photography who
established themselves as visionary modernists in Europe and South America
during the 1930s.
• Sies + Höke’s presentation of rare early drawings by Sigmar Polke and Gerhard
Richter, which trace the differences as well as the common ground in their
artistic approaches.
• Mayoral’s presentation of works by Manolo Millares, one of the most important
Spanish artists of the post-war European Informalist movement.
• Roberts Projects’ presentation of community-based portraits by Ghanian artist
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, a series of new paintings exploring the relationships
between identity, materiality, and race, that mark a critical evolution for the artist.
For the full list of artists and galleries represented in Kabinett, please visit
artbasel.com/miami-beach/kabinett.
Conversations
Art Basel’s renowned Conversations series offers a platform for the exchange of ideas on
topics concerning the global contemporary art scene. This year’s program features 10
panels bringing together leading artists, gallerists, collectors, art historians, curators,
museum directors and critics from across the world discussing diverse issues from the
rise of the NFT art market, to questions of resilience post-pandemic and the need to reinvent the museum. Conversations will be curated for the second time by Art Basel and
private art dealer and author Edward Winkleman. The program will be free to the public,
running from Wednesday, December 1 to Saturday, December 4 in the Auditorium
(Grand Ballroom). All panel discussions will be live-streamed on Facebook and recorded.
For further information please visit artbasel.com/miami-beach/conversations.
The health and safety of Art Basel’s guests, exhibitors, and staff is our utmost priority. We
will therefore be deploying comprehensive measures to create a safe fair environment.
Visitors will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test in order to gain
access to the halls. Alternatively, visitors may opt to voluntarily provide proof of
vaccination or recent recovery from COVID-19 to gain entry. The use of masks will be
mandatory inside the venue and all visitors will be required to complete a self-reported
symptom screening prior to entering the fair. In addition, a system of timed entry will be
in place to control crowding inside the halls. Further details on the health and safety
precautions for the fair are available at artbasel.com/covid-19.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Magalí Arriola
Magalí Arriola, Director of Museo Tamayo, lives and works in Mexico City. Arriola joined
Art Basel with recent institutional experience at KADIST, where she was Lead Curator for
Latin America; and Museo Jumex, where she was Curator between 2011 and 2014. She
was the curator of Mexico’s participation at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019, showing
artist Pablo Vargas Lugo with a project entitled ‘Acts of God’. Her other recent
independent curatorial projects include ‘What do you dream of? The Mohole Flower and
other Tales’, Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo, August-October 2018; ‘A Place out of
History’, a film screened at documenta14 and FIDMarseille (2018), produced by Destello
Films; and Sunset Décor, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York City, June-August, 2017.
About Edward Winkleman
Ed Winkleman is a private art dealer in New York City and co-author of ‘How to Start and
Run a Commercial Art Gallery’, as well as author of ‘Selling Contemporary Art: How to
Navigate the Evolving Market’. He was a founding member and the first president of the
Williamsburg Gallery Association and an early member of the New Art Dealers Alliance.
With Murat Orozobekov, he co-founded Moving Image, the video and film art fair that has
taken place in New York, London, and Istanbul.
About Art Basel
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art
shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong.
Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its
participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming
produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement
has expanded beyond art fairs through new digital platforms and a number of new
initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report and the BMW Art
Journey. Art Basel’s Global Media Partner is The Financial Times. For further information,
please visit artbasel.com.
Partners
UBS & Contemporary Art Global
Lead Partner of Art Basel, UBS has a long history of supporting contemporary art and
artists. The firm has one of the world’s most important corporate art collections and seeks
to advance the international conversation about the art market through its global lead
partnership with Art Basel and as co-publisher of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art
Market Report. UBS also has partnerships with fine art institutions including the
Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Russia,
and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. UBS provides its clients with insight
into the art market, collecting, and legacy planning through its Collectors Circle and UBS
Art Advisory. For more information about UBS’s commitment to contemporary art, visit
ubs.com/art.
Art Basel’s Associate Partners are Audemars Piguet, whose program in contemporary
art: ‘Audemars Piguet Contemporary’ commissions international artists to create
contemporary artworks; and NetJets – the world leader in private aviation. Art Basel is
also supported globally by BMW, who has co-developed with Art Basel the BMW Art
Journey, and La Prairie, Ruinart, Sanlorenzo, and On.
Art Basel’s show in Miami Beach is also supported by Tezos, Douglas Elliman
Development Marketing, Nespresso, and Chubb, as well as Casa Dragones, Château
d’Esclans, Perrier, Kannoa, Saint Laurent and Quintessentially. Hotel Partners include
Grand Beach Hotel Miami Beach and W South Beach. Art Basel’s Global Media Partner
is The Financial Times. For further information about partnerships, please visit
artbasel.com/partners.
Important Dates for Media
Media Reception
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 9am to 10am
Private View (by invitation only)
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 11am to 8pm
Wednesday, December 1, 2021, 11am to 8pm
Public days
Thursday, December 2, 2021, 11am to 7pm
Friday, December 3, 2021, 11am to 7pm
Saturday, December 4, 2021, 11am to 6pm
Press accreditation
Online registration for press accreditation is now open. Please note that press
accreditation for our show in Miami Beach will take place online only. Therefore, it is
important to register and apply online before coming to the fair. For further information
and to apply, please visit artbasel.com/press/accreditation.
Upcoming Art Basel shows
Miami Beach, December 2-4, 2021
Hong Kong, March 24-26, 2022
Basel, June 17-19, 202
Media information online
Media information and images can be downloaded directly from artbasel.com/press.
Journalists can subscribe to our media mailings to receive information on Art Basel.
For the latest updates on Art Basel, visit artbasel.com, find us on Facebook at
facebook.com/artbasel, or follow @artbasel on Instagram, Twitter, Weibo, and WeChat.
Press Contacts
Art Basel, Sarah Degen
Tel. +41 58 206 27 06, press@artbasel.com
PR Representatives for North and South America, the Middle East, and Africa
FITZ & CO, Yun Lee
Tel. +1 646 589 0920, ylee@fitzandco.art
PR Representatives for Europe
SUTTON, Joseph Lamb
Tel. +44 7715 666 041, joseph@suttoncomms.com
PR Representatives for Asia
SUTTON, Carol Lo
Tel. +852 2528 0792, carol@suttoncomms.com
