Art Basel Miami Beach 2013: The Florida fair steps out of the shadows of its Swiss sibling

Works spanning 20 years by Tracey Emin are on show at MOCA during Art Basel Miami Beach in an exhibition entitled 'Angel Without You'
Works spanning 20 years by Tracey Emin are on show at MOCA during Art Basel Miami Beach in an exhibition entitled 'Angel Without You'
(Image credit: Press)

Inflatable Swiss chalets, huge easter eggs and bare-breasted women beating resin blocks in a public park. It's the first week of December, and once again in Miami, the art fair has come to town, with this year activities neatly bookended in the north of the city by a show at MOCA of Tracey Emin's neon works - 67 created over 20 years - called Angel Without You and in the south by a retrospective exhibition of Ai Weiwei's work at the newly opened, Herzog & de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum.

Emin's archive of chaotically scrawled and spelt slogans - in a lofty blacked-out space - read like illuminated scribblings on a toilet wall. From inanities such as 'Is Legal Sex Anal?' and 'Is Anal Sex Legal?', to moments of beauty ('Love happens - like lightning') and self-knowledge ('I know, I know, I know' - crossed out three times), it's Emin in her best light.

Weiwei's politics often focus on the billions of Chinese who labour thanklessly in the creation of their country. At PAMM an enormous sculpture made of shiny metal bicycle wheels (a nod to both Duchamp and the only transport available to many working Chinese) has the feel of a war memorial for workers, recognising all those subjugated by the system.

Between these two poles, the business of the fair has gone along briskly, dealers having upped their game with some fighting work. (Miami is no longer the funsome little sister of June's Art Basel but a more serious player in its own right, particularly with its geographical attraction for the Latin American market.)

Gagosian's big gun is the Jeff Koons showstopper 'Baroque Egg with Bow', in scintillating turquoise and hot pink (1994-2008), a massive bundle of symbolism (from new birth to a stealthy restraint, suggested by the big bravura ribbon). At Sadie Coles, Sarah Lucas's 'Tit' chair (2012) - entirely 'upholstered' in stuffed stockings that pop up like perky breasts - is a ribald piece of feminism, poking particularly apposite fun at a Miami audience, where enhancements come as standard. And at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, Martin Creed has constructed an elegant pyramid of bog-standard toilet rolls. It isn't ironic - more an act of transformation of this prerequisite of contemporary life into a perfect architectural component.

Other ways to get noticed include the booth of Neugerriemschneider, which Jorge Pardo has turned into a lush domestic space, lined with cheap fabrics more usually used to make Mexican pinafores (Pardo, who is Cuban, now lives in Merida). Everything is for sale, while other artists' work is encased in the shelving system he has created around the outside of the stand. And at Marianne Boesky, Roxie Paine's massive moving neon piece of a man being knocked down and getting back up could hardly be missed. 'I think it's how artists feel everyday,' says Boesky.

Beyond the Convention Centre, projects take on a more expansive form. LA artist Ry Rocklen has created an art bar, sponsored by Absolut, turning a patch of ground by the W Hotel into a basketball court, filled with chess and ping pong tables created from trophies and trophy parts, a comment, perhaps on the winners and losers that an overly competitive art market now creates.
 
Another large-scale installation came in the inflatable form of a Swiss-style chalet. Perched over the water at the Miami Marina Stadium, its polyurethane skin gently heating in the Florida sun, it is the creation of French artist duo Kolkoz for Swiss watch company Audemar Piguet. 'We love clichés and we love Pop,' say the pair. Indeed.

Emin's archive of chaotically scrawled and spelt slogans - in a lofty blacked-out space - read like illuminated scribblings on a toilet wall.

Emin's archive of chaotically scrawled and spelt slogans - in a lofty blacked-out space - read like illuminated scribblings on a toilet wall. 

(Image credit: Daniel Portnoy)

'You Loved me like a Distant Star' (2012) by Tracey Emin.

'You Loved me like a Distant Star' (2012) by Tracey Emin.

(Image credit: Daniel Portnoy)

'Forever (1,000)' is made of shiny metal bicycle wheels

The newly opened, Herzog & de Meuron-design Pérez Art Museum is hosting a retrospective of the work of Ai Weiwei. 'Forever (1,000)' is made of shiny metal bicycle wheels (a nod to both Duchamp and the only transport available to many working Chinese) and has the feel of a war memorial for workers, recognising all those subjugated by the system. 

(Image credit: Daniel Azoulay)

Installation view of the 'Ai Weiwei: According to What?' exhibition.

Installation view of the 'Ai Weiwei: According to What?' exhibition.

(Image credit: Daniel Azoulay)

'He Xie', 2010, by Ai Weiwei is made from 3200 porcelain crabs.

'He Xie', 2010, by Ai Weiwei is made from 3200 porcelain crabs. 

(Image credit: Daniel Azoulay)

Jorge Pardo has turned Neugerriemschneider's Art Basel Miami Beach booth into a lush domestic space, lined with cheap fabrics more usually used to make Mexican pinafores

Jorge Pardo has turned Neugerriemschneider's Art Basel Miami Beach booth into a lush domestic space, lined with cheap fabrics more usually used to make Mexican pinafores (Pardo, who is Cuban, now lives in Merida).

(Image credit: David Owens)

Every item in the installation, entitled 'The Booth / El Stand', 2013, is for sale.

Every item in the installation, entitled 'The Booth / El Stand', 2013, is for sale.

(Image credit: David Owens)

Other artists' work is encased in the shelving system Pardo has created around the outside of the gallery's booth.

Other artists' work is encased in the shelving system Pardo has created around the outside of the gallery's booth.

(Image credit: David Owens)

Sadie Coles HQ is showing Sarah Lucas's 'Tit' chair (2012)

Sadie Coles HQ is showing Sarah Lucas's 'Tit' chair (2012) - entirely 'upholstered' in stuffed stockings that pop up like perky breasts - a ribald piece of feminism, poking particularly apposite fun at a Miami audience, where enhancements come as standard.

(Image credit: Copyright the artist, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London)

Gagosian's big gun is the Jeff Koons showstopper 'Baroque Egg with Bow'

Gagosian's big gun is the Jeff Koons showstopper 'Baroque Egg with Bow', in scintillating turquoise and hot pink (1994-2008), a massive bundle of symbolism (from new birth to a stealthy restraint, suggested by the big bravura ribbon). 

(Image credit: © Jeff Koons. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery)

Absolut's trophy 'Art Bar' installation

Taking over a basketball court on Miami's Oceanfront, Absolut's trophy 'Art Bar' installation has been designed in collaboration with artist Ry Rocklen (pictured)

(Image credit: Press)

Night Court' is the most recent and extensive manifestation of Rocklen's 'Trophy Modern'

'Night Court' is the most recent and extensive manifestation of Rocklen's 'Trophy Modern' collection, featuring a bar, bleachers, ping pong and chess table all made from Rocklen's signature trophy parts

(Image credit: Press)

'Incident / Resurrection', 2013, by Roxi Paine at Marianne Boesky's booth

'Incident / Resurrection', 2013, by Roxi Paine at Marianne Boesky's booth is a massive moving neon piece of a man being knocked down and getting back up. 'I think it's how artists feel everyday,' says Boesky.

(Image credit: Jason Wyche)

'Curiosity' (2013) by French art duo Kolkoz

'Curiosity' (2013) by French art duo Kolkoz comes in the inflatable form of a Swiss-style chalet. Perched over the water at the Miami Marina Stadium, its polyurethane skin gently heating in the Florida sun, the work is a collaboration with Audemars Piguet and Galerie Perrotin

(Image credit: Audemars Piguet and Galerie Perrotin)

'Curiosity' leads on from the pair's 'Luna Park' installation recreating the lunar landing site of Apollo 11

'Curiosity' leads on from the pair's 'Luna Park' installation recreating the lunar landing site of Apollo 11 reconfigured on Miami Beach last year. 'We love clichés and we love Pop,' say the artists

(Image credit: Press)

'A Portrait of Marina Abramović', a 3D film installation by artist Matthu Placek, housed within the YoungArts campus

Visionaire and The National YoungArts Foundation presented 'A Portrait of Marina Abramović', a 3D film installation by artist Matthu Placek, housed within the YoungArts campus. 

(Image credit: Joe Schildhorn /BFAnyc.com)

A still from artist Matthu Placek's 3D video installation 'A Portrait of Marina Abramović', 2013

A still from artist Matthu Placek's 3D video installation 'A Portrait of Marina Abramović', 2013

(Image credit: Press)

A film still from Daniel Arsham's 'Future Relic 01' (2013) film premiere.

A film still from Daniel Arsham's 'Future Relic 01' (2013) film premiere. The short film tells the tale of the mobile phone's evolution. 

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW)

'Future Relic 01' a short film

'Future Relic 01' follows a theatrical narrative, featuring a musical score by Swizz Beatz and costumes by Richard Chai

(Image credit: Swizz Beatz, Richard Chai)

'Future Relic 01' a short film

The short film draws references from the 1962 British classic Lawrence of Arabia, and is visually inspired by The Seventh Seal (1957)

(Image credit: Press)

In the film Arsham envisions petrified objects as anthropological relics

In the film Arsham envisions petrified objects as anthropological relics

(Image credit: Press)

The story traces a mobile phone buried for years, and later discovered in an archeological dig

 The story traces a mobile phone buried for years, and later discovered in an archeological dig

(Image credit: Press)

A close up of Daniel Arsham's 'Mobile Phone' (2013)

A close up of Daniel Arsham's 'Mobile Phone' (2013), made from plaster and broken glass, featured in the film and also available for purchase through the website www.oh-wow.com.

(Image credit: Imagery courtesy of the artist and OHWOW)

The exterior of the 'Jewel Box' on the National YoungArts Foundation campus

The exterior of the 'Jewel Box' on the National YoungArts Foundation campus, was completed in 1975 by Ignacio Carrera-Justiz. It is composed of hammered glass mosaics.

(Image credit: Joe Schildhorn /BFAnyc.com,curtesy of the Bacardi Archive)

floating installation off the Lido Dock of the hotel's spa

In celebration of Art Basel, The Standard hotel commissioned Miami designer Luis Pons to construct a floating installation off the Lido Dock of the hotel's spa. The result is 'Paper Dreams', a 30-ft-long, 15-ft-high, 15-ft-wide floating hammam on Biscayne Bay. Inside the paper boat, the hammam acts as a temporary extension of The Standard's earthbound spa.

(Image credit: Moris Moreno)

Made of bamboo poles, wires, and sails, the paper boat is illuminated like a beacon at night.

Made of bamboo poles, wires, and sails, the paper boat is illuminated like a beacon at night. Designer Luis Pons, was influenced by the paper boats children make, exploring his own imaginary water world. 'We've all made a modest, simple paper boat,' Pons says, 'and we've all placed it in the water and watched it moving away, as it carries our wishes in a simple gesture of playfulness and curiosity'.

(Image credit: Moris Moreno)