KAMIAR’S REPORT | MIAMI ART WEEK 2022 | MIAMI
JD Malat at Untitled, former VOLTA exhibitor
Bahnhof Gallery at Scope, current VOLTA exhibitor
The fair week in Miami celebrates the beginning and the end of an amazing fair calendar. Having started in Singapore going via Seattle, then onto LA we end in Miami for a week of around 15 art fairs to close the year.
From Art Basel to Untitled, from Pinta to Scope, NADA and Ink, you will find something for everyone. Let’s just say, if you wanted to visit all 1000+ galleries present, you were sure to be in for a busy week. It was a week of festivities and acclaim, with Art Basel Miami celebrating its 20th anniversary and Marc Spiegler coming to the end of his fine run as Global Director. The fair also demonstrated plenty of promise for the future, as Noah Horowitz, previous Art Basel Miami lead, was welcomed as the new CEO of the MCH Group. Each and every fair had a VOLTA exhibitor in attendance, reaffirming why it is so important for us to visit these shows. It’s a great reminder of how far we have come as a fair.
The week started with the opening of Untitled, with Pharrell Williams and Venus Williams amongst the many celebrities to be spotted. ‘This is a fair to which many VOLTA exhibitors have graduated, galleries such as WHATIFTHEWORLD from Cape Town, ZieherSmith from New York, JD Malat of London, Zilberman Gallery from Istanbul and Berlin and our founder Amanda Coulsen's new gallery, TERN Gallery.
Zieher Smith at Untitled, former VOLTA exhibitor
Art Miami, the fair with the second most visitors in the city, also attracted many previous VOLTA exhibitors, with names like Opera Gallery and Maddox on display. Our regular VOLTA exhibitors had stunning booths from Cynthia Corbett Gallery to Ethan Cohen Gallery, from Galerie Ernst Hilger to Space 776. It was also exciting to see Laurent Marthaler Contemporary who will be exhibiting with us for the first time in NYC next year.
Art Context, the sister fair of Art Miami, which was next door in a smaller tent, also had regular VOLTA exhibitors such as Galerie l’Atelier. It was also wonderful to see Galeri GAMA from Istanbul, The House of Fine Art (HOFA) from London with whom we are looking forward to working with next year.
Scope was full of surprises this year. Recruiting a stellar number of our VOLTA galleries from NYC, they certainly demonstrated a new high standard. One half of the tent hosted an amazing NFT conference, whilst the other side was full of VOLTA goodies and new discoveries. Galleri Ramfjord, Iram Art Gallery and Out of Africa Gallery to name but a few. Bahnhof Gallery also presented a stunning solo booth very similar to what they showed at NYC.
Iram Art Gallery at Scope, current VOLTA exhibitor
Kamiar with NN Galerie at Scope current VOLTA exhibitor
Of course, Art Basel is a showcase that doesn’t fail to exceed expectations. With its newly designed Convention Center, the 280 galleries participating made a truly remarkable and busy fair that seemed impossible to experience all in one day. Ideally, several days would be needed to explore this immense and diverse fair. The work and energy put in to redesigning operations has really helped the fair shine this year. Despite Miami gaining a reputation as the art world’s party destination in recent years, it is undeniable that it’s still the art that draws visitors in. After all, Art Basel involves the best of the best all vying to sell quality, contemporary artworks.
As for us, next up is NYC from 17-21 May at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Make sure to fill in your final application forms and book your tickets, but for now, rest up and enjoy time with your family.
We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.