Christina Chaplin

Dalanda Jalloh

The Art Basel Miami Beach is an event that has allowed Miami to rebuild itself as a place where local art can be appreciated. In one instance, it has enabled black artists, managers, buyers, and sellers to promote themselves and seek more success in the art arena. This can in turn inspire other black artists or underrepresented artists to produce fresh, new art forms and styles.

Exhibition:

Art Positions: According to the Art Basel Miami Beach website (http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/go/id/dit/) "[t]he Art Positions sector is a platform for a single major project from one of their artists, allowing curators, critics and collector to discover ambitious new talents from all over the globe."

Within this Art Position sector I have chosen to focus on Kavi Gupta.

Kavi Gupta | Theaster Gates
Kavi Gupta will present Theaster Gates' site-specific installation of illuminated glass lantern slides, with each slide examining the significance of unrecognized African-American potters and their contribution to American art. For Art Positions, a selection of slides will be nested into the ceiling of two sculptural passageways (as seen on the Art Basel Miami Beach website).

Implications of the following with regard to the global market:

Location: Normally located in Chicago, Illinois and Berlin, Germany, the art of Kavi Gupta displayed in Miami will allow the African-American population in Miami to learn (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12086.html) to learn more about unrecognized artists in African-American culture. This could spurn new interests in African-American art, and/or art in general and possibly encourage new artists or buyers to enter to the art market. This could also generate more revenue and new artistic ideas within the art market. In addition, a greater focus could be put into art schools, as future artists build their skills and foster new ideas.

Artist: http://kavigupta.com/

This Miami based art fair could expand Gupta's following, expanding from those who typically view the art in Berlin and Chicago. A new following in Miami could spurn more revenue for the artist and thus possibly prompt the artist to create more pieces similar to those well received by the audience. Miami locals and also famous people in the entertainment industry could be drawn to this arena, creating even more revenue. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/arts/design/how-art-basel-is-remaking-miami.html?_r=1&ref=artbaselmiamibeach).

Curator: This art fair could benefit the manager since it could lead to an increase in the artist's fan following. This could help further expand the artist's exposure and thus likely earn more revenue for the artists and the manager.

Because of the success of Art Basel, art fair based in Miami, I wonder if galleries placed in other regions of the country, like underdeveloped neighborhoods, could prove beneficial for individuals in those communities. Maybe this could be another method to widen the exposure of various artists to those who are curious about new art forms that are present in their neighborhoods and possibly recruit famous people who originate from these areas. 

Here is a sample of artist Theaster Gates work which is in the Kavi Gupta gallery:

Theaster Gates

Civil Rights Throw Rug (Large)

2011
Decommissioned fire hose and fringe
80" x 45"

image1.jpeg 

Theaster Gates

In Event of Race Riot (Green, Wood, Tile)

2011
wood, glass, hose
60" x 46 1/4" x 4 1/2"

 image2.jpeg

Both works of art and title descriptions were obtained from: http://kavigupta.com/exhibition/100/artbaselmiamibeach/works

Charles Saunders

Lipei Yu

H Hunt Bradley III

Daniel Chazen

Kwame Nana-Atoo

Joo Shin

McKenzie Sullivan

Elena Cestero

Kelly Zona

Jacqueline Park

Tadd Phillips