A rundown of guests, art trends, pieces sold and fashion in the final art event of the year; Miami Art Basel 2022.
You know it is December when Miami Art Basel 2022 pops up on your phone’s calendar, a high pitched notification you set the year before and that you’d perhaps forgotten about. As the unofficial end-of-year celebration of artists and galleries, this year’s fair was nothing short of spectacular, with 283 galleries from 38 countries exhibiting in a delicate artistic landscape.
Whether you were a front row assistant or kept track of the happening through social media, here’s the one and only round-up of everything you may (or may not) have missed.
The Art
Now in its 20th edition, this year’s Art Basel was fairly was clouded with uncertainty. With market recession at a perilous high, collectors and gallerists feared the instability would seep into the art market, perhaps a reason for this years art being quite geared towards the general public. But whilst the high end branch of Art Basel’s exhibits barely suffered, there was more caution in the purchases of the low-end market pieces. This is presenting difficult times ahead for entry level artists and galleries. A sign of the times.
Despite the uncertainty, Art Basel did score some notable seven figure sales, namely Andy Warhol’s Flowers (1964) for $3.8 million, or a Kerry James Marshall’s We Mourn Our Loss #2 (1997) for $2.8 million. As for the fair’s Nova section (the one that showcases art works created in the last three years, and a great way to “get in early” with art), stood out with Dalton Gata. The Cuban portrait painter dazzled with his pop-like representations of culture and surrealism of acrylic on linen.
The Parties
Celebrities love Art Basel. Slowly but surely, what is a world-renowned art fair has seeped in to the celebrity sphere of fashion, with notorious brands hosting afterparties frequented by the likes of the Kardashians and a bunch of other a-list celebrities. Over the days we saw Megan Fox in pink, Hailey Bieber in an all-black Saint Laurent fit, Pharell in quilted leather and Dixie D’Amelio in a blue baroque print.
More conservative than fashion week fits, this year did see quite the pops of colour in the attendant’s attires. Whilst Saint Laurent goers kept it to the brands elegant and conservative palette, Candice Swanepoel opted for a dizzying Jean Paul Gaultier for the Art Basel opening.