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Art basel Miami Beach

Fiat Rounds Out the Year of Art Cars at Exhibitalia

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art



As the year draws to a close, we're inclined to unofficially name 2010 as the Year of the Art Car. Since we last changed our calendars, César's McLaren supercar went up for sale, Jeff Koons lent his brush to a BMW race car and an Aston Martin, Francoise Nielly painted the Citroën Survolt concept car, and Laurence Gartel did the same with a Tesla Roadster.

But the latter wasn't the only art car showcased at this year's Art Basel festival in Miami. At the four-day Exhibitalia event held there, Fiat led multiple artists to create works inspired by the Fiat 500. Some used parts of the car as their canvas, but one Christian Balzano transformed the entire vehicle into an art car. The last of the year? With mere weeks to go until 2011, we can only assume, but the new year will have a real task on its hands trying to top this one.

Tesla Roadster Art Car by Laurence Gartel

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art

Tesla Roadster Art Car by Laurence Gartel

Though mankind has manipulated the former for far longer than the latter, art and electricity needn't exist in isolation from one another. That's what Laurence Gartel asserted with his digital creations in the 1970s, and what he's now done in the form of an art car.

Typically the domain of BMW, the Gartel art car uses an electric Tesla Roadster as its canvas. The eclectic masterpiece was created for and unveiled at the Art Basel festival last week in Miami, but you can take a closer look in the gallery below.

Celebrities At Art Basel

Filed under: Events, Art

julian lennonCelebrities have converged on Miami Beach this week for some warm weather and to do a little holiday art shopping. Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 2 - 5, 2010. The art show, the little sister of Switzerland's Art Basel, combines an international selection of top galleries with special exhibitions and plenty of parties. The shows attract plenty of deep pockets and a far amount of celebrity art lovers as well. Ahead of the official launch Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover and others arrived to enjoy the flurry of events around the show. Some are also there to exhibit like Julian Lennon, the musician turned photographer who was showing "Timeless," a collection of 30 hand-signed portraiture and landscape photographs.

The event at the Miami Convention Center features 250 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa will exhibit 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists. Special sections feature young galleries, performance art, public art projects and video art. A one-day ticket is available for $36. The ArtNexus guided tours are available daily during show hours and are guided by established art critics. A one-hour tour is $20.

The Edgier Side Of Art Basel Miami Beach

Filed under: Art


Last night we showed you some scenes from Art Basel Miami Beach. Now our friends from Plum TV are back with a couple of new videos. These videos showcase the edgier sides of Art Basel Miami Beach, the shows and parties that are more open to emerging artists and art collectors. Above is a quick video from the Gen Art Vanguard Party.

After the jump is a look at the NADA fair. The New Art Dealers Alliance event is a great place to find art at a more accessible price point and get in on the ground floor with some artists whose prices might be quite higher in a few years.

Art Basel Miami Beach: The Parties

Filed under: Art


Art Basel Miami Beach opened this week with a mixture of excitement and cautious hope. Our friends at Plum TV are in Miami checking out the scene and they've shared some video with us. The overall mood seems to be fairly festive this year. Plum TV is covering both the art and the always entertaining nightlife, starting with the VIP Pre-Vernissage Preview Party on Wednesday night, shown above. Plum TV has a designated Art Basel Miami page with regularly updated videos and information as well as links to their Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Check out snippets of fashionable celebrities including Calvin Klein, Naomi Campbell and Lorenzo Martone, the art-savvy boyfriend of designer Marc Jacobs in the first video after the jump.

Art Basel Miami Beach: It's About the Art Again

Filed under: Art

Art Basel Miami Beach starts on Thursday, and the word "test" is being used instead of "expectation." Even though there have been signs this month that the art market is turning the corner (or at least trying), caution remains pervasive, and the market is still seen to be fragile. The fair's organizers have said that profits will be down at least 20 percent for everyone involved, because of lower prices and a decline in the number of exhibitors.

Sixty of last year's participants have dropped out already, and the number of satellite art fairs around Art Basel Miami Beach has fallen from 22 to 16. Layout changes are taking the shift in participation and making it benefit those who remain. Exhibit space has been increased by 20 percent, and booths in the main art galleries area will be larger, as a result. This is where most of the action is. Eighty-five percent of the dealers have come back, and the number of stands has increased from 265 to 270.

Though prices are expected to be down at the Miami fair this year, artists and galleries aren't giving their work away. Emmanuel Perrotin, the Paris gallery, is trying to move Takashi Murakami's "Warp," painted this year, for $1.5 million. The same gallery is also pushing a Duane Hanson sculpture for $425,000 and a photographic print by Paola Pivi for $33,000. Edward Tyler Nahem, a first-timer at Art Basel Miami Beach, has a room full of paintings by Alejandra Icaza, which are selling for $35,000 a piece.

The crowd in Miami is likely to be a return to past decades, in which art collectors and investors -- rather than what Todd Levin, director of Levin Art Group calls the "fashionista crowd" -- dominate the scene. Art Basel Miami Beach thus might become an art fair again.

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