Miami, day 3
Last night was deCordova’s reception at the Fontainebleau, and in the true Miami tradition we followed that with a 10pm dinner, followed by more cocktails!
The sunshine seems a bit much this morning. Despite the, ummm, over-revelry, it was a great party, thanks to Art New England and Freeman’s Auctions, who underwrote it. The event was packed- I’m guessing 130 cycled in and out, with a solid 100+ there throughout. The deC staff here (thanks Nora, Lexi, and Lydia who was here under her own power!) were kept busy!
Name check… a small sampling of those who came to celebrate deCordova: Sharon Corwin (Director, Colby College Museum), artist Rachel Perry Welty, artist Orly Genger, Debbie Landau (Director of Madison Square Art) and her board president David Berliner, deC Board Chair Faith Parker and husband Glenn, dealer Camilo Alvarez (Samson), dealer Joanna Fink (president of the Boston Art Dealer’s Association), MFA curator Jen Mergel and crew, dealer Steve Zevitas, deC Trustee Don Stanton and wife Jean, who is an Overseer, dealer Yancey Richardson, dealer Russell La Montagne and new LMG gallery director George Wong and his ever-stylish wife, deC Trustee Kate James and husband Ben (Kate, Faith, and my wife Stacey took ownership of some poolside chaise lounges for the night and were commiserating!), Storm King Art Center Director David Collins, deC Overseer Paul Buddenhagen and his lovely wife Patricia, Amy Schlegel from Tufts, deC Trustee Dune Thorne and mom Mazie Cox, a handful of PEM board members stopped by, and we were crashed by the entire photography department of the Metropolitan Museum (???). Whew.
Hopefully my friends at Art New England will post the shots their photog took at the party!
So, the art yesterday…
I’d like to introduce you all to my highly analytical “Art Basel Index of fair good-ness,” which I use every year to evaluate whether the art on offer is better, or worse than the year before.
A couple of years ago deC Curator Dina Deitsch and I were at ArtBasel and were confronted with gallery after gallery (after gallery, after gallery) showing Massimo Vitali photos. If you don’t know him, don’t feel bad… in fact, feel good! Vitali’s massive prints of bright beach scenes and bathers are the ultimate fair-friendly eye candy, and for me are like the poster-child for the problems of the fair economy.
Suspect: Massimo Vitali
I was excited to discover I could only find one Vitali yesterday–which means: good fair! Although I heard rumors of more to be found today. We’ll see.
Things I saw that I DID like a lot:
Thomas Mueller at Galerie Michael Sturm
Detail of a Thomas Mueller
Boston gallerist Ellen Miller taking bids at her booth
Mary Lum at Yancey Richardson
Clever little riff on minimalism at Cristin Tierney Gallery- this little cube by Marman & Borins (Canadian artist duo) turns opaque no matter how stealthily you try and approach it…
Upon approaching: the cube denies you!
Oil on canvas by Andrew Holmquist, at Carrie Secrist, caught my eye.
Finally: Aaron Curry. DeCordova (and I) have been interested in his work for a couple years. But I have to say, the past year or so I’ve become less and less convinced by his 3D works. Below is from the de la Cruz collection:
Aaron Curry
But yesterday I realized that while his sculptures aren’t floating my boat anymore, his 2D work/installations, which often accompany sculptures (or sometimes are pieces in their own right) are getting better and better. This pic doesn’t really do these justice, as there’s a lot of detail in the framed pieces, also at the de la Cruz collection:
