Miami Top Five: David Hammons Is In Demand, Bananas Galore and What Trump Bump?
3 min read · 06 Dec 2024
Art Basel Miami Beach, copyright Art Basel
On day two of Art Basel Miami Beach dealers were reporting “healthy” sales. Evidence of a “Trump bump” was limited, however, like the conspicuous absence of anti-Trumpian works on offer. There are plenty of bananas, free to fair goers courtesy of Chiquita Banana. Artnet News spotted two stands offering soft fruit plus merch as the company capitalizes on the recent hoopla surrounding Maurizio Cattelan's banana-and-duct-tape work, which made its debut at the fair back in 2019.
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A Barbara Kruger video at Sprüth Magers is one of the few works on offer at the fair hinting at political resistance, The Art Newspaper reports. It finds that few gallerists had noticed a "Trump bump" in sales and opinion was mixed about the US president-elect’s tax and tariff plans.
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Works by the veteran Black artist David Hammons sold for $4.75m at Hauser and Wirth and for $2.35m at White Cube. Other notable sales included a Lee Ufan work placed by Mennour for $1m, reports Artsy.
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Mimi Smith's feminist art at Luis de Jesus and Melvin Edwards' work at Galerie Buchholz are among the must-see, solo-artist booths at Art Basel Miami Beach, reports ART News.
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Shyglo's portrait of Donald Trump upset the organizers of Scope Art Show, which "forced" Miami-based L Kotler Fine Art to remove the work from the satellite fair. The gallery is now auctioning the work online with an estimate of $15,000 to $30,000, Hyperallergic reports.
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A painting by Simon Benjamin at Swivel Gallery in Nada has been acquired by the Perez Art Museum Miami. The acquisition amplifies “Caribbean voices and narratives”, the museum’s curators told The Art Newspaper.
In other news
Market: Works by Rene Magritte and Leonor Fini were among the 66% of lots selling above their low estimate at Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary online auction. The sale totaled $10m, falling short of its pre-sale low estimate. For all the highlights, see the HENI News report.
Market: Natalie White led Bonhams 'The Gift of Photographs' auction. The sale totaled $302,200, falling short of its pre-sale low estimate. HENI News
Moves: Gabriel Chaile, the Venice Biennale artist whose functional sculpture is inspired by the indigenous communities in Northeast Argentina, is now represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery. HENI News
Gallerist Esther Kim Varet, ICA Miami director Alex Gartenfeld, and W’s executive editor Armand Limnander at the Hinsons' exclusive launch party. Photo by Chris Carter, courtesy of W Magazine
"‘After drinking Broken Shaker spicy margaritas outside, safely away from works of art, attendees reconvened inside the Hinsons’ living rooms to admire their cream Jean Royère Polar Bear couch and Jonas Wood tennis court painting.’ Inside ICA Miami trustees Kris and Maky Hinson's party at their waterfront home, thrown to celebrate the artists now on view at the institution."
- W Magazine
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