1675-16 Raleigh Hotel Cil)e \l' Bork l nc Sunday, December 7, 2003
Sunda)StylesVI -.-.;. ...„
• , . . 0-,-, , - --... ' , ,
1.z
�A r ANEW PERSPECTIVE
u;< i i.. .. Art patrons 410
- ;-i.. '.--- W .. .". a•tk"- Basel/Miami Beach
"<1. _ = are seen through
i.-�:% l -� '$ pompons attached
't 1 to a window in
!, ' - .c. "Pome Kit"by Will
"4"rA Pappenheimer.Be-
.,...:..:J.. .1
e-
i x ". low,Rainer Judd
f � and Marc Glimcher
t
y at a dinner at the
-
w Raleigh hotel;bot-
. a"s:. �' ,d'" ' tom,André Balazs,
el ?" at center,Evelyn
Lauder and Kenny
,N, *� r4"� M Scharf at the Ra-
E c
'
ARerice France-Pr x Gerdy Images.eUove.Kelly LRmEIor The flew York Times,below w ,. ti -
Miami Puts On an Arty Party
The world's collectors wade ashore,and a scene is born.
Last week the second edition of Art Basel/Miami Beach blew .Y - - ?.
By GUY TREBAY into town with the arrival of 175 international galleries at the Mi-
ami Beach Convention Center,followed by a giddy and nearly re-
MIAMI BEACH lentless round of parties,openings,video installations,open ;
MIAMI BEACH is the vampire city of American culture, houses,cross-p,atform pi'-motions,all trailed by the growing a:;
perennially thirsting for infusions of fresh sustenance.It sense that Miami is now bidding to become an art capital in its
is not that the town suffers for a lack of cultural lifeblood own right.
so much as from a nagging local perception that everything of It was already well known in cultural circles that a number ,� 1
vital importance has to be hauled in. of the world's most aggressive contemporary collectors lived 1 ' ,i F,
Enthusiasts.therefore,were not hard to find when the direc- quietly within 10 miles of the human silicone parade floats and =`+, �:.
steroidgargoyles - = '= . fit
[ors Of a significant annual contemporary art fair in Basel, of South Beach. �,.. .. ��.w k Cr.
Switzerland,announced their ambitious plans to set up shop here Some of those collectors had even begun to make their phe- '>�e t-,. 1
in 2001.That first fair,Art Basel/Miami Beach,postponed after nonrenal holdings available to public view.But so far that had t}kd�N.xri f;
the Sept.11 terrorist attacks,eventually opened last December, not been enough to establish the city definitively on the global art .t^ .' :r41/
attracting broad media attention and more than 30,000 visitors. Continued on Page 6
6 ST THE NEW YORK TIMES,SUNDAY,DECEMBER 7,2003
• Miami Puts On an Arty Party, and a Scene Is Born
Continued From Page 1 . so by luring to South Florida an assortment
of dealers representing an international
map."Miami was a cultural . market elite,including galleries from Eu-
backwater,"said Donald Ru- h rope, Asia, Latin America and Africa as
bell, a gynecologist who, m ' s well as the United States.
collaboration with his wife, - "Yes,Miami was a risky choice,and we
_• �7 1 could have done it somewhere else,"said
Mera,a real estate developer, ;p y
! from
Keller on Friday,taking a brief pause
has built one l the country's �i �`? � 4, ,a' from an assembly-line schedule of Cham-
most formidable collections of // \ ii pagne brunches,lunches on yachts,cocktail
contemporary art,which they t •
't i receptions and lavish private dinners at the
house here."I used to have to y. - C '•
• __ gated island homes of South Florida's abun-
leave Miami for New York to ;1 *1�� r }�►tA. -k ,�" „ dant plutocrats"Here there is a huge poten-
keep my mind m[acL" t - ,i T '�i„)„ �` d Tae.._ tial,economically but also culturally,"said
Not long ago,the Rubells Ai ilir Mr. Keller, adding that the city is "the
sold their Manhattan town - , - .,, -- j,- - ` _ • �
' gateway to Latin America,a melting pot M
house and moved to Miami • s;'
. •. ,"'•g„ f minorities from European to Jewish to
full time to be nearer their ,/ I gay."
collection of works by Damien 7`"• ti / E l too Fontanels Cisneros, a Venezuelan
Hirst,Paul McCarthy,Charles A t philanthropist,used the occasion of the fair
Ray, Maurizio Cattelan and + 1' �. to inaugurate a personally financed non-
Ray,
Essenhigh.Hundreds of ' profit museum,MAC(Miami Art Central)
works by these and other blue- with a show titled"10 Floridians.""Miami
chip performers in the current - has changed a lot because of Art Basel,"Mn
art market are displayed at a - - Cisneros said.Part of that involves a newly
45,000-square-foot warehouse I
found awareness of the depth of holdings
in the run-down Wynwood sec-
! across cultural lines.
tion,in a building once used by Several of the town's important collectors
the Drug Enforcement Ad- are Hispanic,Ms.Cisneros and the de la
ministration as a depot for Cruzes among them.Simply by putting their
confiscated goods "Miami is - ' pp
�, holdings on view, as they did last week,
not," Mr. Rubell said, "just these collectors flouted misconceptions
bikinis and muscles any- about the Hispanic market for art."Latin
more." Americans were admittedly a little slow in
It is,for the weeklong run of understanding contemporary art,"said Ms.
Miami Basel,Prada suits and .£ Cisneros,although one might argue that it
Kelly bags from Hermes, rr was the rest of the art world that acted like
standard-issue items in the provincials in failing to note an aesthetic
burgeoning in the Southern Hemisphere.
art-world uniform.It is Rolex
Bra-
watches, although never the That all changed when artists like the Bra-
gold timepieces favored by y -nnsence Fr.oo�Nre.se cent'lm.�,:.- zilian Vic Muniz and Guillermo Kuitca reg-
Latin American plutocrats or"Miami Vice" SJR-ha
gangsters;an ostentatiously modest Rolex 414-4 , ? g And they're off:Collectors
called the Air King is the Timex of the art
eats. aim
' ' ", .t beat a path to dealers'booths.
It is an Art Loves Music party given by
Lenny Kravitz at the Shore Club; an Art '.'
Loves Film presentation at Vizcaya with the — collect on the scene,and with the arrival of
flim director Kathryn Bigelow as hos[,an �� _ �! collectors like Eugenio Lopez,the omnivo-
Art Loves Ali party given by the publisher i K - - • .+i,�. rous Mexican fruit juice heir,who was the
Benedikt Taschen to celebrate 'GOAT,"a kkktiit �$
21,000 limited-edition book about Muham P .w j largest single buyer at last year's Art Ba-
"!1 r, sel/Miami Beach."We of into a niche,"
mad Ali by Jeff Koons; an Art Positions /
show of new artists and galleries set in a k' r ^/! rl• Ms.Cisneros said.
park by the ocean;and an art rock celebra- Although niche walls may not have crum-
[ion of the same artists and galleries,vol- iii bled during Miami Basel,the city has rarely
sandy performed in gale-force winds by a a� � — V lookedsomuch like a chartered outpost of
Chicks on Speed. ` the Organization of American Slates.At the
It is dinner cooked by Eric Ripert,the -, � a official opening-night party held poolside at
chef at Le Bernardin,flown in bythe hote- ""� the Raleigh,DJ L signatureSpam and the Spam All
Iter Andre Balms for a gathering in the � j. a.,.. 'IN • Stars played their funk-jazz mix
penthouse of his partly renovated Raleighili - °t >'• s the seasoned art dealer Irving Blum
hotel.At that meal for 100 or so of Mr. rt It j , eexpatiated to an audience of chic Brazilians.
Balazs's newest intimates, the favored '.:5,. y. .0 "There's so much going on,"Mr.Blum said.
chairs were warmed not by the usual mod- .., v `G!, "Foundations everywhere you look. I'm
els and stylists but a medley of art-world thinking of doing a foundation here myself."
insiders—Evelyn Lauder crammed next to _ Wind whipped the flames on the tiki torches
Donald Judd's daughter, Ramer; Kenny 1 .,a • s well-heeled Venezuelans compared the
Scharf oleo side the li t-installation tyro4 kind of itineraries that define membership
g gh Y 7j es.�.on.et'cell tame for m,New vert nine.
Leo Villareal. ., :has$+ NO!UNBLOCK REQUIRED Top,an Installation by Deitch Project last week at Art
in a global elite."1 was jus[in Nicaragua for
It was the V.I.P.collectors and private _ °' a wedding,"
consultants crowding the doors to the con- - -.• - Basel/Miami Beach,a four-day event that attracted exhibits from 175 gal- g,"a man remarked to a friend.
vention center Wednesday at noon,fora levies to the Miami Beach Convention Center and inspired many related "Then 1 was in New York for a couple of
•
first crack at the dealers'wares,as frantic x,,,ji - events and parties.Above,a guest in drag at a Visionaire party.Center, days and then in Arizona for Thanksgiving,
and then after the fair I'm going to Argenti-
for the start gun as contestants on Super- - Donald and Mera RubeB dancing at Carlos de la Crux's party.Bottom,from na until Christmas."
market Sweep.And when the doors opened, ') left,the artists Terence Koh and Eli Sudbeck with Anna Sew Hoy.
(Smir-
the race was on for the best merchandise, Sipping Orange Crush cocktails with more than a few people making a I\' 1' -e'" toff,pineapple and cranberry juice,not an
beeline for Barbara Gladstone's booth . orange in sight)clumps of expensively clad
where the immediate focus of attention was strangers stood serenely t ignored the
an open cube by Sol Le Witt. ';rya.R eP 1 `- waitresses circulating with trays of free
"The condition is perfect,and I just got - Zino cigars. Oblivious to the wafer moon
it," explained Ms. Gladstone, one of the hung in a painting-on-velvet sky,they did as
country's preeminent dealers of contempo-
rary
Maupin exhibit and a$750,000 Ed "They're coming in shifts,' one dealer "We can't judge the fair in terms of sales collectors always do when theykgather.They
art.Fifteen minutes into the preview, Ruscha picture titled "Trade School" at remarked,as New Yorkers like Evelyn and figures;you'd have to ask the galleries for compared.They provoked.They preened.
the$175,000 sculpture was gone. Larry Gagosian's booth. Leonard Lauder,who is chairman of the that,"said Samuel Keller,Art Basel's 37- "Can you expose it all?" a guest was
"Everything's gone" remarked a "I got a call from a friend who was at the Estee Lauder Companies,were followed by year-old director,who with his trademark heard to ask a man whose collection,formed
shocked Mary Hoeveler,the managing di- sales," Ms. Hoeveler said of the recent Mark Booth, the European chairman of slim suits and gleaming skull,has the sleek- in just four years,is so rich in images by art
rector of Citigroup's elite art advisory serv- contemporary art auctions m New York. NetJets,Warren Buffet's fleet of time-share ly packaged aura of luxury goods himself. stars like Andreas Gursky,Cindy Sherman,
ice,at I p.m.,still an hour before the fair "And he said,'It's over!'"Ms.Hoeveler's aircraft,and then by Mike Ovitz,and then "But more than 500 galleries applied to Jeff Wall, Rineke Dijkstra, Thomas Ruff
opened officially to the public.And while Ms. friend,she went on to explain,was referring by Beth Rudin deWoody, the real estate come this year,and that is a good sign." and Thomas Struth that its cumulative val-
Hoeveler may have exaggerated,a$15,000 to the recession.Whether or not that is so, heiress,and then by a posse of locals like As the director of the prestigious Art ue could probably help underwrite the Inter-
suite of small drawings by the young artist there was no arguing with a sense at Miami Craig Robins,a real estate developer,and Basel fair, Mr. Keller was charged with national Monetary Fund.
Magnus von Plessen had already been she- Basel that contagious optimism had taken Carlos de la Cruz,the Key Biscayne collet- grafting his idea of high culture onto Miami, "Oh,no,"shot back the collector."I have
ken for, as had Do-Ho Sub's $45,000 soft hold about the economy,at least among for who is the chairman of the food giant a city better known for designer drugs and over 2,000 prints.We keep them in a room
mesh sculpture of a bathroom at the Leh- people of a certain echelon. Eagle Brands. skate rats than cultural heft.Mr-Keller did with rolling racks and just pull out a few."