Taking advantage of the huge crowds of art collectors in Miami and Miami Beach for Art Basel Miami 2017, the artwork at satellite fairs — often blatantly political — this year was new, older, relevant, colorful, glitzy and humorous. Work at Art Miami and Context, over the bridge into downtown Miami, was gutsy, with artists using new technology and materials; artists were having fun but asking important questions and expressing opinions in unambiguous language. These were the standout artists and works and the fair in which they were shown:
SCOPE ART FAIR
Scope informed, declared and showed action taken. Brazilian artist Dora Longo Bahia, in her series depicting “human made disasters” entitled “Nuclear Accidents” (2017, Gallery Vermelho, San Paulo), painted abandoned theme parks in the nuclear disaster sites Chernobyl and Fukushima on burning orange grounds. Shock and Awe! Tim Okamura’s photograph, “I am V.ITA” (2017, oil on graphite, Meijler Art) declaring, “I am my ancestor’s wildest dreams,” brought awareness of immigrants. Martin C. Herbst’s “Perpetual_Mirror,” (2017, oil and lacquer on stainless steel, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts) with spheres on the floor and half mirrored, reflected our image if we lowered ourselves to floor level.