Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 50 2024

That was it, Miami Art Week with Art Basel Miami, Art Miami, NADA, SCOPE, Untitled, Aqua, Design Miami, Bit Basel, Ink Miami Beach and a number of private gallery or museum events and exhibitions. However, VOLTA and PULSE could no longer be found. And Chinese artists, who flooded the market five years ago, were hardly to be seen with their maximally impasto colour reliefs. Africa is now taking over, preferably with a female artist. The art market is (still) a bit woke. Stefan Kobel has compiled a lot from the press - right here afterwards. At the risk of some participants at the fairs thinking I'm encroaching on them, I would like to give my personal impressions in aphorisms:

Art Basel Miami: Not the oldest fair in Miami, but certainly the one with the highest turnover and this year it seems fresher and more open to new positions from unknown galleries in third world countries. Water over $5 glass of champagne $25. Opening was less crowded - more class than mass.

Art Miami: The oldest fair, the top dog in the tent - clever, the ferry connection between Miami Beach and the fair. Avoids and bypasses traffic chaos. Some traditional positions that one would have expected at the Swiss event (Arman, Kiefer). Quite a wide range from quite a bit of kitsch to good stuff and a whole lot of Botero. But also 22-year-old young artist with Moroccan roots, Sophia Bounou, with her own handwriting and exposed to the danger of at least burning her fingers in the beginning hype.

NADA: The dealers are no longer that new. But still the freshest fair in the film studio and tent.

SCOPE only one good presentation: a gallery from Ghana - the rest - better silence

Untitled: New structure of the tent - overall good and fresh offers of all possible styles.

Aqua: The best was the bar on the terrace with what felt like the cheapest drinks in Miami. Ideal meeting place for an aperitif on Collins Ave.

Design Miami: Opposite the big Basel show...

Bit Basel: Michelangelo's Pieta in silver and from the plotter. Actually, they want to collect 10 million for the development of bit-based art. It feels like they're already spending half of it to get their hands on other people's money.

Ink Miami Beach: Has been around for a few years now, too – a discovery for me. About 20 galleries come with works on paper from centuries. So Piranesi but also Scully graphics.

Exciting to discover Oolite Arts, which maintains studios for artists in the middle of a gentrified neighbourhood. Private basis, private financing and doing even more for artists in Miami.

And then hardly anyone mentioned the elephant in the room: Kamela Harris and Donald Trump. The dealers were happy that something was decided, because potential buyers turned their potential into purchases. What no one in Europe really told us is that Harris wanted to introduce a capital gains tax. In contrast to Germany, where less than one per cent of the population is invested in equities and journalists and politicians are allowed to bash the owners of such shares in order to fuel the envy debate, more than 60% of the population in America is invested in equities, as they are a significant part of their retirement savings. If you want to get into people's wallets, you shouldn't be surprised if you don't get elected.

Have a good week everyone – you still have 14 days to get Christmas presents. Perhaps a work of art is on the cards?

Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker in Solothurn and Cologne