Next week, the international art world descends on Miami for a nonstop whirl of fairs, exhibitions, and events, anchored by Art Basel Miami Beach.
Here’s our guide to the top spots for Cuban art and artists at this year’s fairs.
Notable for 2019: A growing roster of artists and galleries at Art Basel, including a monumental work by Flavio Garciandía not seen since 2006, in the “Meridians” section. With prestigious museum exhibitions to their credit, Carmen Herrera, Zilia Sánchez, Belkis Ayón, and Ana Mendieta are increasingly visible this year at Art Basel and other fairs.
Courtesy NG Art
Participating Havana art spaces include Estudio Arte Contemporáneo at Context Art Miami, NG Art at Scope, and El Apartamento at Untitled, Art.
Almost all fairs open with invitation-only and VIP previews, often the night before the official opening. For details, check the websites for the individual fairs.
Courtesy El Apartamento
Tuesday, December 3–Sunday, December 8
The two fairs return to last year’s location, One Herald Square on Biscayne Bay.
Julio Larraz is well represented at Art Miami this year, at the stands of Miami’s Ascaso Gallery (Stand AM208A), Art of the World Gallery (AM228), and Galería La Cometa (AM424) of Bogotá. The artist is also featured in a solo show at Ascaso Gallery, Julio Larraz: Behind the curtain of dreams, opening Thursday, December 5.
Courtesy Ascaso Gallery
Andreas Binder Gallery (AM434) is showing work by Ariamna Contino. Recent works by Pavel Acosta, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Ariel Cabrera Montejo are showcased at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery (AM527).
Galerie Francesco Vangelli De Cresci (AM227) has art by Agustín Cárdenas and Wifredo Lam. Galerie Mark Hachem (AM513) is also showing Lam.
Lam is among the artists presented by Cernuda Arte (AM201) and Tresart (AM332).
Courtesy Cernuda Arte
Cernuda Arte is also showing work by Roberto Fabelo, Juan Roberto Diago, Manuel Mendive, Alfredo Sosabravo, and other artists.
At Tresart (AM 332), other artists on view include Belkis Ayón, Carmen Herrera, Sandú Darié, and Loló Soldevilla.
Robert Fontaine Gallery (AM 137) is also presenting work by Carmen Herrera.
At Art Miami’s sister fair, Context Art Miami, look for Havana’s Estudio Arte Contemporáneo, showing works by Rubén Alpízar.
Also at Context Art Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel presents work by Carlos Rodríguez Cárdenas, Marlon Portales, and José Ángel Vincench.
Tuesday, December 3–Sunday, December 8
At Scope, Havana– and Panama City–based NG Art (Stand G07) presents work by Jorge Otero, René Francisco, José Ángel Vincench, Santiago Rodríguez Olazábal, and William Acosta.
Courtesy NG Art
Wednesday, December 4–Sunday, December 8
At Untitled, Art Miami, Havana-based El Apartamento is showcasing work by Orestes Hernández, Osvaldo González, Ariel Cabrera, and Arlés del Río.
Courtesy El Apartamento
Untitled, Art’s new “Monuments” initiative presents large-scale, site-specific installations at Lummus Park in Miami Beach. The debut exhibition includes it is not down on any map; true places never are, a collaboration by US-born Cuban artists Antonia Wright (featured in our 2017 article, “US-Born Cuban – 6 Artists to Watch”) and Rubén Millares.
Wednesday, December 4–Sunday, December 8
At Pinta, art by Julio Larraz is on view at the stands of Bogotá gallery El Museo and Madrid-based Galería Fernando Pradilla.
This year’s “Platform” section, curated by Roc Laseca, presents projects exploring materiality and the groundwork of two-dimensionality. The six selected artists include José Ángel Vincench, presented by Klaus Steinmetz Arte Contemporáneo of San José, Costa Rica.
Courtesy Pinta Miami
Thursday, December 5–Sunday, December 8
At ABMB, Miami’s Fredric Snitzer Gallery (Stand A9), presents work by US-born Cuban artist Hernán Bas. And at the Sntizer gallery, Tomás Esson is showcased in a solo show, Miami Flow 2.
Courtesy Fredric Snitzer Gallery
Another Miami stalwart, David Castillo Gallery (F28), has prints by Belkis Ayón.
Galería Elba Benitez (D17) is presenting work by Carlos Garaicoa. São Paulo–based Galeria Luisa Strina (D20) features Garaicoa as well. At both stands, look for pieces from the artist’s current “Puzzles” series.
Courtesy Galeria Luisa Strina
Garaicoa is among the artists presented by Galleria Continua (G15), which is also showing works by Yoan Capote and other artists.
Courtesy the artist and Galleria Continua
Capote is also represented at Jack Shainman Gallery (C19) with the sculpture Self-Portrait (Study of Resistance), 2002–2019.
Lehmann Maupin (G22) is showing new work by Teresita Fernández.
Courtesy Lehmann Maupin
Zilia Sánchez’s acclaimed museum retrospective arrived last week at El Museo del Barrio in New York. At ABMB, her art is on view at Galerie Lelong (F11), where work by Ana Mendieta is also featured.
Courtesy Lisson Gallery
A rare four-canvas painting by Carmen Herrera is on view at Lisson Gallery (G21). Made in 1961, Quartet is a complex composition bound by a handmade, hand-painted artist’s frame.
Mai 36 Galerie (E1), is presenting almost a dozen Cuban artists, including Flavio Garciandía, Irving Vera, José Yaque, Laura Carralero, Michel Pérez Pollo, Orestes Hernández, Carlos Garaicoa, and Reynier Leyva Novo, among others.
Courtesy Mai 36 Galerie
Galerie Peter Kilchmann (D28) is again showcasing former Los Carpinteros member Dagoberto Rodríguez, including works from his ongoing “Emblemas” series.
Courtesy Galerie Peter Kilchmann
Fresh from its recent Loló Soldevilla exhibition, Sean Kelly Gallery (D14) is bringing a selection of Soldevilla’s work to ABMB. [See our walk-through of the exhibition with curator Rafael DiazCasas.]
In the Art Basel “Editions” section, Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) (G14) introduces a new print by Carmen Herrera: Tondo: Azul y Rojo (2019), an aquatint and relief with chine collé in an edition of 16. ULAE is also presenting Herrera’s Equilibrio (2017) in an edition of 18.
At Art Basel, the “Meridians” section gives galleries the opportunity to present ambitious, monumental works that push the boundaries of a traditional art fair layout.
Courtesy Galerie Mai 36
The first work in “Meridians” is Auge o decadencia del arte cubano (Pinnacle or Decline of Cuban Art), a project by Flavio Garciandía presented by Maie 36 Galerie. Debuting in the 9th Havana Biennial in 2006, Garciandía’s project involved the participation of more than 100 Cuban artists around the world in the creation of a 65-foot-long painting and accompanying video.
Flavio Garciandía at work on «Auge o decadencia del arte cubano» (Pinnacle or Decline of Cuban Art), 2006
Courtesy Mai 36 GalerieThe presentation in “Meridians” is the first time the project has been displayed since the 2006 Biennial.
Also in “Meridians,” in booth M21, Alison Jacques Gallery and Galerie Lelong are presenting an untitled, three-minute film made in 1981 by Ana Mendieta.
