Installation view of Jessica Silverman’s booth at Art Basel in Miami Beach, 2022. Photo by Mark Blower. Courtesy of Jessica Silverman.

Art Basel in Miami Beach has come a long way since its 2002 inception. Posed as a cultural meeting point in the art world between North and Latin America, the fair has always leveraged a diversity of work and exhibitors as part of its appeal. When Art Basel opened its doors in Miami Beach in the early 2000s, the city was in the process of rehabilitating its cultural image as an arts and leisure haven rather than the libidinal-fueled party life that defined its reputation across the 1980s and ’90s.

Although that nightlife is still present across Miami Beach, preserved, too, is the mile-long strip of prominent Art Deco architecture that defined the city in the 1930s. Against this backdrop, one feels like a time traveler chasing the ghosts of old Miami’s social scene, which drives so much of its culture today and reaches new heights annually during Miami Art Week.

Steven Meisel, installation view of “Sex by Madonna” at Art Basel in Miami Beach, 2022. Courtesy of Saint Laurent Rive Droite.

One lingering ghost this year was Madonna’s re-presentation of photographs from her book SEX (1992), which were shot by  in Miami 30 years ago. The pop-up exhibition organized by Saint Laurent on Ocean Drive and 17th Street, squarely between Art Basel and Untitled Art, drew a slew of celebrities across fashion and culture like Hailey Bieber, Zoë Kravitz, and Madonna herself. Presented in dialogue with Art Basel, the special exhibition was a throwback to the debauched evenings that inspired shows like Miami Vice (1984–90). At the main fair, however, the atmosphere was less risqué.

Twenty years in, Art Basel in Miami Beach—for better or worse—has become institutionalized. Reviewing the official fair report from the inaugural edition, one will find an emphasis on multimedia art practice, including sculpture, photography, installations, performance, and so much more, rather than painting. Yet that was not so in 2022: Painting dominated the booths, as it has at art fairs all year. And while much of it was reflective of the most talented crop of contemporary abstract and figurative painters working today, fairgoers appeared fatigued by the overwhelming repetition of the medium and were hungry for anything different.

Installation view of Perrotin’s booth at Art Basel in Miami Beach, 2022. Courtesy of Perrotin.

That sentiment likely fed into the virality of artist collective ’s ATM Leaderboard (2022) at ’s typically hype-generating booth. For those who may have missed it, the ATM posted the bank account balance and a photo of anyone who inserted their debit card into the machine. The piece sold for $75,000 to a local collector in Miami. By the fair’s conclusion, the highest account balance was an individual with $9 million, though second place was snagged by musical artist and producer Diplo, with $3 million. The work both celebrates and lambasts the wealth and flash present at Art Basel—not just the high-net-worth attendees, but the art, too.

While Art Basel in Miami Beach in 2002 was just starting to gain traction from the museum crowd, in 2022 that clientele shaped what gallerists brought to the fair. There was a clear desire to place museum-quality works, like large-scale sculptures, with institutions or members of museum boards, knowing that the fair generates such opportunities.

Overall, galleries were in great spirits and satisfied with the sales, precisely because of Miami’s draw for institutional and private collectors. “We always love coming to Miami and seeing a cross section of America. There’s a lot of collectors here and this is a great fair for collectors to come see great work,” Ethan Sklar from  told Artsy. Timothy Taylor told Art Basel that this was ’s “strongest Miami Beach outing to date.” He added, “The caliber of collectors in attendance was stellar, and we made significant sales to an international crowd as well as a number of collectors with homes in South Florida.”

Here, we share a rundown of some of the top sales at Art Basel in Miami Beach 2022

Top sales

Kerry James Marshall, We Mourn Our Loss #2, 1997. © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Philip Guston
Studio in Small Town, 1979
Hauser & Wirth

In addition to the previously reported sales of ’s Flowers (1964) for $3.8 million and ’s Untitled #14 (1998) for $7 million, some other notable seven-figure sales include the following:

 

Standout sales from the Nova section

Reginald O’Neal
Pianist, 2022
Spinello Projects
Sold
Reginald O’Neal
Rose bush in Besançon, 2022
Spinello Projects
Sold

The Nova section at Art Basel in Miami Beach is focused on contemporary works made in the past three years. Galleries in this section choose to showcase works by one to three artists who are meant to reflect the current moment, as well as what’s come in the art world—to the delight of eager collectors and audiences interested in not only what’s new, but what’s next.

  • At San Juan–based Galería Agustina Ferreyra, multiple works by  sold to a private collection in Basel for $40,000–$50,000 per piece.
  • At Miami-based , several paintings by  sold to the Hort Family Collection in the range of $25,000–$40,000 per piece. Additionally, two iterations of ’s installation Colored China Rags (2017–22) sold for $50,000–$65,000 per piece; one was sold to El Museo del Barrio in New York, and the other to the City of Miami Beach through the city’s Legacy Purchase Program.
Carl E. Hazlewood, BlackHead Anansi – GoldDust Dancer, 2022. © Carl E. Hazlewood. Courtesy of the artist and Welancora Gallery.

Carl E. Hazlewood, Demerara – MoonGazer at High Noon, 2022. © Carl E. Hazlewood. Courtesy of the artist and Welancora Gallery.

Carl E. Hazlewood, BlackHead Anansi – Archipelago of Desire, 2022. © Carl E. Hazlewood. Courtesy of the artist and Welancora Gallery.
  • Rachel Uffner Gallery nearly sold out its three-artist booth, including a work by  for $48,000; dioramas by  for $25,000; and a piece by  for $32,000. Founder and director Rachel Uffner described the success and buzz around the booth, noting “the value of bringing works that speak to the universal feeling of being away from home.”
  • Brussels-based  sold two works by  to private collectors for $70,000 per piece.
  •  sold three works (BlackHead Anansi – Archipelago of DesireBlackHead Anansi – GoldDust Dancer, and Demerara-MoonGazer at High Noon) all made in 2022 by abstract painter  in the range of $22,000–$50,000.

Institutional placements

Installation view of Lehmann Maupin’s booth at Art Basel in Miami Beach, 2022. Courtesy of Lehmann Maupin.
As many galleries noted, Art Basel in Miami Beach is the fair to bring ambitious works that can be placed in museums. Such works might exceed the limitations of a more domestic-scaled environment due to their size, subject matter, or medium.

Alejandro Jassan, an associate director at Lehmann Maupin, told Artsy that securing institutional placements was a driving force behind the gallery’s curatorial decisions for its booth. “We decided to bring museum-quality works, so in a way, we are trying to think about how our global programming is connecting to all of these museum moments around the world,” he said.Sales to institutions at this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach included the following:

  •  placed multiple works with trustees of prestigious museums in Boston and New York. An edition of ’s Our Grace (2022) sold to a trustee at the Brooklyn Museum for $50,000.
  • David Castillo sold a painting by Marked Men (factors of loss) (2022), for $180,000 to the de la Cruz Collection in Miami.
Ebony G. Patterson, …when the bellying is evidenced in the arch of a back… and the coupling of gun metal birds reminds us….love is still here…, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and moniquemeloche.
  • moniquemeloche placed multiple works in institutions, including ’s …when the bellying is evidenced in the arch of a back…and the coupling of gun metal birds reminds us….love is still here… (2022), which sold to the Indianapolis Museum of Art for $100,000–$150,000.
  •  made several institutional placements, including a  sculpture, Ibeji (2022), priced in the range of $70,000–$76,000, which was acquired by a Miami institution. The gallery also sold a new sculpture by Sip A (2022), which was acquired by a major museum in Southern California. Founder and director Jessica Silverman said “The gallery is enjoying its expanded presence at Art Basel. We are delighted to have placed works in major museums in the first hours of the fair. It is a joy to see just how well our program is received here, especially at a time when debates about the body, motherhood, and the natural world are so hotly contested.”

Other notable sales

Nick Cave
Arm Peace, 2022
Jack Shainman Gallery
Sold
Hayv Kahraman
Mutations, 2020
Jack Shainman Gallery
  • Lagos- and Los Angeles–based Rele Gallery sold out its solo booth dedicated to ’s paintings, priced in the range of $18,000–$28,000.
  • New York–based  sold out its solo booth of paintings by , including the oil painting Mutinous Water (1964) for $1.2 million. Other works sold in the range of $95,000–$550,000.
  •  sold a new  painting, She’s Been Here Before (2022), for $160,000 on the opening VIP day.
  •  had resounding success at Art Basel in Miami Beach, including the sales of ’s Swan-Songstress (2022) for $600,000; ’s Yokai (Josiah + Keizuke) (2021–22) for $500,000; ’s pacify me (2022) for $190,000; ’s Arm Peace (2022) for $180,000; and ’s Mutations (2020) for $70,000, among numerous other works.
Günther Förg
Untitled, 2008
White Cube
  •  sold several works by , including two paintings, one for $1.2 million and the other for $600,000. Additionally, bronze sculptures by the artist sold in the range of $300,000–$400,000 each.
  •  reported strong sales outside of its top seven-figure deals, including a work by  for €1.3 million ($1.36 million); a painting by  for €1.2 million ($1.26 million); a 2022 painting (Every Way I See You) by  for £750,000 ($914,577); and two works by  (Safety Warning from 2022 and Throne, Toward the Close of the Day from 2010) for around $550,000 each (one of which was placed with a prominent institution).
Article by Ayanna Dozier
Ayanna Dozier is Artsy’s Staff Writer.

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