Art Basel’s 13th edition in Miami Beach closed Sunday, December 7, 2014, amidst strong praise from gallerists, private collectors, museum groups and the media.
Highlights of the show included the introduction of the new Survey sector, which brought 13 art-historical projects to the fair, including many rare works never before exhibited in an art fair context; and Art Basel’s staging with Performa of Ryan McNamara’s ‘MEƎM 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet’ at the Miami Grand Theater. Solid sales were reported across all levels of the market and throughout the run of the show.
Featuring 267 leading international galleries from 31 countries, the show – whose Lead Partner is UBS – attracted an attendance of 73,000 over five days. Attendees included representatives of over 160 museum and institution groups from across the world – and a surging number of new private collectors from the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Following a 100 percent reapplication rate for the Galleries sector and with new galleries coming from across the world, the list of exhibitors was the strongest to date in Miami Beach, firmly solidifying the show’s position as the leading international art fair of the Americas.
On Wednesday, December 3, Art Basel and BMW announced a new partnership supporting emerging artists. Starting in 2015, the BMW Art Journey will enable emerging artists to go on a journey of creative discovery to a destination of their choice. Functioning as a mobile studio, the BMW Art Journey is open to artists from Positions and Discoveries, Art Basel’s sectors for emerging artists in Miami Beach and Hong Kong. The show also marked the successful launch of Art Basel’s Next tours program for emerging collectors. A total of 80 collectors drawn from 12 young patrons groups of international museums attended bespoke tours of the fair and had intimate sessions with exhibiting galleries.
Art Basel’s next show in Miami Beach will take place from December 3 to December 6, 2015. Starting after the 2015 edition, the Miami Beach Convention Center will undergo major renovation, phased around the 2016 show, with the aim to finish the renovation before Art Basel returns to Miami Beach in December 2017.