Art Basel Miami Beach 2012
December 14th, 2012
Trends ABMB 2012
Art Basel Miami Beach, the largest art fair in North America, is one of our most important trips of the year. It gives us a chance to see international trends and tendencies within the art world. Here is our list of the top trends at ABMB 2012:
Taxidermy/Creepy Babies: No, this is not a joke. We saw stuffed dead animals at every fair we went to, which is quite drastic since we haven’t seen much of it previously (except for Tinkebell’s My Little Pony at Pulse NYC). Although some of the work was quite disturbing, there were actually a few pieces that were darkly beautiful. We also saw disturbing images of babies or babies that affected a weird vibe incorporated into paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures and installations. Whether these taxidermic specimens and baby imagery were meant as reminders of our own mortality, or were purely used as shock value, it was all very morbid that’s for sure.
Holograms: One of last year’s major trends was optical illusions. Popular again this year, it has taken a new direction through holography. Holograms make a work look three dimensional and can change the orientation of the subject depending on where the viewer stands. We saw this technique used in light installations, color field imagery, and photographs.
Books/Text/Thread/Retro: These four are grouped together as more than one was usually present in a work. Vintage books were a prevalent medium at the fairs with works being constructed out of carved books or artists using some aspect of a books or incorporating text from classic literature. The books were often hand sewn, or pages of text or manuscripts were sewn together. We also saw many examples of where the thread was used to capture a subject rather than a traditional medium such as paint or graphite. The prevalence of thread and books created a sense of nostalgia and often begged the question of the ultimate fate of books. The nostalgia was also supported by the resurfacing of old technology (i.e. floppy disks, cassettes, old keyboard keys, vinyl records) in found object work. This is quite different than what we have seen in past years where hyper technology had become increasingly integrated into art echoing the technological developments of our time.
Street Art: Street art has always been prevalent on the fringes of ABMB featured in pop-up exhibitions or on the walls of the Wynwood district, but it never really had a strong presence in the main fairs. This year, vanguarded by the Banksy exhibition, “Banksy Out of Context” at Art Miami, street art made its move from the street to mainstream fairs. Street artists such as Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, D*Face, Speedy Graphito, and Invader were present at Art Miami, Context, Pulse, Scope, and Overture.
Warhol/Lichtenstein Imposters: Andy Warhol is usually the muse of many new artists; however, this year Roy Lichtenstein was the inspiration behind a new crop of pop artists using the old-fashioned comic strip style and ben-day dots.
Petah Coyne, Unititled #1375, taxidermy birds and squirrel with silk flowers
Linn Fernstrom, Bleu, Baby Blue, 2011, oil and drawing on canvas
Lisa Kokin, Ninety-Nine Leaves #2, From the catalog essay for Raveling by Maria Porges These veils of pale leaf ‘skeletons’ composed of thread incorporate delicate shreds of printed text taken from an all-but- destroyed Hebrew prayer book Kokin found at a salvage yard.
Rero, Untitled, vintage book, mixed media with resin
Jeff Robb (3D photographic and holographic artist), Aerial 5, lenticular photograph
D*Face at Scope
Banksy - Out of Context
Taxidermy moose covered with crystal balls at the Convention Center
