Art N' About

Author: ALEXXA GOTTHARDT

New York's got class. LA's got hype. Chicago's got the blues. And Miami has…what? Sun shining upon endless stretches of sand, silicone and sex. Streets where artifice and excess reign; where the rich and the poor are not just blocks, but worlds apart; and where sunglasses, sweet rides and sneakers are the latest status symbols. Appealing? Maybe not. Glamorous? Perhaps. Intriguing, arresting and inspiring? Definitely. Miami is a complex world chock full of undeniable cultural diversity and vibrancy - a vibrancy that is building (designer shoe upon florescent thong upon techno beat upon Spanish slang) the art world's newest, hottest hub. Miami's got art.

In the past few years, Miami has quickly become the fawned-over favorite of a very picky, often pretentious art world. Even the globe's most high-powered, hip, utterly loaded collectors, gallerists and curators are devoting massive portions of their sleek black-leather calendars to soak in the Miami rays. Rays that, to these vacationers, don't come from the sun, but from the glittering panoply of art fairs, alternative spaces, galleries and innovative artists that are rising from the city's concrete cracks.

But why, when, and how did Miami become the breeding ground for the creation, collection and exchange of art that it is today? Answer: Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB). This offshoot of the mother of all art fairs, Art Basel (Switzerland), originated in 2002 and has since become more successful, influential and outrageous by the year. Mixing top galleries from New York, Paris and London with new, less-conspicuous names, ABMB stands apart from its successor in its firm commitment to the exposure of next-to-unknown artists and galleries. While much of the art world considers this a risky move, it's also what attracts them and keeps them coming back year after innovative year.

After the dawn of ABMB, Miami broke out. Already a wild, open and experimental city - due in large part to its cultural diversity and pleasure-driven lifestyle - Miami was ready for more art, more excitement. Not only did ABMB bring the world to Miami, it also revealed the city's very own burgeoning art scene, a treasure of budding talent and generous, enthusiastic collectors.

Now, other art fairs have popped up all over the city - Pulse Miami, Aqua Art, NADA and Arteaméricas, to name a few. Museums are being enhanced, overhauled and added. Collectors such as the Rubell Family, Ella Cisneros, Craig Robins and Debra and Dennis Scholl have opened their collections to the public and are funding arts efforts across the city. Galleries are revitalizing and rendering very posh Miami's Wynwood Art District - à la New York's Soho or Chelsea. And, perhaps most importantly, a strong group of artists, growing all the time, is settling and working in Miami. Inspired by their hometown's diversity and consequent looseness and vibrancy, the likes of Hernan Bas, Naomi Fisher, Mark Handforth and Dara Friedman are creating art that is shocking and pleasing art-snobs, aesthetes and thrill-seekers alike.

So, now high art joins the ranks of sultry salsa grooves, tacky tourist décor, microscopic bikinis, platinum rims and an eternally sunny South Beach to inspire artists and collectors everywhere and create the globe's newest, freshest creative bazaar. Art world, meet Miami.