The Ultimate Guide to Art Basel Miami Beach 2024
Every December, the international art world descends on Miami for Art Basel Miami Beach, a glittering showcase of contemporary and modern art and a celebration of global creativity. Running from December 6–8 at the Miami Beach Convention Center (with VIP previews on December 4 and 5), the fair marks its 21st year with a record-breaking 286 galleries from 38 countries and territories. Comprising traditional gallery booths, thematic showcases, solo spotlights, monumental installations, performance works, and beyond, Art Basel Miami Beach offers a platform for both established artists and emerging voices to make creative statements on topics ranging from climate change and technology to gender, identity, and the transmission of ancestral knowledge.
Below, we've compiled a comprehensive guide to navigating Art Basel itself, along with a curated list of must-see events happening in Miami beyond the fair, from pop-up exhibitions and public art installations to a stellar lineup of museum shows.
Art Basel Miami Beach
The main fair features a diverse array of works across painting, sculpture, installation, photography, film, new media, and more, organized into six distinct sectors:
In Galleries, the fair's main sector, leading international galleries present a comprehensive look at their programs, showcasing work from a range of artists on their rosters, from emerging talents to 20th-century masters. This year, 229 galleries are included, and seven of them are first time participants.
Select galleries from the main sector also exhibit concisely curated presentations—including solo shows and group exhibitions—in a distinct section of their booth, which together comprise the Kabinett sector. More than 24 galleries will present thematic showcases this year, with standouts including a collection of wood paintings by Miriam Inez da Silva, presented by Gomide & Co (São Paulo), and a painted abstract landscape installation painting by Costa Rican artist Federico Herrereo, presented by Sies + Höke (Dusseldorf).
Nova is dedicated to supporting emerging talents: younger galleries can present works created within the last three years, by up to three artists in this sector. This year, 21 presentations will show the work of 40 artists from around the world.
In Positions, where young galleries showcase solo exhibitions by emerging talents, catch a series of paintings dedicated to the preservation of ancestral knowledge by MAHKU, an artist collective formed by the Huni Kuin Indigenous People of the western region of the Brazilian Amazon, as well as a suite of new sculptures that address ecological concerns by Zimbabwean artist Terrence Musekiwa.
The Survey sector is reserved for singular projects that were created before the year 2000, with a focus on highlighting significant yet little-known artistic practices. Seventeen galleries are participating in the sector this year, including Portland’s ILY2, which is spotlighting a collection of hand-sewn assemblages by American artist Bonnie Lucas and Singapore’s Gajah Gallery, which will be displaying a presentation of unseen paintings and wood and cotton sculptures by Indonesian artist I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih.
Marking its fifth anniversary at the fair, the final section, Meridians, is a curated sector of large-scale projects that transcend the traditional art fair booth. See Metal Storm, a new bronze sculpture of three witches in flight by Rachel Feinstein; Pathway, a sweeping walk-in sculpture by Chinese artist Zhu Jinshi that’s made from bamboo, cotton, and 16,000 sheets of paper; and La Famille dans la Joyeuse Verdure (The Family in the Joyful Green), a large-scale hand-stitched embroidery by the Argentine collective Chiachio & Giannone.
Also happening in Miami this week:
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Three contemporary artists will have solo exhibitions at PAMM during Basel. Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides, running through February 2, will feature a range of new paintings and a video installation from the L.A.-based artist that center members of Miami’s historically Black Overtown community, which was subjected to gentrification and mass displacement in the 1950s and ’60s. José Parla: Homecoming, on through July 6, marks the large-scale abstract painter’s first solo show in his hometown and includes a series of kaleidoscopic never-before-seen works and a site-specific mural. Finally, Kate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services, on through January 19, is comprised of a new portrait by the actor and painter of Miami community member and barber Sergei Grant, accompanied by a series of his local clients.
No Vacancy, Miami Beach
Celebrating local artists, No Vacancy, a juried art competition, returns for its fifth edition, featuring site-specific works from 12 artists at 12 iconic Miami Beach hotels. Artists were given $10,000 to concept and install their projects, which will be shown at Avalon Hotel Miami, the Betsy Hotel, Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club, The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, Esmé Miami Beach Hotel, Faena Miami Beach, Hotel Croydon Miami Beach, International Inn on the Bay, Kimpton Hotel Palomar South Beach, Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel, Royal Palm South Beach, and Sherry Frontenac Hotel. An additional $10,000 Public Prize will be awarded to one artist, selected by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, while the $25,000 Juried Prize will be awarded by a jury of local art professionals. The installations will be on view through December 12.
Primal Mysteries at Ralph Pucci
Throughout December, luxury furniture and lighting company Ralph Pucci will present Primal Mysteries, its first in-house collection in more than a decade, at its Miami gallery space. The collection will be accompanied by a colorful photographic exhibition, Sheila in Technicolor, by Los Angeles-based photographer Marjorie Salvaterra, while new lighting and furniture works by architect, artist and designer Patrick Naggar will also be on view.
DAR MIAMI 1446
Presented in partnership with The Cultivist and Capital One, Moroccan contemporary artist and photographer Hassan Hajjaj will host a pop-up from December 4-6 at 520 Lincoln Road featuring an immersive art and video installation, tea salon, and special merch shop. If you bank with Capital One, you can also register for exclusive dining experiences curated by Michelin star Chef Rose Previte as well as live music performances by Simo Lagnawi, Anderson. Paak, Shaboozey, and Kaytranada.
Untitled Art, Miami Beach
From December 4-8 at Ocean Drive and 12th Street, contemporary art fair Untitled Art will showcase work from 170 galleries from across the globe, shaped by the fair’s curatorial focus of “East Meets West,” which aims to highlight the diverse voices and visions forming the art world today. The programming also includes panel discussions, collaborative projects, group exhibitions, and an immersive installation, as well as a series of six live performances that will take place throughout the fair.
Miami Reef Star
Developed by BlueLab Preservation Society in partnership with the City of Miami Beach, The ReefLine is a forthcoming seven-mile long underwater public sculpture park, snorkel trail, and purpose-built reef that will provide crucial habitat for endangered ocean species and promote biodiversity. The project will feature environmentally-safe and -engaging works by artists and designers, including Andrés Reisinger, Leandro Erlich, and Carlos Betancourt. A prototype of Betancourt’s contribution, Miami Reef Star, a monumental installation comprising 46 starfish shaped modules, will be on display through December 8 at Mid-Beach, near the 36th Street Park entrance.
The Bass Museum of Art
For a slate of exciting exhibitions, head to the Bass. Rachel Feinstein: The Miami Years, on view through August 17, 2025, showcases nearly three decades of work by the New York-based, Miami-born multidisciplinary artist. Encompassing sculpture, painting, video, performance, and installation, the show explores themes of intimacy, vulnerability, and abjection, and how societal factors shape identity. Elsewhere in the museum, don’t miss exhibitions from the France-based multidisciplinary collective (La)HORDE and German-born artist Ulla von Brandenburg, who works across film, photography, installation, and performance.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
On December 3, three new shows will open at the ICA Miami: \*sk\*/ey-, a major solo show from Marguerite Humeau comprising newly commissioned sculpture and video works that comment on the dangers of climate change; Ding Shilun: Janus, which features a group of new mythological-inspired paintings and a site-specific installation by the Chinese artist; and Lucy Bull: The Garden of Forking Paths, which showcases an array of vibrant and energetic abstract paintings from the New York-born artist.
Midnight Moment x Art Basel Miami Beach
Making its debut at Art Basel Miami Beach, Times Square Arts will bring a curated selection of three-minute video works from their signature Midnight Moment program to SoundScape Park from 7-11pm on December 4, 5, and 6. The free open-air program will feature 30 pieces on rotation by artists including Nick Cave, Jeffrey Gibson, Lu Yang, Ori Gersht, Erin Johnson, Tali Keren and Alex Strada, Federico Solmi, Carolina Caycedo, and Kambui Olujimi, among others.
Locust Projects
Locust Projects, Miami’s longest-running alternative art space and nonprofit art incubator, has two solo shows on display, through January 18, 2025. In the Main Gallery is Herramienta Desnuda (Bare Tool), a new multimedia exhibition by Cuban contemporary artist Alexandre Arrechea that repositions the simple act of skipping a stone as a metaphor for social structure. In the Project Room, catch a kinetic sound installation called Dialogue with the Primordial Sea by Miami-based intermedia artist Alba Triana.
The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum
Catch Field of Dreams, a solo exhibition by Malawian artist Billie Zangewa, at the Frost Museum through April 13, 2025. Comprising new collages made from hand-stitched silk, the show explores themes of transformation and interconnectedness and reflects on the the impact of sociopolitical challenges on individuals and communities.
The Great Elephant Migration
A traveling herd of 100 life-size Indian elephant sculptures will also on view at Mid-Beach near the 36th Street Park entrance through December 8. Woven from the stalks of invasive weeds, the elephants are all for sale, with proceeds benefitting Indigenous and community-led conversation efforts.
NADA Miami
The 22nd edition of NADA Miami, the annual art fair organized by the New Art Dealers Alliance, will be hosted as Ice Palace Studios through December 7. Nearly 150 galleries and nonprofits from 37 countries around the globe will be showcasing work, including 59 first-time exhibitors. The fair will also host NADA Presents, a conversation series that brings together creative luminaries from all over the world to discuss the state of art.
MOCA North Miami Exhibitions
Two female artists with solo exhibitions running through April 6, 2025, are in the spotlight at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. In Andrea Chung: Between Too Late and Too Early, the mixed-media conceptual artist put new collage, installation, sculpture, and video works in conversation with older pieces to interrogate the trade of enslaved peoples and colonialism and their lasting implications. Miami-based artist Smita Sen’s exhibition Embodied focuses on her dance-based performance works and how they’ve inspired a range of her sculptures and drawings.
Design Miami
Running through December 8 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Design Miami features selling-exhibitions of historic and contemporary furniture, lighting, and objects d'art from some of the most influential artists and designers across the globe. Curated around the theme of Blue Sky, this year's fair will "spotlight some of the greatest moments of innovation from across time and cultures."
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