Miami Art Week is infamous for its booze-fueled pool parties and star-studded guest lists. But for the few of you who are in town to actually experience and learn about art, there are plenty of sober, edifying events to scratch your chin at during the day while everyone else you know nurses their hangovers. Check out these talks, panels, and performances that (unlike the nightlife) are more interesting the less drunk you are. And, hey, even if you are hungover, show up to at least arm yourself with some smarty-pants conversation starters. It’s good to get the blood flowing to your brain at least a few times this weekend, even if it's rum-infused blood.
THURSDAY, Dec. 1
10:00AM, Art Basel, Auditorium in Hall C, 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach
Start off the long weekend by hearing 88-year-old op artistJulio Le Parc in conversation with Dr. Estrellita B. Brodsky, the curator behind the artists solo show on view at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Le Parc's trippy works will make you think you're seeing double—so in that way you can relate to everyone else recovering from the night before. (Speaking of PAMM, head there when you need a break from the fairs—you’ll see Jillian Mayer’s utilitarian sculptures that prevent phone-holding fatigue, Susan Hiller’s haunting multi-media environment, and Sara Oppenheimer’s site-specific architectural work that.)
11:30AM – 6:00PM, Untitled Art Fair, Ocean Drive and 12th Street, Miami Beach
Join Rirkrit Tiravanija, Thomas Vu, and a group of Columbia University MFA students to silk-screen t-shirts with phrases like “The Future Is Chrome,” “Police the Police,” and “All You Need Is Dynamite.” T-shirts will be custom made and for sale, making them great gifts for your jealous friends back home.
2:00 – 4:00PM, Untitled Art Fair
After you grab your silkscreened shirt, head to the fair’s guest terrace overlooking the ocean where you can check out and use a “Pussy Riot inspired surfboard” as part of Rirkrit Tiravanija and Tomas Vu’s project Do We Dream Under The Same Sky. Cowabunga.
4:00-5:00PM, Art Basel, Hall C
Catch ‘Is Gender Still an Issue?’—a panel discussion moderated by the Hyperallergic’s senior editor, Jillian Steinhauer with Maura Reilly, the director of the National Academy Museum and School; artist Joan Snyder; Fisher Sterling, director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; and Paul Schimmel, vice president and partner of Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles. We're guessing the short answer is "Yes."
4:00PM, NADA Miami Beach, 6701 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
If you’re ready for some younger blood, head to NADA, where in addition to checking out some of the strongest booths of the satellite fairs, you’ll find critic and ICA Miami programming curator Gean Moreno in conversation with Nina Johnson, the publisher of the Miami Rail, and Evan Moffitt, assistant editor of Frieze. The discussion starts at 4:00PM and is followed by artist Chlose Wise in conversation with Loreta Lamargese at 5:00PM.
6:00-8:00PM, Prizm Art Fair, 7230 NW Miami Court, Miami
Miami Art Week newcomer, Prizm Art Fair focuses exclusively on artists of the African diaspora. See two performances—one by Nyugen Smith entitled A Letter Home: Hoping to reach you soon, Part 2 which brings together the stories of three generations of Haitians; and another by Ayana Evans called Gurl I’d Drink Your Bath Water, which functions as part social commentary, part autobiography.
FRIDAY, Dec. 2
10:00AM, Art Basel, Hall C
Super-curator Hans Ulrich Obrist has formulated a new discussion platform for this year’s edition of Art Basel Conversations, moderating discussions between artists and their influencers. As the first iteration of the series, hear text-heavy conceptual painter Glenn Ligon speak with his muse, poet Claudia Rankine, moderated by HUO himself.
10:00AM, Aqua Art Miami, 1530 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
Alternatively, head to the Aqua Hotel where 47 exhibitors have set up shop in individual hotel rooms. The Association of Women Art Dealers will host a panel discussion addressing ‘Unconscious Bias and the Art World,’ moderated by Susan Mumford—making gender bias in the art world effectively conscious.
3:00PM, Context Art Miami, 118 NE 34th Street, Miami
One block north of Art Miami in the Context Pavilion you’ll find the curator, critic, and editor at ARTPULSE, Paco Barragan, moderating 'From Object to Idea: New Ways of Collecting Contemporary Art'. Bone up on your collecting savvy and apply your newly-learned tips to the rest of your fair-going weekend.
4:00-4:45PM, Prizm Art Fair
'Black Femininity in Contemporary Art' is led by Karen Senefuru about "The Black Woman is God" exhibition, “a multi-media visual and spiritual exhibition for audiences to recognize an alternative to Western cultural narratives that challenge Eurocentric notions of God.”
5:00PM, Art Basel, Hall C
Then, if somehow your not entirely burnt out, see the Wunderkammer master Mark Dion speak with Tim Rodgers, director of Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach. Dion's large-scale installations and fantastical cabinets display unusual orderings of objects and specimens collected from staged archeological digs and excursions, and address topics ranging from environmentalism to public policy.
6:00PM, NADA Miami Beach, poolside
Spice things up and head to NADA for a preview of Sex Magazine: #1-10 2012-2015. The NSFW-sounding mag isn’t as raunchy as it sounds—covering the cool kid scene in art, music, fashion, and poetry, Sex Magazine has provided a platform for emerging creatives since 2012. Poolside live performances by Odwalla88 and DJ sets by Air Pop, Marcelline, and Ezra Marcus will follow.
SATURDAY, Dec. 3
10:00AM, Art Basel, Hall C
'Has technology really changed the artworld?' The answer is up for debate between Sebastian Cwilich of Artsy, Laurent Gaveau of Google Cultural Institute in Paris, Christiane Paul, adjunct curator of digital art at the Whitney, and Berlin-based artist Simon Denny. Moderated by author and cultural consultant András Szántó, this panel will surely plug you in.
12:00 – 9:00PM, Satellite Art Show, The Parisian Hotel, 1510 Collins Ave, Miami Beach
Every day from noon to 9:00PM, Thursday through Saturday (and from noon to 5:00PM on Sunday), performance artists like Alexandra Sullivan, Sarah Paulson, Monica Jahan Bose, and Ayana Evans do their thing in the Performance Lounge at Satellite Art Show.
1:00 – 2:00PM, Art Basel, Hall C
Moderated by Renaud Proch, executive director of Independent Curators International, ‘Crowdfunding | Reclaiming Networks: Global & Local’ features New York-based artist Wafaa Bilal; artist and co-director of NuMu and Proyectos Ultravioleta, Stefan Benchoam; journalist Katy Diamond Hamer; Chana Budgazad Sheldon, director of Locust Projects in Miami.
3:00PM, NADA Miami Beach
Poetry, anyone? Rhett Jeffrey Brandt will release his first volume of poetry, Endless Winter, with a reading by the author and special guests Carly Mark and Ryder Ripps. Next up is Protest Aesthetics: if it ain’t pretty it’s not my revolution!—a performance weaving poetry and saxophone by Angelina Dreem.
SUNDAY, Dec. 4
10:00AM, Art Basel, Hall C
Artist Jill Magid—known for her text and performance-based works focusing on surveillance, control, and data manipulation used by bureaucratic authorities—will speak with her gallerist, Pamela Echeverría of Labor in Mexico City. Moderated by Sofía Hernàndez Chong Cuy, curator of contemporary art at Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in New York and Caracas, the discussion will revolve around the unique relationships between artists and their gallerists.
1:00PM – 2:00PM, Art Basel, Hall C
Learn about the hotly debated topic of Artists’ Resale Royalties in the US. Moderated by Xipsy founder Franklin Boyd, the discussion brings together art historian and associate director at The Art & Law Program Lauren van Haaften-Schick, artist Tony Matelli, and director of Essex Street Maxwell Graham.
4:30PM, NADA Miami Beach
End the weekend at NADA, where artist Rachel Mason will perform a mini one-person, multi-character opera with music from her new album Das Ram—presented by ltd los angeles.
5:00PM, NADA Miami Beach
Then at 5:00PM, end with a bang with ALL-IN Miami Release Party hosted by editor-in-chief Benjamin Barron with special guest performances and DJ sets. See—you're not so boring after all!
