X Contemporary Kicks Off Inaugural 2015 Fair Today

X Contemporary announces the programming and events schedule for the inaugural edition set to take place this week, December 2-6, 2015, during Art Basel Miami Beach.

Opening in the Wynwood district, across from Wynwood Walls, the boutique art fair will present a robust series of special programs and events including panel discussions, performances, and projects that will complement the selections from over 30 national and international exhibitors.

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Program Schedule:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1
Press and VIP Reception, 5:00-10:00 p.m. By Invitation Only
Known for evoking the greatest names in the history of fashion and twisting them with the colorful adaption to the Spanish language, À-la-Mexique collaborators GRB Gabriel Rivera-Barraza and SP?NGLISH's Simon Guindi Cohen unveil a new edition of gold "Muy Muy" hats, available in limited quantity to select VIP.

The evening will also include music by The Misshapes.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
Pre-Opening VIP Brunch Reception, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Brunch Reception for VIP and Press before fair opens to the public at 12pm.

Hart Perry from "Grace Hartigan: The Perry Collection", with Michael Klein, 2:00 p.m.
Grace Hartigan collector Hart Perry in conversation with curator Michael Klein. Hart Perry will discuss his mother Beatrice Perry's collecting passion, her gallery Gres Gallery in Washington D.C., and life in the art world outside NYC in the 1960s. Beatrice Perry represented Grace Hartigan in the 1960s as well as an international roster including Fernando Botero, Yayoi Kusama, and Antonio Tapias

Meet the curator: 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Michael Klein, curator of "Grace Hartigan: The Perry Collection" will be in booth S1 from 4 to 5 p.m.

Hungryforfortune presents Sex, Violence & The Female Gaze, 4:00 p.m.
An entertaining and insightful look at how porn, gaming, hook-up culture, and terrorism move in the artistic practice, and how artists transform existing power structures in order to bring a stronger female presence to art and culture's future. Moderated by Caia Hagel and Ricarda Messner, founders of international collaborative Hungry for Fortune and featuring artists Angela Washko and Morehshin Allahyari; Internet sex worker, Rachel Rabbit White; Art Critic and Associate Editor of Interview Magazine, Rachel Small.

ARTS.BLACK introduces The Black Arts Incubator, 5:00 p.m.
Using their collective research practices as a framework, the members of the Black Arts Incubator discuss where race, gender, class and geopolitics inform the architecture of the art world in order to re-center these sectors. Featuring Kimberly Drew, Founder of Black Contemporary Art; Jessica Bell Brown, Art Historian; Moderated by Taylor Renee and Jessica Lynne, editors of ARTS.BLACK.

Hungryforfortune presents selected Artist Talks: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Hungryforfortune is an international collaborative of female luminaries, forging new dialogues around culture and experimental criticism. The collaborative will present a series of talks by four female artists on topics ranging from the female body in Islam to the relationship between art and fashion.

Morehshin Allahyari: Eastern Insight
This celebrated emerging Iranian artist will give us an intimate entré into a couple of projects she has recently done related to Iran, cultural and political taboos around the female body and censorship in the Middle-East/Iran, and the destruction and reconstruction of female forms and artifacts by ISIS in the last twelve months.

Angela Washko: Consent and the Avatar Body
This founder of The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft will talk about the sexualization of female avatar bodies in massive multi-player online role playing games as well as how, and why, she interviewed the Internet's most infamous misogynist.

Rachel Rabbit White: Pretty Girl Art on Fleek
This cultural provocateur will give a presentation/lead a discussion about the affective labor amongst female artists who push their work into the social media landscape. This is something female artists are always talking about: the emotional labor it takes for us to be visible on the Internet, the ways in which we create our own pornographic avatars by simply using our image, whether or not this is our purpose, and the complexities in losing this control.

Rachel Small: Can Fashion and Art Find Common Ground? And Should They?
Interview Magazine's Rachel Small will contemplate the art world's expressed cautiousness towards fashion, and fashion's seeming inferiority complex towards art, considering economic, historical, and gender factors as to why this dynamic exists.

Hush's Limited Edition Print Raffle, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Presented by Willoughby Art Advisory, sought-after English Mural artist Hush will be in the Willoughby booth raffling a new print for those who visit during this timed release. The raffle will be drawn at 8pm when winners will recieve their print.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3

The Working Artist in America Today: 2:00pm
A discussion of the day-to-day life of an artist in the age of art fairs, social media and other demands on their creative work. Featuring artists Peter Dayton, Maureen Dougherty, Steve Miller, and Tracey Snelling. Moderated by independent curator and art historian Michael Klein.

Meet the curator: 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Michael Klein, curator of "Grace Hartigan: The Perry Collection" will be in booth S1 rom 4 to 5 p.m.

Meet the Artists: TIMEBAG: See program guide at fair for exact time
This intimate talk gives visitors the opportunity to meet the artists of TIMEBAG, the independently organized artist project based in Colombia. Featuring artists Libia Posada, Freddy Alzate, and Maria Luisa Velez with curator Carlos Uribe. Moderated by TIMEBAG director Harold Ortiz.

TIMEBAG and "Dystopic Cartography": See program guide at fair for exact time
Colombia N.O.W. artist Libia Posada discusses The Salt Herbs Project. Featuring artist Libia Posada from Medellin, Colombia and moderated by Colombia N.O.W. curator, Carlos Uribe.

Keith Haring's The Pop Shop (1987): A discussion with Robin Van Arsdol: See program guide at fair for exact time
An authority on New York City's urban art scene as he was immersed in it, curator and collector Robin Van Arsdol discusses the legacy of Keith Haring's salvaged mural, which is displayed near the front entrance of X Contemporary.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

Meet the curator: 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Michael Klein, curator of "Grace Hartigan: The Perry Collection" will be in booth S1 from 4 to 5 p.m.

Art and National Identity: See program guide at fair for exact time
Peruvian artist Rafael Lanfranco will talk about the aesthetics and story around his WAKOS, which, in combining pre-Columbian Andean art with Japanese kawaii, manga, and popular culture, are a reflection of his country Peru's efforts to construct a sense of national identity inside the global scene. Moderated by Arte Collective Founder and Curator Yubal Márquez Fleites.

Meet the Artists: Arte Collective: See program guide at fair for exact time
Artists Rafael Lanfranco, Takako, Romulo Sans, Philippe Halaburda; moderated by Yubal Márquez Fleites, founder of Arte Collective and Curator of Hecho en Cuba.

Marita Isobel Solberg: "Dough Rites for Our Century IV": See program guide at fair for exact time
Duration: 45 minutes
Vocalist and live visual artist Marita Isobel Solberg (b. 1977, Tromsø, Norway) kneads dough like an exoskeleton, referring to the availability of bread as a sculptural material for incarcerated prisoners in Northern Norway and Russia, where their land masses force cultural crossovers.

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X Contemporary is a contemporary art fair established in 2015 under the direction of Matthew Eck with a focus on galleries and cultural institutions that promote the work of emerging and midcareer artists.

Location:
240-252 NW 25th St.
Miami, FL 33127

Dates:
December 1-6, 2015

Hours:
December 1 | Press Preview, 5-7 p.m. | VIP vernissage, 7-10 p.m.
December 2 | Press and VIP brunch, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Open to the public, 12-9 p.m.
December 3 | Open to the public, 12-9 p.m.
December 4 | Open to the public, 12-9 p.m.
December 5 | Open to the public, 12-9 p.m.
December 6 | Open to the public, 12-6 p.m.

Tickets:
Single Day $10
Single Day Plus $20
Run of Show $25

Social:
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