Art Wynwood, the premier winter contemporary art fair presented by Art Miami, returned for its seventh edition at its new location of One Herald Plaza in Downtown Miami on February 15th - 19th where it welcomed more than 25,500 people who admired world-renowned contemporary and modern art from emerging talent, mid-career artists, blue chip, post-war and modern masters showcasing a dynamic array of murals, pop surrealism, street art and other genres.
NFL Legend Joe Namath, Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora, Jessica Goldman Srebnick and Scott Srebnick, Janet and Joey Goldman, Ellen Salpeter, Director, ICA, Stephanie Reed, VIP Relations, Art Basel, and artists Peter Tunney, Chad Muska, David Drebin, Mr. Debonair and Pablo Dona, were among the first through the doors at the VIP Opening on Thursday February 15th where they joined more than 4,500 guests in admiring work from 180 artists presented by 60 international galleries representing dozens of countries, including Germany, Chile, Russia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, The Republic of Korea, Switzerland and the United States. The preview benefited the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA). The fair was sponsored by Christie's International Real Estate, "The Official Luxury Real Estate sponsor of Art Wynwood," and together with its international affiliates, hosted an elegant booth at the main entrance of the fair, showcasing luxury residential property offerings from around the world.
Crowds admired and acquired important works on display from renowned artists such as Josef Albers, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Yves Klein, Yayoi Kusama, Edouard Manet, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei, with many galleries reporting significant sales throughout the weekend. Cernuda Arte placed Peasant Drinking Coffee (Guajiro Tomando Cafe) by Mariano Rodriguez from 1945 for $270,000 and Figures (Personajes) by Manuel Mendive from 2006 for $100,000, in addition to two pieces from 2017 by Sandro de la Rosa, including TailWind (Viento a Favor) for $20,000 and State of Grace (Estado de Gracia) for $20,000.
Local galleries European Design & Art and Avant Gallery reported strong sales. European Design & Art placed over $90,000 of works including five bronze works by Philippe Timmermans for a total sum of $64,500, while Avant Gallery placed their entire collection of Skyler Grey works, ranging in price from $40,000 to $7,500, including Snoopy's Louie Daydream Red & Blue, Chanel Olive Oyl Black and White, and Speed Roller, in addition to Christian D. Pope's Door of Perception for $12,000.
In addition, The Lawley Art Group placed A Big Heart of Gold Too by Tanner Lawley for $35,000 and the artist donated $5,000 from the sale to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School GoFundMe. The gallery also placed four of his works in the first fifteen minutes of the fair including Loving You Howard, Loving You Matthew, Loving You Sam and Loving You Ellie, all from 2018 for undisclosed sums.
"Our exhibitors are delighted with the sales at this year's Art Wynwood," said Grela Orihuela, Fair Director, Art Wynwood. "We redesigned the layout due to the fairs new location and received excellent feedback from both exhibitors and guests who were thrilled with the easy flow from booth to booth. Our seventh edition was extremely engaging and a testament to the quality of work our galleries showcased."
The annual Presidents Day Weekend fair brings a major contemporary art fair back to Miami for serious collectors and budding art enthusiasts to discover and acquire some of the most important works of the 20th and 21st centuries at the site of the 2017 edition of Art Miami on Biscayne Bay; one of the most prestigious and well-known waterfront locations in the City of Miami. It was announced during the fair that The Miami Yacht Show will be the fair's neighbor at the Resorts World Miami waterfront property for Art Wynwood 2019 and beyond, where they will utilize the waterfront and concrete pads that Art Miami uses each December. Nick Korniloff comments, "The Miami Yacht Show and Art Wynwood will operate simultaneously and will work closely together to ensure that the attendee and exhibitor experience is a world class luxury lifestyle event. Each organization and their exhibitors will benefit from the well-heeled, high net-worth demographic that they individually attract."
Fair highlights included:
Notable sales included:
The following galleries placed works for undisclosed sums:
Art Wynwood hosted multiple curated brunches and intimate cocktail receptions in the VIP lounge, each followed by private tours, for multiple museum groups and professionals throughout the weekend.
In its new location, nestled between the Venetian Causeway and MacArthur Causeway, and just east of Biscayne Boulevard, the 2018 edition of Art Wynwood offered an unprecedented level of convenience to and from Miami Beach while being located in the heart of the cultural epicenter of Miami. With the fair occurring at the same time as the 29th Annual Yachts Miami Beach, attendees were provided with complimentary daily shuttle service between the two events. Parking and transportation options at the new location offered increased convenience with valet parking on opening night, and multiple parking garages located within one city block creating more than 4,000 combined parking spaces. A transportation center at the front of the fair provided access for taxi's, the shuttle bus and Ubers. In addition, a special parking lot was reserved for private black car services.
The 2018 Benefactor was the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA.) The 2018 Sponsors and Partners were: Christie's International Real Estate, Artsy.net, JW Marriott Marquis Miami and Hotel Beaux Arts Miami, Goldman Properties, Wynwood Walls, Bombay Sapphire Gin, LaCroix, Boulud Sud, Spuntino Catering, Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald, Perry J. Cohen Foundation, Around Town Magazine, Venü Magazine, Blouin Art Info, MIAMI magazine, Miami Children's Museum, Culture Owl, Coral Gables Museum, Resorts World, Whitespace - The Mordes Collection, FIU Jewish Museum of Florida, University of Miami Lowe Art Museum, Bourlet ArtLogistics, Uber, Bakehouse Art Complex, Luis Valenzuela, Harvard Business School Club of South Florida, and Turon Travel.
Art Miami LLC is a partnership consisting of art and media industry veterans Nick Korniloff, Mike Tansey and Brian Tyler. In addition to three fairs during Miami Art Week, Art Miami, CONTEXT Art Miami and Aqua Art Miami, the company annually produces the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary in January; Art Wynwood during Presidents Day weekend in February; and Art New York at Pier 94 in New York in May.
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