Highlights of Berlin at Art Basel Miami

by Monica Salazar // Dec. 11, 2011

This past week, the art world, collectors and art enthusiasts flooded to Miami for Art Basel Miami, the leading international art show in the Americas for a week of art fairs, exhibitions and all-night celebrations through the city. This year, the fair celebrated its 10 year anniversary, exhibiting over 260 of the world’s leading galleries and 2,000 artist of the 20th and 21st century.

Berlin showed its usual strong presence with 24 galleries represented, including the usual suspects, Galerie Eigen + Art, Contemporary Fine Arts, Galerie Max Hetzler, Galerie Christian Nagel and Kicken Berlin, as well as younger popular galleries like Johann König and Galerie Micky Schubert. You could also catch many of the well-known Berlin-based artists, such as Cyprien Gaillard, Olafur Elliason and Martha Rosler sprinkled generously through the fair.

After going through the usual fair circuit each year, I find that Art Basel Miami proves to be a useful recap, as well as forecast, for what is to come next year in regards to trends, sales, strengths and weaknesses of different geographic regions. With overflowing crowds inside and outside the doors, the Miami Beach Convention Center, which fits 12,000 people, was briefly shut down by the fire marshall more than a few times throughout the week. With impressive attendance numbers and monumental sales, the 10th installment of Art Basel Miami perhaps (and hopefully) reflects a strong outlook for 2012.