Vessel: Art as a Doorway Podcast
Vessel: Art as a Doorway Podcast
Time-Traveling Waltzes, Wet paint worth Half a million, and Gelatinous Eulogies: A Surreal Journey Through Art Basel Miami Beach 2024
Dive into the bizarre and beautiful world of contemporary art at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024. From a mesmerizing waltz that transports viewers through time to a $600,000 dripping masterpiece and a squatting Australian artist's gelatinous tribute to the departed, this episode explores the mind-bending and thought-provoking works that pushed the boundaries of creativity.
Art Basel Miami Beach
https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach?lang=en
Galleries:
Charlie James Gallery
Nicodim Gallery
Welancora Gallery
Roberto Huarcaya
Nanzuka Gallery
Esther Schipper
Ames Yavuz
Kasmin Gallery
Pearl Lam
Gypsum Gallery
Josh Lilly Gallery
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/MStx3E0_Gm4?si=niAI4SD9tq5GVsoa
NEW MUSEUM
https://www.newmuseum.org/
NEW INC
Leah & Channing Smithson NEW INC member
DEMO 2024 Leah Smithson Exhibit & Talk
Leah Smithson (demofestival.org)
Find us online:
Website:
http://www.clss.studio
Email:
leah@leahsmithson.com
channingsmithson@gmail.com
Hang out with us on Instagram:
@leahsmithsonart
@justglazechanning
Earn up to $2000 off of TESLA
https://ts.la/channing763286
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https://uphold.com/signup?referral=d8b2d5cb89
Channing:
Hey, this is Channing,
Leah:
and this is Leah.
Channing:
And you've reached Vessel: Art as a Doorway.
Leah:
Welcome to episode 40.
Leah:
We're so happy you're able to be here with us today. We thought we'd love to bring you all along with us to this year's 2024 Art Basel Miami Beach. So Art Basel only happens in the US in Miami. It is one of the biggest weeks in the United States for the art world. Yeah, definitely. And for this next series, the next three series of episodes for vessel Art is a doorway.
Channing:
We're going to take you along with us to visit three different fairs. So the first we're going to be covering Art Basel Miami Beach. Second there we will be discussing Design Miami. And the third, we're going to be covering NADA Art fair and also the Untitled. And we'll be throwing in a couple of extra events such as Scope Miami.
Channing:
And you know, one of the interesting things about Scope Miami this year. Leah:, you were actually involved on the main stage this year. My correct. Yes. There was a video that I released this past summer with the New Museum through their incubator program called NEW INC ccalled The Unspoken, and it's an immersive work that explores resilience through movement, and it's inspired by my family's personal experience on helping my father after he had a massive stroke on the left side of his brain, giving him a severe form of aphasia, and also he was bedridden during that time.
Leah:
This animated art video blends Asmr like movements the way I choreograph the animation. It's rhythmic and it has these morphing figures. And the idea is to prompt contemplation on the potential of us as humans and the power of our bodies to protect and heal each other. The stage at Sculpt Miami is this really massive long screen. So what I did was I actually remastered it in a way that amplified the kind of kaleidoscope properties of the video that I originally created.
Channing:
Yeah, I really enjoy the way the final animation came out. Leah:. And I remember even one of the engineers at Sculpt Miami mentioned that it was one of his favorites, and he really enjoyed seeing the hands move in that rhythmic visual Asmr way. You know, one of the things that was interesting, if you were able to hear last year's recording, when we discussed how Leah: had the opportunity to join the NEW INC incubator inside of the XR track to extend it reality's track.
Channing:
You remember some of the things that we were talking about with the New Museum's incubator, how basically they're dealing with science, art and technology and a number of artists, architects and creators have joined the NEW INC platform. And it's really, really fascinating to see some of the work that they've created. Well, this year in June, I was actually able to join Leah: and her second year at NEW INC.
Channing:
So the both of us at CLSS as a studio are now involved in the architectural track. What we're working on right now, and you guys will hear more about it later, is a land art project called Arteriogenesis. And in this project, it uses the vascular system as a metaphor to talk about the interconnectedness of humanity, nature and regeneration.
Leah:
And what we'll be doing is creating grounding and contemplative spaces about the human condition, utilizing Channing:'s years in the medical field and my public art background. And we can't wait to share more with you about this later. And then thinking about these contemplative, grounding spaces. That's what I really try to create, even using video at Scope Art fair.
Leah:
So let me know what you think. We'll have clips of the video installation at scope online, on our blog, and on the YouTube version of this podcast. Yeah, in on a later version of this podcast, we'll be able to discuss more with you about some of the things that we're doing in the architectural track at Newark. So we're really looking forward to sharing that with you as well.
Channing:
But now let's get into this discussion as we explore 2024 Art Basel Miami Beach.
Channing:
We get a chance to visit NICODIM Gallery, and we actually had an opportunity to meet Ben Lee Richie and also meet Mihai Nicodim. Yes, it was really a pleasure meeting Mihau Nicodim himself of NICODIM Gallery told us a little bit about his Romanian background and how that led to him starting his own gallery. And when we get a chance to walk inside of the booth, we see this sculpture created by Isabel Albuquerque and Isabel.
Leah:
She uses some of these lifestyle sculptures and they transition from bronze, wood, plaster, rubber and wax to synthetic resins and even human hair. Yeah, she really does. Some very visceral and thought provoking sculptures is kind of interesting. Like later on, I think either that day or the day after we happened to run into Isabel Albuquerque's mom, Lita Albuquerque, who is a land artist.
Leah:
She was kind of like one of the OGs from back in the day who was kind of there at the beginning of the start of that particular movement, and it was funny because we first met her a few months ago at her house when she did a land art installation called the Malibu Line, and she was kind of giving us some really cool tips on our upcoming project.
Leah:
And so it was very cool running into her again and also seeing her daughter's really interesting artwork at NICODIM at Art Basel. We also get a chance to see other artists from Europe and and even this one artist from Zimbabwe. His name is Moffat Takadiwa, who uses a lot of different objects like toothbrushes, computer and laptop keys and other found objects and just really amazing looking at his work because they do not read as any of those objects at all, especially from far off.
Channing:
They look like these amazing bejeweled tapestries. And speaking of tapestries, we get an opportunity to visit Gypsum Gallery from Cairo, Egypt and we see these beautiful tapestries by Dina Danish. Dina Danish is an Egyptian artist and educator, but she right now is residing in Amsterdam and her tapestries are really fascinating. And we got a chance to have a great conversation with her.
Leah:
The thing is, that special about these is that these tapestries are constructed using Western and Egyptian fabrics. One of the things she mentioned, and that I find fascinating, is this form of tapestry is very, very ancient, and it's a form of craft that's passed down from the males in the family or to the men in the family. The interesting about these, these tapestries as well, is the fact that each one corresponds to a current event.
Leah:
So the fact that she decided to capture what's happening in our time with something so ancient is very interesting to me. Also, the fact that these tapestry she mentioned in ancient times, very wealthy families, would get craftspeople to create these tapestries to cover all of the walls in their house. And the tapestries were also used to create tents in Egypt.
Channing:
Yeah. So it was a real pleasure to get a chance to meet Dina in person. And to see some of these really striking images in the tapestry and seeing some of the work, like, for instance, this piece here where you'll see when the a recent attempted assassination on the president and seeing her depiction of this work and seeing how the actual person in the image was, was being cared for, in addition to the images of the beheaded Parliament, I really just find really stunning and impressive later on.
Channing:
It was a pleasure catching up with Ever Velasquez, the associate director at Charlie James Gallery, you know, and it's always a pleasure. We always have really good memories of going to the Charlie James Gallery, and here we see some sculptural work by John Ahearn and also Rigoberto Torres. We get a chance to meet Rigoberto, actually, and he tells us a really funny story.
Channing:
Central to the booth, you'll see this sculpture here of a young man, Kenyatta Caldwell, which he he named Sampson. This particular piece was created back in 1990 when Kenyatta Cardwell would always visit his studio in the Bronx. Yeah. As we were talking to the artists about this piece at Highgate, he told us a funny story about as this kid was posing as a model for the sculpture, and he had these really long dreads, and something happened at school.
Leah:
And the next day he came back and he didn't have any dreads at all. Yeah, but it's really cool as you look at each sculpture, how they, the artists really captured the personality of all these folks who were their neighbors in the Bronx. In fact, the Bronx Museum had an exhibition of their work called Swagger and Tenderness. And it was really interesting because in talking about the type of work that John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres do, they really reflect that personal and loving stories about the residents and their neighborhood.
Leah:
And, and one of the really strong things about these sculptures is that they mention that they hope to bring attention to the value of every individual and family that helped shape this proud, unique, influential community that they lived in. And that's one of the lovely things about it. Like, I think one of the things that I read was that they are known for uplifting their subjects.
Leah:
But I really do think that in looking at these sculptures, I feel like instead of them being the ones uplifting, these people, I think that they're more capturing the beautiful and wonderful qualities the people in their community already have displayed, and they're just putting it on display for other people to appreciate. And also, it's done in a way where it's like all of these portraits are people doing things that are like maybe seen as mundane, seen as everyday, but you can grasp the beautiful, strong qualities and those precious moments even in these regular, everyday, joyful activities.
Leah:
One of the first galleries that we come up to is named Nanzuka Gallery and their work is always very eye catching and stunning. This gallery is based in Japan and it's really interesting that the group exhibition that they proposed is named Keiichi Tanaami: Adventures in Memoryand the reason they picked that is Keiji Tanaami was one of Japan's pioneering pop artists.
Leah:
And so with this group exhibition, they endeavor to visualize a world beyond perception. And that's been a reoccurring subject across various art movements. Tsunamis focus extended beyond depictions of singular memories or dreams. Tanaami explored the mutable, ever evolving nature of his recollections and their impact on his art. And so with this exhibition that they have features previously unseen collages from that artist as a tribute to Tanaami, this exhibition includes works by artists that are inspired or have created works in response to Tanaami's works.
Leah:
So some of these works are sculptures, paintings. And then there is the artist Hiroshi, who presents works from his mosh pit series that incorporates skateboards used by tsunami itself. We go around the corner and we see this really strong painting created by Mark Wright, and we get an opportunity to speak to the executive director, Edith and she tells us a little bit about Kasmin Gallery, based out of New York.
Channing:
In this painting, the title is Regina Terra. It really seems as though Mark riding's work is really just getting better with time. The gallery states that this new painting expand as Mark Rydan renowned visual universe, where spiritual entities guide the human and animal worlds, and he's affirming his abiding interest in sacred geometry and the canon of Western painting.
Channing:
So Mark continues to develop the mystical characters that are defined as practice since the 1990s. And an interesting thing about this is that in this painting here, Regina Terra, it's actually going to be featured in an upcoming show in 2025, in September. So if you buy in the area, you can see this work at Kasmin Gallery. I would highly recommend seeing that in person.
Channing:
It's really fascinating. As we continue on inside of Miami Art Basel, we get a chance to meet Roberto Huarcaya. And it was interesting because I just got a chance to sit on his bench here, and I ended up meeting the artist. Roberto was a really nice guy. He was telling me a little bit about his work here.
Channing:
You'll see that the work is basically like a photo gram of a palm tree captured in a Peruvian Amazon and presented as a waterfall. So here, this was really just a connection between the world above and the world below. And what Roberto's doing here is he's sculpting this image and time matter and light. And the approach really invites us on a voyage outside the confines of our historic era, challenging our perceptions and our understanding of the cosmos.
Channing:
So it was such a pleasure to get the chance to meet Roberto. And seeing some of the work and hearing how he felt about the work, and we got a chance to even chat a little bit about how at one time we had the opportunity to go to Lima, Peru and visit some of the sites that he was inspired of as a child.
Channing:
So thank you so much, Alberto, for giving us some more information about your beautiful work. So we go around to the Josh Lilly Gallery and here we see some really phenomenal work from Autumn wireless. Needless to say, Adam's work is just just magnificent here she's using steel armature, foam, embroidery thread, Indian cruel, upcycled. Leather scraps, assorted Czech and Japanese glass beads, carnelian, pom batik beads, wooden beads, quartz and other found objects to create this sculpture.
Channing:
Este type work. The name of this piece is called GRAS and she created in 2024. And here we see this, this character basically chasing its own tail. And here in some of her other pieces, you see that she uses a similar theme of these characters, with writings actually having somewhat of a discord with the audience and creating, like a sound and more of a discussion with those who are looking at the images that she's able to create.
Channing:
And the sculpture is called, I think is pronounced GRAS but not like the grass like that grows from the ground is grass, which is a name after the FDA classification of untested, chemical like additives. And it was interesting in a Instagram post that she mentioned that reference to sculpture and referenced the name of this particular sculpture. It's the.
Leah:
The GRAS is an acronym for generally recognized as safe, something that is generally recognized as safe in the U.S. and Europe, it may simultaneously have been classified as poison, and then they make a comment referencing this sculpture. She's no threat to herself or others, I'm sure. So anyhow, it's really interesting how this the layers of the sculpture and the meaning of this dragon, this kind of chasing its tail, and that reference to danger or no danger.
Channing:
And then we get a chance to see some of the work by Rebecca Manson. These force sculptural pieces are pretty detailed as well. Here some of the themes mutant Polyphemus, android, Tiger double hybrid seen, and also cabbage. Yes, from far away. Rebecca Manson's work looks soft like you immediately get the feeling of moth wings, but when you get closer you realize that it's made of porcelain, ceramics.
Leah:
So these she takes something that's a hard material and turns it into something that seems very soft from far away. And it's interesting that the the gallery says that her subject is nature and its lessons, as observed in her gardens and surroundings, in the countryside immediately north of New York City. So what she does is take she observes nature, observes these insects and animals and plants, and then uses her understanding of material to reflect that in her work.
Channing:
As we're walking through Art Basel Miami, we get a chance to see this immense sculpture created by Zhu Jinshi and we get opportunity to meet MJ. Coincidentally, MJ is one of the mentors at NEW INC, the incubator for the New Museum and yeah, it was really serendipitous that we got a chance to meet MJ and see how we have a lot in common.
Channing:
Actually, MJ share it with us. A little bit about Zhu Jinshi. He is a pioneer in impasto, abstract painting and John paper installations. He has over 40 years in this artistic practice, and it's huge. Sculpture that we're looking at now is titled pathway. The piece consists of three intersecting semicircular cones on paper structures mounted on steel frames, and it creating a vast matrix for visitors to navigate through.
Leah:
Yes, between MJ and the galleries at Pearl Lam Gallery, they mentioned that they had a large team of people over the course of the week put this together. They took like individual sheets of rice paper, crumble them, and then laid them over the string to create this sculpture. And this where reflects on the current fractured state of the world, really emphasizing its disjointed nature, while at the same time exploring the connections between tradition, nature and reality through the poetic use of rice paper, cotton thread and fine bamboo.
Leah:
Yes, and at the booth we see Jinshi triptych, which is a large scale impasto abstract painting. And it was really interesting because talking to the gallerist, they mentioned that over time this painting will change because there are these really thick globs of oil paint that are not completely dry. And so as the years go on, they're going to start to move.
Leah:
The color may change a bit, but the point of the painting is to allow things to be as they are and change as they are, instead of kind of like a Western philosophy of not accepting things that are different or I guess, things the way they are and trying to force it to be one way or the other.
Channing:
An interesting thing too, about these particular paintings is, is that the labor that's involved with installing them on the wall, and when we spoke to the galleries, Alex in the booth at Pearl Lam, he mentioned that it takes about six people to pick up just one of these triptych pieces. So this painting is split in about three different sections.
Channing:
Imagine six people trying to pick up one of these pieces. So more than likely it probably weighs well over 100 pounds each. A final thing about many of these pieces is that they've been acquired by some very important and influential collectors, like the Rubell family, and just one of these triptych pieces is valued at well over half $1 million.
Channing:
So you can just imagine the intense instructions that are given to those who have to put in these installations. We get a chance to visit the angel at his booth, and we see some really fascinating work by Patricia Piccinini. Patricia is originally from Sierra Leone, and in this work, titled eulogy, she imagines a man cradling a strange, gelatinous blobfish.
Channing:
This extraordinary creature actually dwelt in the deep seas of South Africa, and it was accidentally driven to the brink of extinction by the fishing industry. And now, in this work picture, Piccinini says she's trying to embody moving investigations into human science, ethics and nature. And it's so interesting because when we first walked into the booth, I looked over and it seemed as though there was a man stooping over, posing in a position.
Channing:
But once again, it was Patricia's marvelous sculpture that she created. That's so true. Turning around the corner and catching that realistic sculpture of this guy, or Hyperrealistic sculpture of this guy stooping the way he is holding this creature really catches everybody's attention. And it's very interesting that she mentions that her work, her surreal drawings, her body of work that encapsulates hybrid animals, vehicular creatures question the way that contemporary technology and culture changes our understanding of what it means to be human.
Leah:
And it also wonders at our relationship with and responsibilities towards that which we create. So when coming across this Hyperrealistic man squatting and then holding this really weird gelatinous creature, the fact that the title is eulogy seems quite confusing. But then after hearing about that, this creature is based off of an actual creature that lives in the sea in Australia, and that humans have inadvertently caused this destruction and almost extinction, really adds weight to what may seem at first to be a comical sculpture.
Leah:
And as we walk, we come up onto Esther Schipper Gallery. And I'm always excited to see Esther Schippers booth, because the installations that they always show are very interesting, thought provoking, and are a lot different than the traditional art that we're used to seeing, for sure. For instance, here we're looking at a piece created by Anicka Yi. Anicka is a conceptual artist whose work lies at the intersection of fragrance, cuisine, and science.
Leah:
She's known for many of her installations that engage the senses, especially the sense of smell, and for her collaboration with biology and chemist. Here we see some of Anicka’s lenticular prints. They offer a glimpse into a haunting space where the digital and biological merge. You may have heard Anicka has work at the Tate Modern, where she exhibited In Love with the world.
Leah:
Even if you don't necessarily remember the name of that exhibition, a lot of people remember the videos of these immense creatures that she created that moved around the room in the air like jellyfish, and there were no strings. These things had like little propellers on the side. But what was interesting about these creatures, as well as they each had their own personality.
Leah:
Some would like to be around people, some would kind of run away from people. But anyway, it was a super fascinating exhibition. And then the gallerist takes us over to another piece on the wall from afar. It looks like a collage or maybe a painting, but as we get closer, we realize that they're neither. These are actually Venus fly traps that the artist Julius von Bismarck sourced from a rainforest, and they're juxtaposed with feet from a bird.
Leah:
But he does it in a way that they look like they belong together, and they've been pressed into metal and are completely flat. So much so that at first it's hard to tell if it's a photograph, a painting, or a collage work made out of paper. And in addition to them being flattened, they're intricately cut out in this metal.
Leah:
As the gallery speaks to us, she talks about how the artist is thinking about interconnectivity and biodiversity and how important both are. And now, finally, we get a chance to visit the Welancora and Quarry Gallery based out of Brooklyn, New York, and we get an opportunity to see some really striking photography by Deborah Willis. Deborah is really an accomplished artist, and other people in the family play a significant role in the international art market as well.
Channing:
Like her son, Hank Willis Thomas, you may have known of him and many of these images that we're seeing of photographs that she created back in 2018 through 2020, when we got a chance to talk to Evie, the principal of the gallery, she mentioned that these photographs are timely visual frameworks for understanding America's past, present and future. So utilizing the projection film she directed and conceived as the backdrop, Willis foregrounds the experiences of Black Civil War soldiers framed in the act of a waltz.
Leah:
So looking at the photographs, you see an image projected onto a background, and then you see dancers waltzing in the foreground. So you see sort of a tension of the projection also on the dancers as they're waltzing. And then you also see the shadows lurking within the images of the the Civil War soldiers and the projections on the background and as we got a chance to talk to Evie, the principal of the gallery, she tells us a little bit more about why Willis felt like these images are important right now in.
Channing:
And what they mentioned is that Willis is capturing a past collective memory of conflict that reflects the present day, where the contemporary American political climate holds up a grim resemblance to the ills that gave rise to the Civil War. So by projecting these 19th century archives and her own photographs, Willis is emphasizing clothing, objects, memory and storytelling through gesture and movement while reclaiming the bodies agency through practice of resilience.
Channing:
We're so happy that you've been able to join us in this year at Art Basel Miami Beach. What are some of the takeaways that you have from this year's fair? Leah:. Throughout the fair, there are a lot of pieces that I felt were very strong works, and it's always interesting to me in having conversations with different people in Miami Beach, and also even thinking about some of the subject matters that the artists are talking about.
Leah:
They are I think a lot of people are working through feelings of uncertainty about the future, about the future of the earth, about the political climate of the world and financial stability of the world as well, and artists making works about those subjects. It is a symbol of hope, because the reason why they're talking about these subjects and bringing them up is to start dialogs, and it is to it is in hopes to encourage some form of change.
Leah:
So, from that standpoint, I found that really interesting as far as working through the fair, looking at the different artworks and seeing how these works are reflected in, connected to some of the events that we see in the world nowadays. Yeah, I totally agree. And, you know, this year in 2024, one of the highlights for me was seeing how many of the artists utilize materials in a unique way.
Channing:
Another thing about this year I found interesting was the amount of sculpture. All were even including some artists creating work from mixed media and even ceramics. Yeah, and it's really interesting that you mentioned the idea of materials and seeing so many three dimensional objects at this year's fair, and it kind of makes me wonder when I'm thinking about that, along with the fact that people have commented on uncertainty for the future.
Leah:
This idea of rebuilding, of rethinking materials, using materials in a way that's different from the way things have been done in the past. I wonder if there is a connection between that as an exercise in rethinking the systems that we live in and people trying to understand what the future could be like if we rethink some of those systems.
Leah:
And is that idea of sculpture and rethinking of these materials and exercise to do that? Yeah. So true. But, you know, we're interested in hearing what you think about this year's fair. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section. We always enjoy hearing your thoughts, but we really want to thank you because you could be spending any of your time doing a number of things, but you're here with us at Vessel: Art as a Doorway.