The 2015 Art Basel Miami Beach Guide

I must confess that as wonderful and exhilarating an event Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) is to close the year, it is also an overwhelming and exhausting experience. I always attempt to dissect what will be the highlights and the do-not-miss events and installations of the week, so here is what I have for 2015. 

The 14th edition of ABMB opens in ten days and it promises to be the biggest one yet. The main fair, which will host 267 galleries from 31 countries, is now under the helm of Noah Horowitz, the first director ever appointed to become in charge of Art Basel Americas. (Does that hint of a possible expansion into other countries down South?)  

Roberto Burle Marx. Garden Design Saenz Peña Square, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Plan, 1948. Gouache on paper

Survey - a sector within ABMB that debuted last year with a historical perspective in mind - seems to have a lot of collectors excited about seeing the first US survey of Brazilian architect and artist Roberto Burle Marx (who designed the promenades at Copacabana and Ipanema), which will be presented by Galeria Bergamin & Gomide.

Antoine Catala, Family Image installation

On the Nova sector, which focuses on art created within the past three years, I'm keeping an eye on New York-based gallery 47 Canal that is presenting works by Antoine Catala and Gregory Edwards, as well as Los Angeles-based gallery Cherry and Martin that is bringing Nathan Mabry and Bernard Piffareti. 

A detail from GCC's installation  "A Wonderful World Under Construction" 

And on the Positions sector, which is aimed at presenting new talent commissioned with a specific project, I'm quite interested in seeing what the Middle-Eastern collective GCC will put together with London gallery Project Native Informant. The installation is called "A Wonderful World Under Construction" and is inspired by what countries could do if they provided branding as a public service. 

Renderings of the entrance of Design Miami created by the students of the Harvard Graduate School of Design 

Outside of the Miami Beach Convention Center, Design Miami teamed up with the Harvard Graduate School of Design to produce an entrance installation called "Unbuilt," forming a canopy of foam models suspended on steel bars. 

NADA Art Fair will now be hosted at the Fontainebleau Hotel, and Miami Project will now be at the Deauville (where NADA took place until last year). 

The Moore Building 

One of the shows that excites me the most is the one that Jeffrey Deitch is putting together with Larry Gagosian. "Unrealism" will take up 20,000 sq. ft. inside of the historical Moore Building and will be focused on figurative works and sculptures.

The Roller Disco installation created by AVAF for Faena 

Wynwood Walls will unveil new murals including one by Crash and one by Ryan McGiness, and the Faena Hotel will open with great fanfare and will include a roller disco installation by assume vivid astro focus (AVAF).

Nir Hod's "The Night You Left" 

Nautilus is the brand new Miami hotel by Sixty, and Artsy commissioned Katherine Bernhardt, Dan Colen, Mira Dancy, Eddie Peake and Chloe Wise to paint inside and around the hotel's pool. Also at Nautilus,  Paul Kasmin Shop will partner with Maison de Mode for a pop-up presenting an interactive installation of Nir Hod’s “The Night You Left,” colored-mirror hand-painted unique pieces.

Robert Lazzarini's Mural in progress at 1 Hotel.  

 1 Hotel will have large scale site-specific installations in partnership with Architectural Digest.  Carlos Rolon/Dzine and Robert Lazzarini will be among the group of artists for this project.  

Nari Ward, Land, 2002-present

The Perez Art Museum has recently opened solo shows for Nari Ward and Firelei Baez, the museum is expansive, bright and airy and the short but impressive track record of this institution makes me think that these shows are worth seeing in person. 

The MoMA Design Store partnered with the Andy Warhol Foundation to present a pop-up inside the Delano hotel showcasing an immersive installation of skateboards with Warhol's work. 

I think there is enough here to keep people busy for a month, except there is only one week to soak it all in.  Have fun, remember that nobody can see everything, be open to new experiences, and collect the artists you love.