Art Fairs: Art Basel Miami, SCOPE Art, Pulse, et al

As the latest incantation of the Miami art fairs commence, I recall how art fairs in general were greeted about five or ten years ago.  Critics and artists vilified the attempt to cram dozens of pieces, without a gallery context, into a small booth, lined next to other booths, where droves of collectors or those curious could pause or just walk by with a passing glance.

But with a growing importance of the internet in art buying, art fairs seems to offer a more appropriate way of looking these days.  It allows for galleries to go “virtual” and pop up, and gives artists more exposure for three days then they might have in a six-week New York exhibition.

Art Basel Miami, and the satellite fairs, have changed South Florida into an full fledged art destination for December–and beyond.  True, galleries west of Biscayne are sleepy during the rest of the year, and some have retracted, but private collections are in full force, even if its an effort of one-up-man-ship.  Is there another city that has so many mini-museums dedicated to the collectors collection?