Seven Standouts at NADA Miami 2021

Of note this year was Curated Spotlight, a special section curated by Ebony L. Haynes. Support from TD Bank allowed for eight galleries to bring artist solo presentations, many of which were highlights of the fair. Like the work of Adee Roberson, presented against a light purple backdrop, complimenting bright abstract and screen-printed familial scenes at Dominque Gallery.

Also in the Curated Spotlight was Melissa Joseph’s range of pieces in mediums like ceramic, needle felted wool, and works on paper presented by Regular Normal. We loved discovering upon a pedestal in the middle of the booth, intimate portraits and moments surprisingly captured in needle felted wool set within glossy glazed ceramic vessels.

Joel Gaitan’s installation with KDR305 (also part of the Curated Spotlight) was unmissable—its terracotta pink painting and shelving being perfect for a suite of terracotta vessels beautifully made into characters bursting with vibrant personalities.

We loved at Gaa Gallery the interplay of Anina Major’s spiky and woven ceramics and Wilder Alison’s dyed wool wall works—their sharp geometry playing in contrast with the organic bleeding of color on fabric.

Mother Gallery’s presentation of a series of new paintings by Jenny Morgan was serene. Shades of green deftly depict folds of fabric, skin, and otherworldly scenes. Morgan’s The Setting, moves from haunting to portrait into a trippy, fractal dreamscape.

JDJ presented work by Noel W. Anderson, Barrow Parke, Barnett Cohen, Heather Guertin, Lucia Love, Sharon Madone, Nico Stone, and Shino Takeda. Center stage was wallpaper by Barrow Parke, which complemented and clashed with the artists own work on canvas and in frame, as well as paintings by Love, Guertin, and a ceramic piece by Takeda.

EMBAJADA and KM 0.2’s booth was a total trip—specifically to outerspace. Titled “EARTH IS A SINKING SHIP,” it featured a range of objects and pieces by names like Rebecca Adorno, Taína Cruz, Sofía Gallisá, Simon Vega, Lulu Varona, Eliza Sile, and many more were set against a deep blue, accented by shards of mirror and intergalactic neon.

With just under two decades in Miami, NADA remains the best fair to see new work by who’s next.