Under the care of artistic director Omar López-Chahoud, Untitled Art has returned to Miami Beach at Ocean Drive and 12th Street for its 11th edition (open to the public from November 29—December 3), where more than 140 galleries and art spaces are in attendance, representing 31 countries. Backed by a goal of diversifying and supporting the art ecosystem at large, the fair has selected presenters who are sharing the work of undiscovered and acclaimed creatives alike, seen across a lineup complete with booth presentations, performances, site-specific installations, and the second iteration of the Nest sector.
Vilebrequin’s booth at Untitled Art 2022.
Situated right on the shores of Miami Beach, Whitewall joined the flood of guests in attendance for the fair’s first preview of 2022. After snagging a copy of Whitewaller Miami, our first stop was at the Vilebrequin booth, where the luxury apparel maison and JRP | Editions are presenting their wearable collections with artists like Kenny Scharf, Sylvie Fleury, and John M Armleder. Heading into the rows of booths, we saw dynamic presentations from art spaces encompassing works in all mediums, ranging from intimately-scaled wall-hanging paintings and photographs to larger-than-life sculptures, immersive installations complete with furniture, and even digital works presented via projectors or groupings of small tablets.
First to catch our eye were the archival pigment prints of John Divola, on view with Yancey Richardson Gallery. A scene from the vantage point of a broken window, curtains flailing in the wind, captured the seaside scene in crisp colors recalling the works of surrealist masters. Nearby, in the booth of Makasiini Contemporary, a bubbly steel figure by Kimmo Schroderus titled Fourth Thought sat centrally in the booth, its reflective surface taking in the colors of the large-scale canvases on the surrounding walls.
John Divola, “Zuma #3,” 1977, archival pigment pring, 40 x 50 inches; courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
Presented by the Istanbul and Berlin-based art space Zilberman, Pedro Gómez-Egaña’s kinetic installation The Believers was a curious sight that warranted a second look. A seemingly ordinary domestic tableau (a dining table set with dishes, cutlery, and a laptop) was filled with rips and holes from a series of small weighted balls that swung from wires hung overhead, appearing to bore straight through the objects. Meanwhile, the works of Andrea Kamini Parikh, Yam Shalev, Jude Hughes,and Roxanne Jackson were presented by the New York-based Room57 Gallery. Offering a playful, immersive space complete with an Astroturf floor, the booth saw Shalev’s vibrantly-painted picnic scenes lining the walls, while design objects like Hughes’s Fat Family lights, a hand-tufted carpet from Kamini Parikh, and Jackson’s bright, food-centric ceramics gave us the urge to dine al fresco.
Further down the aisles, Sthenjwa Luthuli inspired awe with enormous carved compositions (measuring 72 x 54 inches) painted with lithography ink, on view with Cape Town’s WHATIFTHEWORLD. In the group presentation by Los Angeles art space Steve Turner, Tiger Rocha’s tiny painted portraits caught our eye with the artist’s thoughtful employment of muted kaleidoscopic hues. Featured in the booth of Fabienne Levy (based in Lausanne, Switzerland), the paintings of Ekene Emeka-Maduka remain etched in our minds for their expressive storytelling and gorgeous use of highlight and shadows, depicting scenes like a woman in a face mask, telephone in hand as she stares at her refrigerator, or a panel with four strips almost like a comic, suggesting a narrative loaded with emotion.
Sthenjwa Luthuli, “Uthingo,” 2022, Hand carved superwood block and oil based off set lithography ink, 72 x 54 inches; courtesy of the artist and WHATIFTHEWORLD.
Fairgoers should also look out for presentations like a colorful group show by the Dallas-based Galleri Urbane, a trio exhibition featuring the work of Drew Weech, Heino Schmid, and Blue Curry at the booth of Nassau’s TERN Gallery, the soothing geometry of Espacio Valverde’s (Madrid) presentation, and the stained glass-reminiscent works of Amir H. Fallah, on view with the Athens art space Dio Horia.
Installation view of Kimmo Schroderus’s “Fourth Thought” (2022) in Makasiini Contemporary’s booth at Untitled Art 2022; courtesy of the artist and Makasiini Contemporary.
