5 minute read
A WOVEN WORLD VIEW
Ugandan art sensation Acaye Kerunen makes her North American debut at Art Basel Miami Beach this fall
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IT'S ONLY NATURAL From left: a portrait of artist Acaye Kerunen and two mixed-media works from 2021 that were inspired by the traditional crafts of her native Uganda— Banange and Bamutenda!.
“E xperiencing Acaye Kerunen’s work for the first time in Venice was an absolute revelation,” says gallerist Tim Poe, of Blum & Poe, which has outposts in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. “Her multidimensional view of the world—of collaboration, of community, of sustainability, of beauty, collectively the best that art can bring to the world—has been pure magic.” The Kampala-based Kerunen has virtually taken the art world by storm since April, with the opening of “Radiance: They Dream in Time,” an exhibition in the inaugural Uganda pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale, which runs through November 27. Curated by Shaheen Merali, the presentation features a suite of what the artist calls “meditations on the intricacies of natural systems,” which draw heavily on ancestral knowledge and the craft traditions of her native Uganda, the works having been forged of natural materials: banana fiber, raffia, reeds, and palm leaves, locally sourced from the wetlands around Nalubaale (Lake Victoria) and the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. The incorporation of such
traditional materials, says Kerunen, “speaks to a resilient culture, the art of cultivation, and the importance of living with a conscious relation to the land, working to regenerate an environment that is being depleted by exploitation, insensitive development, and climate change.”
On November 29, the artist will make her North American debut at Art Basel Miami Beach, where Blum & Poe is presenting a solo show of her rich tapestries made of baskets and other woven works. “The breadth and depth of her vertically integrated practice,” Poe observes, “is truly inspirational and electric. I am thrilled to share her vision to the larger world, in collaboration, and honored to be working with our colleagues at Pace and Galerie Kandlhofer, who joined us in bringing the artist into our respective rosters this past September.” —AMHS
Miami Art Week
MIAMI BEACH
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH
November 29–30 (Preview) December 1–3 1901 Convention Center Drive artbasel.com/miami-beach
AQUA ART MIAMI
November 30–December 4 Aqua Hotel 1530 Collins Avenue aquaartmiami.com
DESIGN MIAMI
November 29–30 (Preview) November 30–December 4 Convention Center Drive & 19th Street designmiami.com
INK MIAMI ART FAIR (IFPDA)
November 30–December 4 Suites of Dorchester 1850 Collins Avenue inkartfair.com
SATELLITE ART FAIR
November 29–December 4 Indian Beach Park 4601 Collins Avenue satellite-show.com
SCOPE MIAMI BEACH
November 29 (Invitation Only) November 30–December 4 Ocean Drive at 8th Street scope-art.com
UNTITLED ART MIAMI BEACH
November 28 (VIP Preview) November 29–December 3 Ocean Drive & 12th Street untitledartfairs.com
MIAMI
ART MIAMI
November 29 (VIP Preview) November 30–December 4 One Herald Plaza www.artmiami.com
CONTEXT ART MIAMI
November 29 (VIP Preview) November 30–December 4 One Herald Plaza contextartmiami.com
MIAMI RIVER ART FAIR
November 30 (VIP Preview) December 1 The Penthouse Riverside Wharf 125 SW North River Drive miamiriverartfair.com
NADA MIAMI
November 30–December 3 Ice Palace Studios 1400 North Miami Avenue newartdealers.org
PINTA MIAMI
November 29–December 4 225 NE 34th Street miami.pinta.art
PRIZM 2022
November 29–December 11 4220 N. Miami Ave prizm.art
RED DOT MIAMI
November 30 (VIP Preview) December 1–4 Mana Wynwood 2217 NW 5th Avenue redwoodartgroup.com/reddot-miami
SPECTRUM MIAMI
November 30 (VIP Preview) December 1–4 Mana Wynwood 2217 NW 5th Avenue redwoodartgroup.com/ spectrum-miami
Eye on Design
Salon Art + Design makes a robust return to the Park Avenue Armory this November
“T his edition of Salon Art + Design will be our most international yet— with galleries from India, Egypt, Lebanon, and China joining our formidable lineup of exhibitors from the Americas, Europe, and Britain,” says fair director Jill Bokor. The highly anticipated event dedicated to all things design steps off November 10 with a roster of more than 50 galleries, including stalwarts Maison Gerard, Galerie Chastel-Maréchal, Friedman Benda, Moderne Gallery, R & Company, and Vallois, and newcomers Armel Soyer, Boccara Art, Galerie Artempo, Galerie Carole Decombe, Galerie Scène Ouverte, Galerie Yves Gastou, Garde, Le Lab, and Mindy Solomon Gallery.
When asked about new design trends that will be readily noticeable in this year’s offering, Bokor tells Avenue, “There is a discernable sense of calm and tranquility imparted by the objects being presented.” The current craving for pale tones and clean lines, she explains, “is surely a quest for serenity borne out of the Covid chaos of the past several years and the fact that people are spending far more time in their domestic spaces as they revel in a more flexible business environment. We are also seeing a certain maximalism in terms of the scale of the pieces.”
—Jill Bokor
SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME Clockwise from above: Wave L, 2022, a sculpture by contemporary Danish artist Helle Damkjaer, will be presented by Galerie Carole Decombe; a mohair textile work, Spaghettification: Tested by Throwing Against Wall, 2020, by Misha Kahn will be at the stand of Friedman Benda; and Araba Fenice, a unique sculpture by Toni Zuccheri for the Venini glassworks in Venice, will be in the Donzella booth. Facing page: a handsomely scaled Totem light designed by Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth of the New Delhibased design firm Klove Studio.
Among this year’s highlights, says Bokor, is a suite of magnificent “totemic lighting” installations by Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth of the New Delhi-based design firm Klove Studio, which will be presented throughout the exhibition hall as the luminous, tribally inspired blown-glass and mixed-media works are simply too massive to fit in an individual booth.
Beyond the fair itself, says Bokor, discerning visitors would be wise to take in some of the talks and panel discussions with design visionaries from around the globe, including Tony Freund, the editorial director for 1stDibs. —AMHS
