ARTS AND CULTURE MIAMI’S REINVENTION
HOW MIAMI WORKED ITS MAGIC With three world-class art fairs, Florida’s biggest city has secured its place on the cultural map – now buyers are vying not just for the artworks, but for an address to go with them BY N O R M A N M I L L ER
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ARTS AND CULTURE MIAMI’S REINVENTION
“Miami’s two-decade transformation has seen contemporary art weave into the city’s very fabric – world-class graffiti and Pop Art landmarks mingle throughout its streets.”
Main image: Shy VIII (2010) by Antony Gormley, courtesy of Art Basel. Above: Graffiti at Wynwood Walls, Miami, photos by Ian Cox 2011
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ARTS AND CULTURE MIAMI’S REINVENTION
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ontemporary art is a tried-and-tested way of transforming a home, but how about a whole city? Step forward Miami – a onetime beacon of glitzy beach-focused hedonism has become one of the world’s premier contemporary art destinations. Things kick-started two decades ago with Art Miami – a fledgling art fair that saw pioneering dealers including Fredric Snitzer, Gary Nader, Dora Valdes-Fauli, Jorge Sori, and Virginia Miller using art spaces to bring new life to areas like Coral Gables. Meanwhile, Design Miami weighed in on the local scene in 2005, arguably becoming the world’s leading showcase for museum-quality 20th- and 21st-century furniture and other decor objets under the banner of “collectible design”. The game-changer, though, was the 2002 arrival of Art Basel Miami Beach, a transatlantic winter offshoot of the prestigious art fair held in Switzerland each June. This cultural extravaganza is the most important art show in the US, bringing over 250 key global galleries and dealers, alongside major collectors, to Miami each December. Its presence, however, lasts far longer than the duration of the fair. “Every gallery and institution plans their best shows during Art Basel,” notes Terence Riley, former director of the Miami Art Museum, “but they generally stay up for months afterwards. It’s a time to see international, museum-quality art.” Such prestigious art fairs, as well as a corresponding influx of cultured high-spenders, have been the catalyst for Miami’s cultural makeover. “Art Basel revived Miami,” says Rick Moeser, Senior Vice President of Southeastern USA for Christie’s International Real Estate. “It encouraged new developments and the restoration of historical properties.” STREETS AHEAD
Take Wynwood. In the past decade, empty spaces and cheap rents in this former industrial district have attracted around 70 galleries, from alternative spots like the tiny Spinello with its “street cool” focus on graffiti and graphic artists to international names like Emmanuel Perrotin, an offshoot of the renowned Paris gallery, housed in a former refrigerator warehouse. Wynwood’s Second Saturday evening gallery walk has become a monthly Miami must-do, with hundreds of happy aesthetes taking in the latest exhibitions while refueling at the gourmet food carts clustered by the outdoor street-art showcase, Wynwood Walls. Wynwood is also home to two of the major private collections that are unique selling points of the Miami artscape – the Rubell Family Collection, with its ever-expanding post-Warhol overview, and the world-class collection of modern photography, video, installation, and sculpture on show at The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse. Just to the south, 18
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Above, clockwise from top left: A culture lover at Art Basel Miami Beach; Richard Jackson’s The Blue Room at the Rubell Family Collection during last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach; Wynwood Walls Kitchen & Bar is filled with murals; William Tucker’s The Rim (1961) at The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse. Opposite, from top: Lincoln Road is now an on-trend location – so much so that this garage, 1111 Lincoln Road, is used as an events venue; Frank Gehry’s New World Symphony Concert Hall, which opened last year; Miami’s high life can be enjoyed in the Venetian Penthouse, listed at $6 million.
meanwhile, philanthropist Ella Cisneros’s CIFO gallery includes a globally renowned Latin American collection, while a few blocks north, the de la Cruz Collection is a jewel of the Design District. Like Wynwood, the Design District is a barometer of the power of contemporary art at work in Miami. Over the past 10 years, the coolness quotient of these Midtown blocks has risen steadily, transforming the area from the epitome of urban decay to a spectacular confluence of chic art and luxe design, where dozens of galleries mingle with high-end showrooms for the likes of Vitra, Louboutin, Hermès, and Dior. Crucially, many of the collectors behind Miami’s superb private galleries – Martin Margulies, Rosa de la Cruz, Don and Mera Rubell – are also in the property business, and therefore hyper-aware of the synergies between a vibrant art community and neighborhood desirability. “Contemporary art is the new glamour” is how de la Cruz put it in The New York Times in 2008, and as well as her eponymous gallery, she has provided free space in vacant offices and shops where young artists can make new work, and small galleries – such as her lowkey but influential Moore Space – can show it. Though Wynwood and the Design District hog the present-day spotlight, other areas began the trend. Miami-born developer Craig Robins and
ARTS AND CULTURE MIAMI’S REINVENTION
his company, Dacra, led the way with the late 1980s sprucing-up of South Beach’s Art Deco gems, followed by similar image-bolstering around Lincoln Road using a proven method – buy up rundown buildings then invite in the creative set to change the neighborhood vibe. And the small cuttingedge galleries have been followed by major venues, with the 2011 opening of Frank Gehry’s New World Symphony building providing grand icing on the Lincoln Road cake. The appearance in 2006 of the $470 million Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, meanwhile, served as another centerpiece for growth spurred by culture, kickstarting redevelopment of a nearby 56-acre rail yard and industrial area, which had previously lain desolate for years.
ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY NEW YORK, BARBARA FERNANDEZ/EYEVINE, MARGUILES COLLECTION, IWAN BAAN, MORIS MORENO
THE PRICE OF PRIME
Such arts-led regeneration hugely improves real estate as well as the cultural estate. Condos around the Design District now command up to $400 per square foot – almost double their 2007 level. In nearby Wynwood and the neighboring East Biscayne Boulevard corridor, prime new-builds are at similar price levels, though buyers still keen to get into the area can snap up bargains east of Biscayne Boulevard, where older buildings are still available for under $250 per square foot. While Miami’s art hotspots have shown excellent gains, they remain a bargain compared to established prime locations such as Miami Beach. Here, top-price houses are as much as $2,200 per square foot, while the best condos command up to $3,200 per square foot – though average prices in both categories for the area are between $600-$700 per square foot. Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell (EWM Realty International), an exclusive affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, currently has the six-bed Apogee Penthouse on South Beach, with a rooftop pool and panoramic views over the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, and the city, listed for a cool $25 million, while the two-bed Venetian Penthouse, on Venetian Causeway, Miami Beach, is listed at $6 million. The citywide market has also been bolstered by Miami’s new cultural sheen, showing healthy rises, while the rest of the US largely flatlines – in the 12 months ending June 2012, the average price per square foot of a Miami home rose 18 percent (from $222 to $263), and for condos an impressive 15 percent (from $299 to $343). Latin American influences have played a central role in the city’s renaissance, and commentators now dub Miami the art capital of Latin America on US soil. A plethora of local galleries focus year-round on artists from the region, while exhibitors at Art Basel Miami Beach often set out their stalls with top work from Latin America. Leading Paris-based dealer Chantal Crousel went so far as saying Latin >
“The Design District is a barometer of the power of contemporary art at work in Miami – once the epitome of urban decay, it is now a spectacular confluence of chic art and luxurious design.”
NEED TO KNOW
ART MIAMI > What? In its 23rd season, Art Miami is the longest-running contemporary art show in Miami, showcasing the best in modern art from more than 150 international art galleries. > Where? The Art Miami Pavilion in the Wynwood Arts District. > When? December 5-9. www.art-miami.com ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH > What? The most prestigious art show in the Americas, Miami Beach’s sun-soaked shoreline will showcase the work of more than 2,000 established and emerging artists. > Where? The Miami Beach Convention Center will be a focal point for exhibitions, while you can also see free, public exhibits on the beach and in nearby parks. > When? December 6-9. www.miamibeach.artbasel.com DESIGN MIAMI > What? As well as commercial exhibitions, expect a varied cultural program of lectures, performances, and satellite exhibitions to satisfy collectors and enthusiasts alike. > Where? The main venue is located opposite Art Basel, on Meridian Avenue and 19th Street. > When? December 5-9. www.designmiami.com
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ARTS AND CULTURE MIAMI’S REINVENTION
American collectors were “the reason we come to this fair.” Important collectors such as Argentina’s Juan Vergez and Patricia Pearson-Vergez are frequent attendees at the December fairs, along with buyers from other regional booming economies such as Brazil. Miami’s new-found prestige as a cultural powerhouse is reflected in the prices commanded by the art it sells. At 2011’s Art Miami VIP opening event alone, sales included a $1.5 million sculpture by Lynn Chadwick for London’s Osborne Samuel Gallery and $1.2 million for a Keith Haring work for Munich-based Galerie Terminus – while Day 2 saw Galerie Michael Schultz sell a Gerhard Richter painting for $2.5 million. Such six-figure purchases augmented what Art Miami director Nick Korniloff called “the most exciting and vibrant year of sales in our Fair’s history.”
CHRISTIE’S EXPERT’S VIEW
THE ARTISTIC DISTRICT
Again, property money has followed art money. “It’s no coincidence that record numbers of internationals have been purchasing real estate at the same time that Miami has been rapidly developing as a world-class cultural center,” says Ron Shuffield, president of EWM Realty International. “International buyers now represent almost 40 percent of every Miami home and condo sale.” In 2009, 17 percent of international buyers in the Miami area were from Venezuela alone. Its two-decade transformation has seen contemporary art spread throughout Miami, weaving into the very fabric of the city. The streets of Wynwood, for example, have become a globally renowned hotspot for world-class graffiti work, complementing the more widespread Pop Art pieces of Brazilian artist Romero Britto, which have become familiar landmarks on the city streets since his arrival in 1988. Meanwhile, Argentina-born, Miami-based architect and artist duo Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt’s 42-foot-tall, 2001 installation The Living Room on the corner of North Miami Avenue and 40th Street has become an iconic spot at the heart of the Design District. Art hotels have become another unique part of Miami’s cultural revolution. Sagamore and The Betsy present regular exhibitions by rising stars, while W South Beach hosts a string of events during Art Basel alongside its own $40m art collection, including works by Warhol, Damien Hirst, and JeanMichel Basquiat. Following the Miami trend, the W has also successfully hitched a property wagon to its visual-arts kudos, selling nearly $300m worth of condo-hotel residences since 2009. If you wanted a final sign of how much contemporary art has become part of Miami’s DNA, head along to the city’s newest major sports arena. Marlins Park comes adorned with works by Joan Miró, Roy Lichtenstein, and Larry River, among others, while an eye-popping sculpture by multimedia artist Red Grooms lights up the left field 20
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Above, from top: Swing (2006) by Winter & Hörbelt, in the lobby of Sagamore hotel; Behar & Marquardt’s outdoor installation, The Living Room (2001).
with giant pink flamingos and bright leaping fish every time a Marlins baseball star slugs a homer. Miami isn’t resting on its contemporary-art laurels though. A dramatic new Herzog & de Meurondesigned pavilion is rising on Biscayne Bay to provide a new expanded home for the Miami Art Museum, set to open in fall 2013. Built on land provided by the City of Miami, this new cultural beacon has been paid for by a combination of the ordinary citizens of MiamiDade County and wealthy art patrons, including an individual donation of $35m by leading Latin American art collector Jorge M Pérez, which bagged him the naming rights. The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) will be an anchor of a landmark new Museum Park on the shoreline, a glorious oceanside 29 acres that will include sculpture-dotted public gardens – yet another marker in Miami’s reinvention as America’s seaside art paradise. Norman Miller writes on art and real estate for The Times, Guardian, and National Geographic Traveler.
Palm trees, beautiful beaches, Art Deco, modernism, mojitos, and an embracing and relaxed social fabric. It is no surprise that the Art Basel organizers chose Miami as their only US venue. Every December, Miamians welcome visitors into their homes offering countless choices for home and privatecollection tours. The week of the fair revolves around a fluid schedule of events at the Convention Center, private collections, and cocktail parties. Make room to visit the Design District and its stylish shops and restaurants, stopping at Locust Projects – the not-for-profit venue provides space for artists to create without the limits imposed by galleries. And don’t miss the de la Cruz Collection, always home central for the best art lectures in town. A few blocks south, feast on urban art at Wynwood Walls where you’ll be mesmerized by the work of the great graffiti artists, such as Ryan McGinness, Shepard Fairey, AVAF, and Os Gemeos. While in Wynwood, I suggest that you visit two of my favorite galleries – Alejandra von Hartz and David Castillo – as well as the Margulies and the Rubell Family Collections. Your week in Miami should also include visits to the Bass and the Wolfsonian Museums (both on the beach). The latter has a very special collection of objects, which illustrate the power of modern art and design. Traveling on to North Miami, MOCA is hosting the US premiere of Bill Viola’s exhibition of screen works and projections. Vivian Pfeiffer, Regional Director Miami, Christie’s
CRICKET TAPLIN COLLECTION AT THE SAGAMORE HOTEL, MASSIMO VITALI, R+R STUDIOS
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