Aqua Art Miami's opening night party Thursday. Photo by Angie Hargot

Art Sells
Art Sales During Art Basel Miami Beach Exceed Expectations

By Lee Molloy

The trendy, the edgy and the just plain wacky descended on Miami Beach and Wynwood by the thousands this week for the most important art event on the continent, Art Basel Miami Beach, and its parallel fairs.

In Wynwood, beset by slim cut suits, a fedora or three, and the fanciest sneakers, the gentlemen mingled with perfectly unkempt ladies in faux combat boots and stilettoed urban bohemian chic.

Well dressed, but buying art?

Jaq Chartier, Co-Director of the Aqua Art Miami and Gen Art Vanguard fairs in Wynwood, says the fair had a great first day.

“There definitely seems like there is a lot more interest this year” from buyers, but “galleries are not really expecting anything” she said.

According to Chartier, many of the exhibitors are trying to make connections and are thinking more about the long term. “Expectations are pretty realistic,” she said. However, many of the guests at Aqua’s opening night party on Thursday night were expected to return to the fair to pick up a piece of pop surrealism at a later stage.

Chartier is optimistic about 2010, because although previous exhibitors may have only come as guests this year, they are already asking about next year’s show. “They look like they want to do it again,” she said.

SCOPE Art Show has also reported stellar sales, and just blocks away at Fountain Miami, fair director David Kesting couldn’t be happier.

“The press/VIP thing went really well,” Kesting told The Lead. “Better than we expected.”

Fountain Miami is already making money from the show. After just one day “close to half the galleries sold work,” says Kesting. Which means that the show is doing really well and can be expected to be back in Miami next year.

“Hopefully today we will see a lot more sales,” Kesting said Friday morning.

Meanwhile, in Miami Beach, Art Center of South Florida artists are reporting selling several pieces per day. At the main fair at the Miami Beach Convention Center, dealers happily dragged still more pieces from their backrooms, slicing their plastic wrappers open for interested buyers.

At the Deauville Beach Resort at 6701 Collins Ave., The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair is also seeing a good crowd of quality buyers. Unlike some of the other fairs, NADA is a not-for-profit that operates more like a co-operative for the dealers and exhibitors taking part.

“We don’t really have to make money off this fair,” Director Heather Hubbs told The Lead. “But we’re doing well.”

That may be an understatement though, as the fair has resulted in “lots of sales” and some of the booths have already sold out their stock in the first day.

As a result of the success so far, Hubbs says she is very much looking forward to the next few days.

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