Miami’s Original Art Fair Unveils Its First Production of Aqua Art Miami at South Beach Hotel and Its Second Edition of CONTEXT
Art Miami, the city’s longest-running contemporary and modern art fair, will return for its 24thedition during Art Week, Dec. 3 through Dec. 8, 2013. The anchor fair for the City of Miami has expanded to include two additional contemporary art fairs: CONTEXT in a 45,000-square-foot pavilion adjacent to Art Miami in the Wynwood Arts District; and Aqua Art Miami at the Aqua Hotel on Collins Avenue in South Beach.
World-renowned for its refined ambience, consummate quality and accessible fdiversity, Art Miami now encompasses all 
levels of the international contemporary art market: from the modern masterpieces and blue-chip contemporary works at Art Miami, to the cutting-edge pieces by rising and mid-career talents at CONTEXT, as well as the latest output from emerging artists ripe for discovery at Aqua Art Miami. The purchase of eight-year-old Aqua during Art Week 2012 brought the perennially popular satellite into the fold of Art Miami LLC, which is retaining Aqua’s relaxed, youthful vibe while providing the amenities, infrastructure and collector base that have become signatures of its other fairs.
“Aqua embraces emerging talent, acting as an incubator for CONTEXT and Art Miami, and introducing collectors and curators to fresh faces whose exciting work complements the pieces by more established artists that they are already displaying,” says Nick Korniloff, Director of Art Miami LLC. “We can now provide our loyal international collector base with opportunities to acquire works of art at the highest level from all categories of the contemporary market.”
Aqua also gives Art Miami a foothold on the beach, conveniently serving art collectors, professionals and enthusiasts on both sides of the Intracoastal Waterway, connected by shuttle buses and multiple-day passes for entrance to all three fairs. On the mainland at the Midtown Miami complex, the juxtaposition of 125 galleries at Art Miami with 65 at CONTEXT - hailing from 15 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, as well as from all around the United States – forms a comprehensive art community spanning 250,000 square feet. The 2012 debut of this world-class pairing in the Wynwood Arts District attracted a record-breaking 60,000 visitors and generated sales of more than $50 million.
Art Miami and CONTEXT will present a series of special exhibitions curated by Julia Draganović, Elena Forin and Claudia Löffelholz of LaRete Art Projects. CHECK OUT will install captivating and provocative sculptures, displayed by selected exhibitors, in prime positions inside as well as outside, between and in front of, the neighboring pavilions. THINK BIG will give artists participating in Art Miami space to stretch out in the passageways linking the flagship fair’s three main pavilions, making solo statements bold not only in scale but also in vision and innovation.
ZOOM IN, the sixth annual Art Video | New Media Lounge, now located at CONTEXT, will focus on a single institution specializing in digital and moving images. Five galleries will also be invited to screen video works by artists that LaRete believes warrant a closer look. An independent jury of video art experts will view the pieces onsite and choose one artist to honor with the first annual Zoom In Award on Saturday, Dec. 7.
CONTEXT will once again offer insight into Berlin’s influential art scene with six contemporary galleries selected by a panel of expert curators and art critics. ART FROM BERLIN is presented by the Galleries Association of Berlin (LVBG) - with official support from the municipality of Berlin and the European Union (EU) – which will entertain and enlighten guests at the Berlin Lounge. This microcosm of the global art capital’s dynamic gallery community will include a cross-section of established and emerging exhibitors, each spotlighting two or three artists.
ART FROM BERLIN is a platform to introduce the Berlin art scene at international art markets throughout the world, organized by the Galleries Association of Berlin, landesverband berliner galerien (lvbg) The Galleries Association of Berlin, landesverband berliner galerien (lvbg), represents art galleries in Berlin culturally and economically, supporting the sustainable development of Berlin as an internationally recognized center for the arts. Members of the Gallery Association of Berlin (LVBG) show a comprehensive range of art from the 20th and 21st century, fostering and marketing the careers of living artists through exhibitions, publications and public relations. The association, which operates by the standard guidelines of the Federation of European Art Galleries Association (F.E.A.G.A.), is active in numerous committees of state-sponsored institutions for art and culture, and cultivates networking activities among many associates in the arts.
These participating galleries in 2013 will present the following artists:
Galerie Berlin: Christoph Bouet & Stefan Reichmann
Galerie Kornfeld: Franziska Klotz, Susanne Roewer and Alexander Polzin
Galerie Kuhn & Partner: Birgit Borggrebe, Christoph Damm and Andrea Wallgren
Schmalfuss Berlin contemporary fine arts: Anke Eilergerhard, Stefan Hoenerloh and Bodo Korsig
Swedish Photography: Dawid, Malou Bergman and Inka & Niclas
Tammen & Partner: Dietmar Brixy, Volker März and Werner Schmidt
The galleries were chosen from a pool of applicants by a jury comprised of:
Brigitte Werneburg – art critic for Die Tageszeitung (taz)
Dr. Matthias Harder – curator of the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin
Kit Schulte – gallerist & member of the lvbg managing board
The BERLIN LOUNGE will be the hub of ART FROM BERLIN at CONTEXT, where lvbg provides insight into this art metropolis, offering information on the city’s contemporary art galleries, institutions and museums. Berlin has become a global art capital, with 400 galleries and about 200 museums, institutions and showrooms for contemporary art, in addition to countless studios where artists from every origin imaginable create influential works that are exhibited at museums, galleries and art fairs around the world.
CONTEXT will take place from December 3rd to 8th, 2013, in a freestanding 45,000-square-foot pavilion directly adjacent to the Art Miami pavilion in the Midtown Miami complex surrounded by the renowned Wynwood Arts District; the two fairs will be joined by an outdoor café, lounge and curated open-air art exhibition. See more at http://www.contextartmiami.com.
Across the water, the intimate rooms overlooking the Art Deco courtyard of the Aqua Hotel will be transformed by 47 exhibitors, including galleries, artist projects, an educational institution, and winners of the ArtSlant Prize. A widely respected online magazine and network for contemporary art, ArtSlant is holding a yearlong contest to choose several artists from an open call narrowed down by an international panel of art world luminaries. A media lounge will greet visitors to Aqua, and curatorial interventions will confront them at unexpected turns.
Art Miami and CONTEXT will kick off Art Week on Tuesday, Dec. 3, with the annual must-see VIP Preview, attended by 11,000 art connoisseurs last year. The beneficiary will once again be the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), opening concurrently in a grand new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building on the downtown waterfront. This exclusive evening will serve as the first opportunity for discerning collectors to acquire the most coveted works of art available from the 20th and 21st centuries a day before the fairs open to the general public.
The opening of Aqua Art Miami has become the traditional Wednesday destination of influential collectors and art professionals who migrate en masse from Art Basel Miami Beach’s Vernissage at the Miami Beach Convention Center a short walk away. The lively atmosphere encourages many to linger late in the hotel’s inviting open spaces – and this Dec. 4 will be even more festive with entertaining surprises in store.
ART MIAMI and CONTEXT
Opening Night / VIP Preview: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, 5:30 to 10 p.m.
Benefiting the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
Exclusively for VIP cardholders and members of the press
General Admission Dates: Wednesday, Dec. 4, and Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013,
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 6, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 7,
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: One-day fair pass for only Art Miami & CONTEXT $35
Multi-day fair pass for Art Miami, CONTEXT and Aqua Art Miami $70
To learn more, and register to be eligible for VIP Status visit www.art-miami.com and www.contextartmiami.com
AQUA ART MIAMI
Opening Night / VIP Preview: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, 4 to 11 p.m.
Exclusively for VIP cardholders and members of the press
General Admission Dates: Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: One-day fair pass for only Aqua Art Miami $15
Multi-day fair pass for Aqua Art Miami, Art Miami and CONTEXT $70
For further details, visit www.aquaartmiami.com
Art Miami LLC is a partnership consisting of art and media industry veterans Nick Korniloff, Mike Tansey and Brian Tyler. In addition to the three fairs during Miami Art Week, the company annually produces Art Wynwood during Presidents Day weekend in February and Art Southampton in July. Art Miami LLC recently announced the launch of Art Silicon Valley/Art San Francisco in October 2014.
Filed under: Arts & Culture Tagged: Aqua Art Miami at the Aqua Hotel, ART FROM BERLIN, Art Miami, Art Miami LLC, Claudia Löffelholz, CONTEXT, Elena Forin, Julia Draganović, Nick Korniloff, Wynwood Arts District 
