By Skip Sheffield
The eyes of the art world will on the greater Miami area for the next week starting Thursday, Dec. 1. It is the triumphant 10th season for Art Basil Miami Beach Dec. 1-4, with ancillary events before and after.
Art Basel Miami Beach is an offshoot of Art Basel in Switzerland, which was founded in 1970 and by 1973, had become the largest art show in the world.
Art Basel Miami Beach has become hands-down the most important art event in America. The title is a bit misleading now, because Art Basel Miami Beach has branched out from its headquarters at Miami Beach Convention Center to a number of other Miami Beach locations.
A few years ago, the event jumped Biscayne Bay to the Miami mainland, which is where you will find some of the youngest and most exciting arts in the Design District north of Julia Tuttle Causeway (I-195) and the new Wynwood area to the south.
The good news for the arts is that many of the Miami displays are free. Admission to the Miami Beach Convention Center is $40 one-day, $55 for a combination pass to Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami, and $85 for a permanent pass. Seniors 62 and up are $23 and an evening ticket from 4 p.m. on is $28.
Inside the convention center are galleries ranging from A to Z, from all over the world — more than 300 leading galleries in all. Last year, 62,500 people attended the show, and a third of these were visitors to our area.
Lena Luckey is an artist who has been invited to show her work for the first time at Art Basel.
“It is such an honor to be asked,” she said at her artist’s studio. “I am very excited to be part of such a prestigious international event.”
Though based in Fort Lauderdale, Luckey is an international artist. Born in Prague, Czech Republic, her works are carried in galleries there and in Germany, Switzerland, France, Morocco, Bali, Montreal and New York. Her work may be seen locally at Village Studio Gallery, 514 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach.
Lena Luckey’s work may be seen in Miami Solo booths 207-211 as part of the 22nd Art Miami and Red Dot Art of Miami and New York.
“There will be all kinds of parties, concerts and special events,” says Luckey. “For me it is an opportunity to get exposure all over the world at one location.”
Stories like Luckey’s will be shared by hundreds, even thousands of artists who will benefit from all the attention. It is estimated that more than 2,000 artists from the 20th and 21st centuries will be represented in the Miami area from dozens of venues.
For more information, go to www.artbaselmiamibeach.com or call Robert Goodman at 305-674-1292. For information on Lena Luckey go to www.luckeyart.com.