Bill Arning with artist Jan Rattia in front of the artist’s large portrait photographs at the 13th edition of Aqua Art Miami. Image: Cindy Lisica Gallery

ART FAIR

Galleries continue to count their blessings after Aqua Art Miami, an art fair that saw an increase in the sale of artworks by emerging and mid-career artists.

BY KAZAD

Robert Browning, Smoke and Hedges. Oil on canvas 30×24. Image: Glave Kocen Gallery

MIAMI, FL – More than 11,500 collectors, curators, art advisors, artists and museum professionals were at this year’s Aqua Art Miami, the sister satellite fair to Art Miami. This is in addition to the more than 3,750 prestigious art collectors, connoisseurs, advisors and notable museum professionals at the VIP Preview. This is the 13th edition of the fair held at the Aqua Hotel

The five-day fair is celebrated for its incredible success through the years, and this year’s event was no exception.  It brought together a selection of 52 international galleries that presented emerging and mid-career artists from around the world.  Fair Director, Grela Orihuela, who carefully curated the Aqua Art Miami fair, ensured that collectors, artists, and art lovers got the ultimate experience. Not surprising, numerous galleries reported strong sales throughout the fair with works by Max Zorn, Bernadette Despujols, Emilie Duval and Rock Therrien proving to be in high demand.

The conducive atmosphere and the impressive sale recorded during the fair Aqua Art Miami continues to solidify it as a completely unique fair with mass appeal for those looking to procure works by young, emerging and mid-career artists. “Aqua gives young artists and galleries the opportunity to engage with an international group of collectors and an ebullient audience through Miami Art Week,” said Grela Orihuela, Director of Aqua Art Miami and Art Wynwood.

Alvaro Perez, Director, Black Ship echo Orihuela view.  He noted:

Aqua Art Miami is very well suited to my artists and my clientele due to the price point, the environment and the fairs overall aesthetics. Our pieces were beautifully displayed and complimented the hotels look very well. I really enjoyed the intimacy of the fair, and thought the harmony between the guests and the exhibitors was very in tune. Our clients responded very well and we placed many of the pieces we brought with us.

Aqua Art Miami is not just the fair for those looking to acquire artworks by young, emerging and mid-career artists: it also provides opportunities for artists to interact with collectors and curators. Some of the notable guests seen throughout the week included Helga Piaget, Kara Ross, Janna Bullock, Bill Arning, Director, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Don Bacigalupi, Founding President, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Gabriel Groisman, Mayor of Bal Harbour, Wendy Kaplan, Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Alex Nyerges. Others included Director, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Eric Shiner, Vice President, Modern and Contemporary Art Sales at Sotheby’s New York, Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design & Fashion, ‎The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, Kandi Burruss from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Matt Altman and Josh Altman – The Altman Brothers from Million Dollar Listing, and Shawn Marion.

Alvaro Perez, Director, Black Ship describes Aqua Art Miami thus:

Aqua Art Miami is very well suited to my artists and my clientele due to the price point, the environment and the fairs overall aesthetics. Our pieces were beautifully displayed and complimented the hotels look very well. I really enjoyed the intimacy of the fair, and thought the harmony between the guests and the exhibitors was very in tune. Our clients responded very well and we placed many of the pieces we brought with us.”

Many of the galleries at this year’s Aqua Art Miami were able to the works of their artists in from of collectors who added some of the works to their collection.

Here are some of the sale highlights at the Aqua Art Miami:

Robin Whiteman, Messenger 2015. Detail. Porcelain 10 x 4.5 x 2 inches. Image: Exhibit A

• Stick Together Gallery placed all of Max Zorn’s new collection with the sales valued at over $100,000.
•  BP Project sold ten pieces by Maryam Alakbarli – a young female artist with Down Syndrome whose fans include Juliette Binoche, John Travolta, Gérard Depardieu, for $40,000.
• Black Ship and &gallery placed several works including Love Is No Game by Bernadette Despujols for $22,000 as well as two Love Dolls by the same artist; a Valeria Krasavina installation for $5,000; Bling Blmg Big by Keyser Siso, and Leslie Chacon’s 11-piece Seaside Series collection entitled Caribbean Seaside Imagery for $13,000.
• Galerie LeRoyer placed five works by Rock Therrien including OMG, ROCKETMAN, PORN STAR, BACK OFF and WTF totaling sales of $18,000.
• Cindy Lisica Gallery placed two pieces by Emilie Duval including The Predictive Order of Algorithm from 2017 for $9,000 and Ripple Order from 2017 for $5,000, in addition to Beer Can by Jeff Schwarz.
• Reference: contemporary placed Blue Fallacy One and Blue Fallacy Two by Kal Mansur from 2017 for $9,000, Gray Sojourn One by Kal Mansur from 2017 for $3,500, and seven small hand-cast acrylic sculptures by Courtlandt Swartz from the series Fractions.
• Exhibit A placed Whittling from 2015 by Samuel C. Guy for $9,400, four pieces by Ronald Gonzalez including three of his 24-inch-tall Black Figures,’ including Spector, Mute and Cage, all from 2015, for a combined price of $8,160, Voltage from 2015 for $3,000, as well as Robin Whiteman’s Which Way from 2016, Quiet from 2017, and Messenger from 2015 which was sold to TV personality Robert Verdi.
• Glave Kocen Gallery placed The Wind Carried it in its Belly, The City Nursed It by Josh George for $5,000, and Smoke and Ashes by Robert Browning for close to $3,000.
• Morphew placed a vintage Comme de Garcon black trench coat for $3,800.
• Galleria Ca’ d’Oro placed Red, White, Bike from 2017 by Erika Calesini; as well as Three Snails from 2016 by Cracking Art.
• &gallery placed two oil paintings from Patrícia Schnall Gutierrez from 2017.
• AC Contemporary, from Buenos Aires Argentina, sold eight works from a collective of female Chilean artists.
• Tranter-Sinni Gallery placed Red Fox Wisdom by J.F. Albert, Three Sisters by Rob Martin, and two prints from 2017 by Jay Bell Red Bird.
• Studio A sold 20 paintings by Josh Wingerter all from 2017 including four Muhammad Ali, Four Frank Sinatra, Four Wonder Woman – Lynda Carter, Four Audrey Hepburn, and Four Elvis Presley.

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