Vernissage ABMB 2008. The orange piece is Ai Weiwei's Cube Light, 2008 Meile

All photos Vanessa Calvert

The hall was packed and work was selling at the Vernissage according to Vanessa Calvert, who took pictures of Art Basel Miami Beach's main event fair this year. Will things be as brisk throughout the weekend? Last year ABMB did well while satellite fairs were less robust and I expect that trend to continue, the art world isn't going to simply stop buying art. I suspect it's the relatively expensive young rising-star artists whose markets will get hit hard. The speculation days are likely gone but people who love art still love art and will support it.

Yes, lots of Portland galleries are in Miami this year and unlike other markets Portland's wasn't over-inflated. In fact, 16 Portland artists are being spotlighted by Deitch... and that's just part of a very deep Portland talent pool that has developed as a refuge and rebel base for new art in the USA... partially because Portland is very diffent than other US cities; it has attracted a diffent type of artist.
*Update: More photos below. Overall, it seems like sales were moderate (as exepected), which means a few more fairs might cease to exist but ABMB will still matter, especially once and if the economy rebounds a little. - Jeff Jahn


Ryan McGinness, Only a Thief Thinks Everybody Steals, 2008, Deitch Projects



Franz Ackerman Untitled, 2008, Mai Alexander gallery



Portlander Chris Johanson's I Just Realized Something (L), 2002 & It Awaits You at Center (R), 2002 @ Roberts & Tilton



Dan Flavin Untitled (for Charlotte), Galerie Thomas, Munich



James Rosenquist Memory Continues but the Clock Disappears (L), 2008 and Ed Ruscha Quality Other (R), 1982



Thukral & Tagra Artificial Strawberry Flavor- 1, 2008, Nature Morte/Bose Pacia



Jiten Thukral (L) & Sumir Tagra (R) (unknown person in middle) in front of their piece: Somnium genero – acoustic 1, 2008, Nature Morte/Bose Pacia



Jesu Rafael Soto Gran Mural, 1967, Art Kabinett



Christian Janowksi, Rooftop Routine, 2008


*Updated photos below:


Sam Durant sums up the art dealer's mantra in Miami 2008 @ ABMB


FriendsWithYou (aka Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III) Fun House @ Scope



Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe Hello Meth Lab with a View, 2008 Mixed-media installation @ The Station,
Courtesy the artists and Ballroom Marfa; commissioned by Ballroom Marfa with the generous support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, Peter Norton Family Foundation, the Cowles Charitable Trust, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and Ballroom Marfa Members



Portland's Dan Attoe @ Bas Fisher Invitational in association with Deitch Projects, titled "There is Electricity in Your Head"



Martha Friedman Rubbers Wallspace - New York, @ Art Projects (the shipping containers)



Portlanders Mark Smith (bg), MK Guth and Christine Bourdette @ Elizabeth Leach Gallery's booth Aqua Wynwood


Lastly, I think this New York Magazine article is a nice cap to the whole event as well