Midwest Galleries Head South for Art Basel

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Temperatures are dropping off in the Midwest, but Miami Beach is hot, hot, hot. This week art enthusiasts will converge upon the city’s beaches and flock to its convention center as the coastal hotspot takes center stage to host one of the largest contemporary art fairs in the world: Art Basel. The tri-annual fair draws more than 50,000 people clamoring to see the work from masters of Modern art and contemporary stars on the rise. This year, five Chicago galleries got in on the game.

The Skinny:

Karl Wirsum, Untitled, ca. 1968. Photo courtesy of Corbett vs. Dempsey and Wirsum

Corbett vs. Dempsey

In its first year exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach, Corbett vs. Dempsey landed a spot in the festival’s Gallery section (reserved for more established galleries), and will show work by David Hartt, Albert Oehlen, John Sparagana, Karl Wirsum and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung.

Theaster Gates, Migration Rickshaw for German Living; Wood, iron, tires, mattress, chairs, rope, plastic, 2013. Photo courtesy of Kavi Gupta CHICAGO I BERLIN

Kavi Gupta Gallery

Moving on up from the Nova sector (which features younger galleries and recently made work), the Kavi Gupta Gallery will join Corbett vs. Dempsey in the Gallery section. In addition, Kavi Gupta will feature the work of Chicago artist Theaster Gates, who incorporates performance, installation and urban interventions in his work, in a specially curated show within its booth for the Kabinett sector of the fair.

Luis Gispert, Super Stratto, C-print, 72 x 115 inches, 2012, AP from an edition of 6 + 2 APs. Photo courtesy of Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Gispert

Rhona Hoffman Gallery        

Luis Gispert is the focus of Rhona Hoffman Gallery’s Kabinett show this year. Gispert's work often centers around his fascination with the fetishization of Latin American modernism, Latin American music and the Black Power movement of the 1960s.

David Smith, Compass Circle, 1962. Photo courtesy of Richard Gray Gallery and Smith

Richard Gray Gallery

The fourth Midwest venue in this year’s Gallery sector is the Richard Gray Gallery, known for exhibiting and representing work of some of the most influential modern and contemporary artists.

Leon Polk Smith, Untitled, Oil on wood, 1955. Photo courtesy of Valerie Carberry Gallery

Valerie Carberry Gallery

Rounding out the Chicago talent in Miami Beach this weekend is the Valerie Carberry Gallery. Its Kabinett show will feature the geometric abstract work of American painter, Leon Polk Smith, who was influenced by Mondrian.