Kabinett: Art Basel announces 30 precisely curated exhibitions for the Miami Beach Show

ARJAN MARTINS: Etcetera
ARJAN MARTINS: Etcetera

A much-loved and highly praised sector of the Miami Beach show, in which galleries display carefully curated exhibitions within their booths, Kabinett will feature 30 projects this year. Exhibitors from North and South America, Europe and Asia will present work by Derrick Adams, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Carlos Amorales, Dieter Appelt, Stefan Bertalan, Anna Blume, Bernhard Blume, Armin Boehm, Olaf Breuning, Marcel Broodthaers, Horacio Coppola, Jerónimo Elespe, Manuel Espinosa, Gilbert & George, Andy Goldsworthy, Irena Haiduk, Howard Hodgkin, Asger Jorn, Martha Jungwirth, Mike Kelley, Jürgen Klauke, Jorge Macchi, João Modé, Matt Mullican, Yang Mushi, Robert Natkin, Floris Neusüss, Man Ray, Klaus Rinke, Tom Sachs, Hugh Steers, Hedda Sterne, Alfredo Volpi, Stanley Whitney, Rose Wylie and Sun Xun. Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, takes place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from December 1 to December 4, 2016.

Among the many highlights this year, Kavi Gupta’s booth will feature an installation by Irena Haiduk (b. 1982) of a candy store selling authentic Balkan confections. Since 1911, Kraš Candies has produced sweets for every successive political regime, from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to communist Yugoslavia to post-war transitional capitalism. Haiduk’s installation will offer candies reflecting the diverse confections favored by each regime’s ideology.

A Gentil Carioca will present a cross-generational pairing of Brazilian artists Alfredo Volpi (b. 1896, d. 1988) and João Modé (b. 1961). Juxtaposed and in dialogue with one another will be, Volpi’s historic flags and façades, which utilize geometric shapes and chromatic changes, and Modé’s commonplace fabrics which explore notions of language and architecture.

Across collage, photography, performance, sculpture and painting, Derrick Adams’ (b. 1970) work addresses ways in which media, entertainment and other social structures shape individual identity and public perception of African-American culture. These themes are continued in ‘Floater’, Adams’ newest series of paintings, in an exhibition at Rhona Hoffman Gallery.

At Galerie Urs Meile, emerging artist Yang Mushi (b. 1989) will consider issues of extreme urban development in China and globalization through industrial raw materials such as processed wood, foam, metal and stone.

Several Kabinett presentations will feature new bodies of work as well as new directions within an artist’s practice. kurimanzutto’s booth will present Carlos Amorales‘ (b. 1970) first works incorporating color, including both small paper compositions and large-format collaged paintings on intricate wooden panels. Two Palms will explore Stanley Whitney‘s (b. 1946) first foray into large-scale watercolor monotypes. Mai 36 Galerie will feature light experiments by Matt Mullican(b. 1951), including an array of light boxes and still-lifes, the extension of his first investigations about fictional reality from the 1970s.

Kabinett will also include several works that have rarely, and in some cases never, been seen before. Van Doren Waxter will feature mixed media works on paper by Hedda Sterne (b. 1910, d. 2011). Made between 1998-2004, these diaristic drawings will provide an intimate look into the artist’s final years of production, as she coped with the onset of near total blindness. Limited edition hand-painted carborundum reliefs and sugar-lift aquatints by Turner Prize-winning British artist Howard Hodgkin (b. 1932) – on view for the first time in the United States – will be showcased at Alan Cristea Gallery. Stephen Friedman Gallery will present paintings and works on paper by Manuel Espinosa (b. 1912, d. 2006), which have never before been seen outside of Argentina. Petzel Gallery will present six paintings by Danish artist and founding member of the CoBrA movement, Asger Jorn (b. 1914, d. 1973). The selection will include seminal pieces from the early 1950s to the late 1960s, some of which will be exhibited in public for the first time.

Jorge Macchi’s (b. 1963) ‘Scheme of World History’ (2016) at Ruth Benzacar Galeria de Arte is a contemporary version of the Baroque vanitas – burnt candle, books, the shape of the shadow – which explores the relationship between emptiness and history. Alexander Gray Associates’ exhibition of paintings by Hugh Steers (b. 1962, d. 1995) will consider topics the artist was often drawn to, including illness, isolation, alienation, companionship and sexuality. Channeling notions of sadness, Mike Kelley’s (b. 1954, d. 2012) ‘Paintings in Time’ (1994) at Galerie Nagel Draxler were created between Christmas and New Year, at a time that is both one of family gatherings and holiday parties as well as heightened feelings of loneliness, darkness and depression. Galerie Peter Kilchmann will present new works on canvas by Armin Boehm (b. 1972), created specifically for the Kabinett sector. Inspired by power structures and relationships of dependency, Boehm’s works will address current issues of gender and sexuality to reflect on social constructions embedded in the current political context.

Kicken Berlin will feature an exhibition of German photography from the 1960s to the 1980s with a focus on the body, including works by Dieter Appelt (b. 1935), Anna Blume (b. 1937), Bernhard Blume (b. 1937, d. 2011), Jürgen Klauke(b. 1943), Floris Neusüss (b. 1937) and Klaus Rinke (b. 1939). Another highlight will be on view at Jorge Mara – La Ruche, with vintage prints by acclaimed Argentinian photographer Horacio Coppola (b. 1906, d. 2012). The exhibition will include Coppola’s works from the 1930s taken in cities around the world – Buenos Aires, Berlin, Budapest, Prague, London and Paris – including several works that were recently exhibited at MoMA in New York. Galerie Lelong will present rarely seen photographs by the British land artist Andy Goldsworthy (b. 1956), including several that document early ephemeral works and demonstrate the origin of ideas and themes that remain central to his practice today.

New paintings by Martha Jungwirth (b. 1940) at Galerie Krinzinger will explore the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes. Hirschl & Adler Modern will present a selection of works by Robert Natkin (b. 1930, d. 2010) from the artist’s ‘Hitchcock Series’. The 1980s was a decade of supreme artistic output for Natkin and the starting point for his last great series of paintings – an homage to director Alfred Hitchcock – which is widely considered to be his most dynamic and successful body of work.

Sperone Westwater will feature Tom Sachs’ (b. 1966) recent sculptural work of everyday objects – a boombox, a Barbie doll and a cinderblock – recreated in his signature experimental style. Likewise, 66 lithographs presenting everyday items by Rose Wylie (b. 1934) will be on view at Polígrafa Obra Gràfica. At Lehmann Maupin, ‘Beards and Barbed Wire’, a new series of monumental, mixed-media works by long-time collaborators Gilbert & George (b. 1943 and b. 1942, respectively) will explore the ways in which both beards and barbed wire serve as devices to protect, disguise, intrigue and repel.

Meticulous and labyrinthine drawings by Jerónimo Elespe (b. 1975) at Labor will explore ideas of mark making and violence, as well as the role of chance and chaos in the creative process. Esther Schipper / Johnen Galerie’s booth will encompass a comprehensive selection of works on paper by Stefan Bertalan (b. 1930, d. 2014), who was influential within the Romanian neo-constructivist avant-garde. Works by Sun Xun (b. 1980) at ShanghART Gallery will consider the connection between the language of painting and of images, and new ceramic works by Olaf Breuning (b. 1970) will be paired with a large-scale mural of one of his humorous drawings at Nils Stærk.

Additional highlights will include Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, with drawings, paintings, photographs, objects and prints spanning the career of Man Ray (b. 1890, d. 1976). Original and unique pieces from the 1960s and 1970s by Marcel Broodthaers (b. 1924, d. 1976) will be on view at Galerie 1900-2000. And Galerie Chantal Crousel will present three large and complementary woodcuts recently completed by duo Jennifer Allora (b. 1974) and Guillermo Calzadilla (b. 1971).

For the full gallery list and further details on the artists featured in Kabinett please visit artbasel.com/miami-beach/kabinett.

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