First the good news: people will still come, the important hotels in Miami Beach, like the Setai, the Delano, the Sagamore, the Shore Club, and the Raleigh, and the Mandarin Oriental in Miami are already full. The richest of the rich will still be buying art.
There will be a premiere of "Che" in Miami on Thursday night during Art Basel, with Benecio Del Toro in town. That's in addition to the documentary about the Vogels on Friday night, for Art Loves Film. And the fabulous Naomi Campbell, right, will be in Miami for the opening of Art Photo Expo Miami on December 2. (This year Art Photo Expo, which tries to convince you that photos shot as ads are art, will be at a new location, the parking lot in the Design District under Interstate I 195 between NE Second Avenue and NE First Court. So another event jumps the causeways from Miami Beach to Miami.
The bad news: a lot of hotels are seeing soft bookings, but they are still not lowering their room rates. They would rather see a $1,000 a night room go empty instead of offering it at the market price. And this year, it has been agreed, the fair is going to be a high-low affair. The super rich will be here as usual, arriving on Tuesday night, buying art first thing on Wednesday, and gone by Thursday night. The hangers on, the folks who don't know much about art but like to party, and like to be in Miami Beach, and have heard it's a blast, will still be here. But the great middle, from retired folks who collect modestly to the hedge fund managers who bought $1,200 bottles of wine at Prime 112, those people will possibly be missing.
Miami New Times ran an article on October 29 quoting the Miami gallerist Kevin Bruk as saying "No one needs contemporary art. You need a roof over your head and a car to get to work. Art is the ultimate luxury item, like a $50,000 fur coat." Another gallerist interviewed in the piece, Gary Nader, was quoted as saying that he expected 30 percent less attendance this year, and that blue chip Impressionists and the Francis Bacons of the world will sell, while contemporary art will suffer.
We will report all the news, good and bad, leading up to the fair. See you in Miami. Linda Lee
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