11 Things to See at Art Basel Miami Beach If You Only Have an Hour

With 268 galleries from 35 countries exhibiting across the fair’s five sectors and an ever-growing list of collateral events—not to mention attendant fairs—Art Basel in Miami Beach has become quite the behemoth. For the average collector, navigating it all can seem far more daunting than the gyrating crowds at Nikki Beach. But not to worry: With the help of Art Basel’s Americas director Noah Horowitz, we’ve broken it all down to just one perfect hour of must-see artists and exhibits. Ready, set, Basel!

Start with the Galleries Sector (00:00–00:12)

Hit the ground running, and head straight to the main Galleries, where the show’s heaviest hitters—including some talented newcomers—are headlining. Horowitz’s top picks: Parisian Daniel Templon, who is presenting sculptures by George Segal, and New York–based DC Moore Gallery, which is showing a suite of abstract works by Romare Bearden. “We are also really proud of the galleries such as Ratio 3, Essex Street, and Sim?es de Assis Galeria de Arte that have made their way into the Galleries sector, having participated in our emerging sectors such as Nova and Positions in prior years,” he says.

A Performance by Visual Artist Abraham Cruzvillegas (00:12–00:20)

Give your wallet a break, and dip into some art you can’t buy in the Grand Ballroom, a newly built 60,000 square foot, column-free, eight plus meter-tall space on the north end of the Miami Beach Convention Center. There performers will wrestle with a mass of household junk in visual artist Abraham Cruzvillegas’s Autorreconstrucción: To Insist, To Insist, To Insist. “We haven’t done anything like this in Miami and it really heralds the beginning of a new chapter for us,” says Horowitz, speaking of the Philipp Kaiser curated collaboration with The Kitchen, a pioneering New York non-profit in the realm of performance art.

Recharge in the Collectors Lounge (00:20–00:27)

Time for a power nap at the Audemars Piguet Collectors Lounge. This year, it’s a digitized starry wonderland created by the British artist-duo Semiconductor.

30 Minutes to Discover Emerging Talent (00:27–00:57)

Check out the Positions sector where Melbourne-based This Is No Fantasy + Dianne Tanzer Gallery is showing aboriginal artist Vincent Namatjira’s politically charged paintings. (A friendly debate on whether a shirtless Vladimir Putin on horseback is worthy of artistic representation is highly encouraged.) In the Survey sector, Horowitz is most excited about a suite of works by feminist artist Faith Wilding, which is being shown by LA-based gallery Anat Ebgi. “She’s having a real moment now,” he says. Among the not-to-miss gallery presentations in the Nova sector are those by Blank Projects of Cape Town, which will have textile pieces by Billie Zangewa, and London-based Tiwani Contemporary, which is showing a video installation by the Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Zina Saro-Wiwa.

Celebrate with a Sip of Champagne (00:57–1:00)

Before you slip out the door, grab a glass of Ruinart at the garden café. After all that hard work, you’ve earned it.

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