Art Basel Miami Beach never ceases to make its share of headlines, in each of its 12 years. Here are just a few of the highlights.
2001: Art Basel is intended to launch in December of this year, but 9-11 puts the kibosh on the plans, costing the fair’s producers upwards of $1 million.
2002: In its first year, Art Basel Miami Beach becomes an immediate hit, already innovating: Some young artists exhibit their work in temporarily converted shipping containers near the beach.
2004: This year’s only-at-Basel ancillary events include “Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty,” a “puppet rock opera” that combines video and live music from noisy indie rockers Japanther. Big-name artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Jeff Koons and James Rosenquist are spotted at parties.
2006: Art Salon, an open-platform discussion group, and Open Air Cinema, a program showcasing the art of music videos, premiere. Dennis Hopper, Chuck Close and Ai Weiwei are among the fair’s special guest speakers.
2007: Miami-based rocker Iggy Pop performs a legendary, free beachside concert on the fair’s opening night. Meanwhile, 1,200 attendees at Miami’s Vizcaya Museum and Gardens experience The Ball of Artists, an aural and visual installation connecting contemporary art with regional history.
2009: Los Angeles artist Pae White constructs “Self Roaming,” an experiential outdoor space described in Basel press reports as a “labyrinth-like metropolis on the sand.”
2011: Art Basel Miami Beach joins forces with the New World Symphony, with the organization Performa creating a vertical artwork that engaged all three floors of the Frank Gehry-designed New World Symphony building. Also this year, pop-up pianos appear throughout the county, and the fair launches its Art Video program, projecting video art onto a 7,000-square-foot outdoor projection wall.
2012: William Sweetlove dots Miami’s Freedom Tower with motley reptiles; and, speaking of animal art, Romero Britto buys a painting by Bubbles the Chimp.
2013: Art dealer/curator Jeffrey Deitch famously runs into Diddy and says, “Hi, Kayne.” Controversial works at this year’s fair include a naked lady sculpture made from human hair, courtesy of artist Shen Shaomin, and Martin Creed’s award-winning toilet paper tower.
