Kenny Schachter publishes his diary from ArtBasel Miami Beach:

In the morning I had an anemic run, thinking that I was barely keeping pace with Jeffrey Deitch, noted former dealer and now director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, when for about the 10th year in a row he came from nowhere and passed me on the beach. Even taking a jog is a social event, eavesdropping on fast-walkers collecting proclivities and greeting acquaintances while, in my case, gasping for breath.

Finally it was time for the big tent to open. [...] [W]hat made the biggest impression [...]  was the abundance of absolutely phenomenal, glorious, spectacular art.

Paintings by the lyrical abstractionist Larry Poons, who for his “throw paintings” series did just that with goops of paint; sculptures by Ai Weiwei ranging in price from €30k to €300k; buckets of Gerhard Richter (after his stellar auction performance of late); more Andy Warhols than you could shake a stick at; and, one of my favorites (a great buy ahead of his Museum of Modern Art retrospective in 2014), Sigmar Polke.

I could easily drop millions and not lose sleep due to the exceptionally high quality of the works on offer. Though I’d probably end up in debtor’s prison as a result.

The ancillary NADA fair was wonderful, a venue where you can still impulse buy art for (sometimes) well under $1,000.

Miami Art Week Art Dealer’s Diary by Kenny Schachter (Artnet.com)

Alexandra Peers isn’t happy that the free food has disappeared from ArtBasel in Miami Beach but she does think the celebrities who have muscled in recently are a sign that ArtBasel is now just like Sundance:

[M]any complain that the stars upend the art world’s status pyramid. At SoHo House one afternoon, Art Miami fair director Nick Korniloff waited patiently for a table only to see Will Smith ushered to it. He recounted that he asked Smith to show up at his fair in karmic payment the following day, “and he did!” “You have a who’s who of the celebrity world coming to Miami Beach to become part of the art scene” says J.P. Oliver, who oversees the Morgans Group hotels in Florida[....] Oliver says the celebs are just proof that ABMB is now as much about “design, fashion, and nightife” as it is about art, essentially following the same inevitable path that Sundance paved.

Is a Celebrity Invasion Turning ArtBasel Miami Beach into Sundance? (NYMag.com)

ArtForum’s diarists were hard at work in Miami last week. Andrew Berardini explained the underlying thrum of stress effecting everyone:

Miami fair week is stressful: Dealers stressing about collectors. Collectors stressing about outgunning other collectors. Curators stressed by trustees. Most everyone in the business stressed out about dinners and parties. Wandering aimlessly from free drink to free drink, critics are stressed out by everybody else. Artists should probably just stay home. “I really like colorful things,” the collector across the table told me as dessert arrived. “Did see you any colorful things for sale?”

Kate Sutton actually found time, briefly, to look at some of the art on offer:

There was a charming suite of Jack Smith works on paper at Gladstone, a smart new Glenn Ligon text painting at Regen Projects, and some Robert Overbys punctuating the booth at Andrew Kreps. Lots of Gabriel Orozco, too. Like lots lots. The fair wasn’t without peril. At Sies+Hoke,Kris Martin’s metal starbursts were so sharp the gallery had to post a sign telling viewers that they were entering the booth at their own risk. Perhaps more dangerous was Ryan McGinley’s Turken and Tampon, which inspired mass double-takes outside Team Gallery. “It’s hard to imagine a more brutal image,” dealer Jose Freire admitted. “But that’s why I’m showing it.”

Diddy Complex (Artforum)
Pep Raleigh (Artforum)

A few more sales from GalleristNY and Georgina Adam in the Financial Times:

• James Cohan Gallery: $500,000 Fred Tomaselli “within the first hour of the fair.” The five-foot-by-five-foot psychedelic image of an owl—made of photo collage, acrylic and resin on wood panel—now belongs to an American collector. 
  
• Marianne Boesky: ceramics by William J. O’Brien, most priced between $6,000 and $12,000.
• Galerie Gmurzynska had red dots next to a circa 1970 Chagall oil and a choice black Lucio Fontana “cut” painting from 1960.
• Hauser & Wirth: “MM … Food” (2011), by Rashid Johnson, which sold for $75,000 (along with four sister works)
•  Rapper P Diddy bought a Tracey Emin neon for £45,000 at Lehmann Maupin, while Lisson gallery celebrated selling a remarkable 14 works on the opening day alone.

The Wall Street Journal outs Alex Rodriguez as a collector during the party at his home for ArtBasel Miami Beach:

One very worthwhile affair was at the Miami Beach home of the New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez. This included a collaborative installation between Mr. Rodriguez and the young artist Nate Lowman, whom he collects, in Mr. Rodriguez’s indoor second-floor batting cage.

“It’s fun, right?” asked Mr. Rodriguez as he greeted guests in a snazzy blue blazer and tie, white jeans and loafers. “It’s got a little bit of a different twist.”

The lifestyle portrayed at this home, full of amazing art (Dan Colens, Warhol prints and a Hannah Liden sculpture among them), outdoor rooms, homemade peanut butter cups and a Ms. Pac Man machine in the fully-equipped gym that overlooked the bay, had one effect: It made us want to immediately changes careers to professional baseball player.

“I liked what he did,” said Adam Lindemann, an avid art collector. “Everything about him—his presence, his charisma, the fact that he’s interested in art—is very encouraging.”

At Art Basel, Sensory and Social Overload (Wall Street Journal)

Elena Soboleva is a gallerist in New York. She wasn’t able to get to Miami this week but that doesn’t stop her all-seeing eyes and ears from bringing you this report:

With the fair underway and many the important sales over with, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the last two days of parties and events heating up Miami’s art scene.

The interesting shift comes this year with several major artists in attendance – including Marina Abramovic, Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin.  The latter two are not known to hit the party circuits regularly and Hirst admitted that it’s his first Miami Basel. It is intriguing as to why he would choose to come after years of abstention and may have something to do with his upcoming “Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011” retrospective to be held simultaneously across all of Gagosian’s eleven locations in January of 2012.  It appears that the king of contemporary art-marketing is feeling some PR pressure himself.

The most coveted invite at this year’s ABMB was the Ferrari and Interview Magazine party held in the windy parking lot designed by Herzog & de Meuron.  The Tuesday night fete was hosted by Interview’s Peter Brant and Sotheby’s Tobias Meyer in honor of Ferrari Chairman Luda di Montezemolo. The guests, who included Vito Schnabel, Flo Rida, Val Kilmer, Nate Lowman and Dasha Zhukova, were entertained by six floors of exotic cars, Solange Knowles spinning all night and a new 3D work by Marco Brambilla, whose epic animation can be spotted in the elevators of the Standard hotels.

Later that night, Art.sy ‘beachside’ barbecue at the Soho Beach House sponsored by Louis Vuitton drew everyone’s attention and the likes of Eli Broad, both of the Hilton sisters, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Naomi Campbell.  All the celebrations were hosted by the Art.sy founder Carter Cleveland along with investors Zhukova and Wendi Murdoch, with Larry Gagosian on the sidelines.

After the numerous Wednesday brunches, VIP previews and the main Vernissage – the partiers hit the strip and the lucky few attended the private dinner hosted by MOCA and the Kingdom of Morocco (no joke) at the Raleigh Hotel. Jeffrey Deitch could be seen canoodaling with the Hiltons as Lindsey Pollack worked the room and Alexandra Richards DJed this lavish event.  That same evening Dior opened its inaugural Pop-Up shop, causing a stir in the fashion world and featuring a collaboration between the fashion house and the German artist Anselm Reyle. It featured ceiling-high video screens and vibrant neon décor, appropriate for the location. The event attracted Stefano Tonchi, Larry Gagosian, Zaha Hadid, China Chow, Klaus Biesenbach and Simone de Pury. The Bass Art Museum also held an afterparty for that evening celebrating the opening of Erwin Wurm’s new show “Beauty Business.”