DECEMBER 2017
positions /
one artwork by one artist
The 14 galleries in the Positions sector are permitted to present just
“one major project by a single artist”. Here you’ll find debutants from
across the globe.
From Asia, the Shanghai gallery Antenna Space is bringing work
by the printmaker and ceramic artist Xu Qu, whose pot sculptures
seek to examine the influence of religion on life in modern China.
Tokyo’s Taro Nasu is showing figurative paintings by Koichi
Enomoto. With their stylized, wide-eyed human figures, they seem
at first to speak of manga andkawaii, the term for the saccharine
cuteness that defines so much Japanese popular culture. Look again,
though, and there are sinister forces at work.
In contrast, Buenos Aires-based Isla Flotante’s stand features
collage-like paintings by the Argentinian artist Mariela Scafati, who
uses abstract geometric forms and repetitive patterns to create works
that are not always immediately legible records of her life.
There’s also a significant US presence. New York’s Chapter
NY is showing a performance installation by conceptual artist
Adam Gordon. The object here is to persuade visitors by means
of a document to try to identify a woman who wanders the fair
and is herself the work of art, or at least part of it.
Born in the US to Mexican and Colombian parents, Harold
Mendez is making a large-scale mural for the Chicago-based gallery
Patron’s stand. While two other US galleries, Los Angeles-based
Anat Ebgi and Houston’s Inman Gallery will be showing
installations by two African-American artists, respectively Detroit-
born Jibade-Khalil Huffman and Texas-born Jamal Cyrus.Top left: 5 by Mariela Scafati, 2003Below: Untitled by Jamal Cyrus, 2010coffee
connoisseur
Keep an eye out for a
Panther Coffee pop-up
and order a “mac milk
cap”, an unbelievably
strong and sweet
cappuccino made with
macadamia nut milk.cecconi’s
Cecconi’s atrium, located
onthefirstfloorofthe
Soho Beach House, is
one of the best places
for Hollywood celeb
sightings, people-
watching and soaking up
the hippest strata of the
artsocialscene–and
you don’t have to be
aSohoHousemember
to access it. However,
expect crowds trying to
cut through the hotel
to the VIP Soho Beach
Tent on the sand and
alongwaitatthevalet.refuel
garden café
Just across the street from the convention center,
try Art Basel’s annual pop-up Garden Café, with
offerings by award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein.casa tua
Book in advance for lunch
at the iconic, family run
Casa Tua, which is less
than half a mile from the
convention center, and
request a table in its lush
garden.Trythetagliolini
pastawithcrèmefraîche
and caviar while you rub
shoulders with the art
world cognoscenti.matador room
Forlunchwithaview,
book a table at the Miami
Beach EDITION hotel’s
Matador Room. With a
beautiful outdoor terrace
under a verdant canopy,
it overlooks the hotel’s
pool and the Atlantic
beyond. It doesn’t get
more Miami than this.PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY THE ARTIST & GALERIA ISLA FLOTANTE; GETTY IMAGES; REX; COURTESY THE ARTIST & INMAN GALLERY, HOUSTON