The Top Fairs, Exhibitions, and Pop-Ups to See in Miami

The international art and design world is once again descending upon South Florida for a jam-packed extravaganza of fairs and pop-ups. Additionally, an exciting roster of museum shows will attract audiences well into spring. 

Art & Design Fairs 

Art Basel in Miami Beach (December 5–8) returns to the Miami Beach Convention Center, with 269 international galleries, including exciting fair newcomers Mariane Ibrahim Gallery from Chicago, Parker Gallery from Los Angeles, and Karma from New York. Don’t miss the special new Meridians section, dedicated to large-scale paintings, installations, sculptures and video, that takes place in the Grand Ballroom on the second floor of the convention center. This year, the Los Angeles artist Shinique Smith is transforming the UBS Lounge in an exhibition titled “Indelible Marks” with a new body of two-and-three dimensional works. 

For admirers of collectible 20th- and 21st-century furniture and objets d’art, Design Miami/ is the place to be December 3–8. Highlights include Friedman Benda, which tapped artist Daniel Arsham to transform the booth into a fictionalized domestic setting based on his Long Island home. In dialogue with the house’s Modernist architect Norman Jaffee, Arsham created a series of personal furniture pieces to live with, naming works after places and people who have been important in his life. Don’t miss organic woven works by Porky Hefer at Capetown’s Southern Guild; and objects by master glass artist Jeff Zimmerman at R & Company. 

Shinique Smith, And there you are, a shooting star, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and UBS Art Collection

Untitled returns for its eighth edition with 126 exhibitors. The diverse roster hails from 28 different countries and 57 different cities. This year’s edition will also include a section focusing on artists working in the Everglades, which will be curated by San Francisco–based independent curator Jordan Stein and the fair’s artistic director Omar Lopez-Chahoud.

To discover the best emerging talent and those poised to make their art world debut, head to NADA Miami 2019, which takes place December 5-8 at Ice Palace Studios with 136 exhibitors— the fair’s biggest edition yet.

Daniel Arsham, Cleveland Chair I, 2019, on display at Friedman Benda during Design Miami/ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Friedman Benda

Exhibitions

The city’s museums put on their best in the weeks surrounding Art Basel. Perhaps the most anticipated is the Rubell Museum, which is moving to a 76,000-square-foot building designed by famed architect Annabelle Selldorf. The space features 53,000 square feet of galleries displaying works from the collection of Don and Mera Rubell, alongside flexible spaces for performances and events, an art research library, a bookstore and a restaurant that opens onto a courtyard garden. The inaugural show features 300 works by 100 artists, in what is being billed as one of the most far-ranging museum exhibitions of contemporary art ever presented. It will include works by Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Kehinde Wiley, Anselm Kiefer, Barbara Kruger and Yayoi Kusama.

A work by Richard Prince in the Rubell Collection. Photo: Courtesy of the Rubell Museum

At The Bass, Korean artist Haegue Yang and Italian artist Lara Favaretto are both debuting solo presentations. 

Installation view of Haegue Yang: ETA 1994–2018. Wolfgang Hahn Prize, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2018
. Photo: Courtesy of Museum Ludwig, Saša Fuis, Cologne

Over at the ICA Miami, Sterling Ruby’s most comprehensive museum survey to date will be on view through February 2, 2020. 

In the double-height gallery space of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, José Carlos Martinat’s mechanical light sculptures in response to the current political landscape will dazzle visitors through January 26. 

Recommended: 5 Major Works from Sterling Ruby’s Exceptional Career

José Carlos Martinat: American Echo Chamber, 2018. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Revolver Galería

Forty years of poignant works by the Chilean-born artist Cecilia Vicuña transform the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami through March 29.

Art spills out onto the streets too, and visitors can look out for Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich’s installation on the sand at 17th Street Beach or Elmgreen and Dragset’s Bent Pool outside the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Murals outside Ralph Pucci’s Wynwood showroom. Photo: Juan-Pablo Castro

Pop-Ups

Known for its intoxicating mix of art, fashion, and design, Miami is a natural fit for French fashion icon Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who has conjured a graphic mural at Ralph Pucci’s Wynwood showroom.

Louis Vuitton will mount an exhibition of the iconic Objets Nomades collection at Design Miami/, featuring an American designer for the first time: Andrew Kudless. Additionally, the brand will present a special savoir-faire experience, L’Espace Louis Vuitton in the Miami Design District which will present new hard-side items, including the worldwide debut of a sneaker trunk. Also making their US debut will be the Malle Coiffeuse, Malle Courrier with Drawers, and Malle Pique-Nique, plus, several exclusive handbags including the Rainbow Purple Capucines BB, Fusion Rouge City Steamer PM, and Fusion Gris City Steamer PM will be on view.

Andrew Kudless Swell Wave Shelf Objets Nomades. Photo: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Retail haven Loewe recasts itself into an immersive cutting-edge art space with works by British artist Hilary Lloyd comprising film and sculpture and a towering and textured Ewen Henderson.