We’re all so grown up, we're all so cool, strutting around like we’ve got it all under control. Yet the world’s turned into a dreary sermon hall, with individuals meticulously scrutinizing one another's ethical standards, transforming art into an instrument of ideological conditioning for the broader populace.
Divinity Piano Forte, Charlemagne Palestine
If you’ve been jet-setting through the global art scene lately, dodging those sanctimonious placards and clunky installations clogging museums from Berlin to Bogotá, you’ve probably rolled your eyes so hard they nearly tumbled out. The past few years have been a tedious parade of art that feels less like a celebration and more like a corporate diversity lecture: Works that shriek “message” until the craft’s drowned out.
Then you sashay into Art Basel Miami, landing at the Miami Beach Convention Center under the fresh, fabulous gaze of new director Bridget Finn, and it’s as if the universe winks and says, “Darling, let’s ditch the grown-up nonsense!” This year’s fair was a sultry, tropical rebellion against that toxic moralizing muck clogging lesser venues—a glittering escape that screams, “Let’s be kids again and play!”
Stepping onto the main show floor felt like flipping through a dog-eared Vogue from its hedonistic heyday—eclectic, intoxicating, and unapologetically flirty. At Sadie Coles HQ, Lucia Laguna’s Paisagem N° 154 exploded with palm trees shimmying in a riot of reds, greens, and yellows against a tropical skyline, its bold, juicy strokes a cheeky love letter to pure craft.
Paisagem N° 154, 2024, Lucia Laguna, 190 × 160 cm, Acrylic on Canvas
Mendes Wood DM showcased Santídio Pereira’s Objeto XXIII, a sculptural flower with lush green leaves and a sassy pink bloom popping up like a whimsical tease, its playful simplicity a delicious escape from buzzword overload.
Objeto XXIII, 2024, Santídio Pereira, 209 × 148 cm, Plywood and Offset Paint
Yuichi Hirako’s Seeding, 2024, exhibited by Gallery Baton, loomed large with its acrylic-on-wood whimsy, a cat-on-boat romp so oversized and joyful it felt like a crafty escape, while Charlemagne Palestine’s Divinity Piano Forte, presented by Meredith Rosen Gallery, turned a grand piano into a furry, fabric-draped riot of plush toys, its large-scale chaos a rebellion rooted in creativity.
Seeding, 2024, Yuichi Hirako, 200 × 700 × 250 cm, Acrylic on Wood
The motto was pure, unadulterated mischief. Where other exhibitions drown in predictable, drudgery curated by TED Talk tyrants, Basel flipped the script with quality and quirk. Political art took a backseat. No soup-throwing meltdowns, just sly side-eyes and the mood turned Euro-chic: high-brow yet glossy, less about Instagram flexes and more about whispering naughty secrets.
