NADA PRESS

Articles | Releases

Basel Isn't Only Draw For Art Fans, The Miami Herald, December 2, 2005

Basel Isn’t Only Draw For Art Fans
By Brett O’Bourke

…Alternative art fairs, which concentrate on works from emerging artists – running concurrently with large-scale, established events like Art Basel – are on the rise globally. This year, the return of NADA, -scope-Miami, OMINART-Miami and Frisbee, which have all grown in size, and the additiona of new fiars Pulse and Aqua, help solidify the increasingimportance of Miami as an art marketplace.
And it’s happening during a time when the U.S. contemporary art market is white hot…
Karl Schweizer, director of art banking for UBS, the Swiss bank that sponsors Art Basel Miami Beach, offers two reasons for what he describes as a strong art market. First is a global growth in personal wealth; second is a decreasing birth rate. “Wealthy people worldwide are growing,” Schweizer says. “The main growth is in the U.S. and Asia…that means that probably more wealth is available and it’s a fact that art has a social component as well.
…When demand is high, suppliers appear to fill the gaps. Enter the alternative art fairs…
The galleries featured at the alternative faris tend to be younger, cutting-edge galleries exhibiting pieces by emerging artists. The work – while interesting and sometimes attractive to the deeper-pocketed buyer – tends to show with price tags more palatable for the novice or aspiring collector.
Prices range from as low as $150 to as much as $150,00.
Last year, the two most-established alternative fairs here, NADA and –scope, estimated sales fo about $4.5 million and $2.2 million respectively….
“All the galleries want to be in Basel or NADA but there are only so many slots and it’s very competitive,” says Jaq Chartier, a gallery owner from Seattle who created the Aqua art fair….