NADA PRESS

Articles | Releases

A Carnival of Art, Money, Surf and Sand, The New York Times, December 3, 2005

A Carnival of Art, Money, Surf and Sand
By Roberta Smith

MIAMI, Dec. 2 – Miami the first week in December is something like an opening of the Venice Biennale without the biennale, a decentralized sprawling mass of excitement and display, plus lots of disposable wealth. It is the art world’s version of Mardi Gras, and not surprisingly, the word carnival is ubiquitous in conversation.

Everyone seems to understand that all art world eyes are briefly on Miami. The Guggenheim Museum held a party here last night to announce the shortlist of nominees for its Hugo Boss Prize. The Whitney Museum timed the announcement of its 2006 biennial artists to coincide with the events here, which raised a few eyebrows. Art Basel Miami Beach opened at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon. By noon on Thursday at least five smaller art fairs had followed suit – NADA, Scope, Pulse, Aqua and Frisbee – bringing the total of visiting art galleries camped out in varying degrees of comfort to around 500….

The scene is consistently rough around the edges and younger at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance), where the floor is concrete, not carpeted; the lights flickered repeatedly on opening night; and the best food of any of the fairs comes from a Cuban-food truck parked out back.

At NADA, a question about unfamiliar work by an unknown artist can elicit the answer, “She’s going to be in the Whitney Biennial.” That’s how Francisco Rovira, a 26-year-old dealer from San Juan, P.R., identified Carolina Cayedo, the maker of a banner that said, aptly, “Immigrants Change Home Cultures,” and of a bright jukebox whose pulsating music turned out to be reggaeton. The jukebox holds the entire history of this 15-year genre, which blends reggae, dance music and hip-hop. And yes, there’s a good chance you’ll see, and hear it, at the Whitney….