The Art Daddy Wrap up: Miami Beach Art Week Edition 12/3/24
Jerry Gogo is allegedly back, auction recap, your Miami Basel fair game, and all the art daddy news that is fit to print!
For Miami Art Week 2024 there is a lot brewing. From the Daniel Bruen Regatta on view at the Perez Museum of Art, a Jerry Gogosian comeback, and multiple art fairs and daddies descending on the city like a hoard of locusts. This year there are all the usual suspects, fairs, parities, daddies, sugar daddies, and problematic art people will help make this the best, or possibly worst Basel yet. For years, people have complained about how the fair has gone downhill, what the Miami Beach scene means for the art world, and also how this fair is just a bridge to the spring when things come to the background. And in 2011, regular art daddy Adam Lindemann even famously announced he wasn’t going to go. But times have changed, and 12 years later he’s back at it.
Things kicked off on December 2nd with a number of events, most notably with a co-lining talk at the Perez Art Museum with Jerry Saltz and Jerry Gogosian. Jerry Gogo took to social media for the first time in a week following an almost two month hiatus without as much as a brief acknowledgement of her absence. All she simply said was she had taken a “social media cleanse” and went back to posting memes even poking fun at herself “ghosting the art world.”
Jerry is back apparently.
Well, Jerry, I am here to tell you, from one parody account to another, we were a little worried. I even launched a search committee for you and within a week of posting about it, you returned. So deep down, I would like to think that I played a little part in this. One thing I did find suspicious, and have yet to confirm, is that despite her signing with the United Talent Agency in January of this year, a recent search of their website did not come up with her name on it. And, when her IMDB page was last checked, no agent was listed. I even went as far as leaving a message with the talent agency, but it has yet to be returned. More on that in the coming weeks.
Jerry's absence was visibly noticed, and her following does seem to have taken a small hit as a result of her hiatus. Additionally, she has gone hard after several art world people over the years which has burned some bridges, and maybe did have an effect on her overall art world reputation.
Like the Taylor Swift song “Delicate” reminds us, “This ain't for the best/My reputation's never been worse, so/ You must like me for me/(Yeah, I want you)/We can't make Any promises now, can we, babe?.” While we can't make any promises Jerry is actually back for real, I guess we can just enjoy for the time being.
It’s that time of year again, where are Ben’s loafers?
TheReefLife and Elephant Family, co-sponsored a hideous exhibition on a beach that featured sand elephants. While it was meant to call attention to biodiversity, I think it was more of an eyesore than anything. There is a lot happening so keep reading for some fair highlights to look for, some art news, and a bit of auction wrap up from last month.
Miami Beach Art Week
The New Art Dealers Association always seems to bring a fresh take to fairs that can sometimes feel outdated and old. For this version of it, the daddies have returned in full force and will feature – exhibitors in total. Some fair favorites you can expect to hear about will probably be DIMIN, Tara Downs, and OFC The Hole. I will have others, but this is the general consensus.
I recently reviewed Raymond, and gave him 3/5 stars. I feel that the man has some larger daddy training and marinating to undergo, and with a little time, the right grooming products, and daddies to look up to, he could become a 5-star daddy in the next 8-10 years. But only time will tell.
The Miami Design Daddy Himself, Craig Robins.
This fair is a year older than Basel and does have some larger draw for the hardcore Miami art goers. With a design focus the fair opens today and has a lot of programs that will be sure to attract the crowds. It was founded by a true design daddy himself Craig Robins who is a true Miami staple. He is a real estate mogul and has his own sense of design and has grown this fair over the last decade.
With a VIP opening that happened on Thursday and the public days running Friday through Sunday, for the 2024 edition of Basel there is a lot to see as always. This year's fair will bring about many heavy hitters and some booths you can probably expect to see in many top lists will include Victoria Miro, David Zwirner, Galerie LeLong, and.. others.
Miami Basel From the Outside.
Miami Basel has become a time and honored tradition over the last two decades and has helped elevate the Florida art fair scene. But in a state that no longer funds the arts, and in an industry that is run by the 1%, as we head into a fascist dictatorship, I can't help but wonder, will Miami Basel be here in 2025 and beyond? Also it's also fun to think about how this fair, which was founded in 2006, has come to define almost 20 years of the art world experience.
November Auction Recap
The market is going to do whatever it's going to do, but the various parts of it from fairs, private sales, and auction sales all need to be accounted for and to contribute to a part of this bigger auction. And also the current political landscape factor into this bigger picture of it.
The third week in November is always marked with the trifecta of big auction houses making their sales. And for many reasons the 2024 November sales seem to loom larger than previous years given where we are with the market correction and even due to massive job cuts across various houses and poor sales performance in previous quarters. It seemed like for me, many of the houses are just trying to stay afloat in a very precarious financial state of the art world and beyond.
From the historic Tuesday night sale of the Magrete that went for $110 million to the Cattelan Banana that fetched over $6 million there has been a lot to unpack sales wise. I did my best to keep pace with the various evening auctions and give you the coverage you want. Some of my auctioneer predictions were correct and others were off but you can't win them all.
Phillips Basquiat Blunder
The November 19th contemporary and modern art auction at Phillips was lukewarm sales wise. And things became even more hampered by a snaphoo made by our British heartthrob, Henry Highely. The total sales for the night brought in $44.2m ($54.1m with fees) which was the opposite of the pre-sale estimate of $60.1m to $89m. During the sale of the Basquiat self portrait from 1983, a piece being sold by the actor Johnny Depp, things appeared to have run off the rails. The lot which was estimated to sell for between $10-$15 m seemed to go for $9.3 m after one bid was made. But, as TAN and other outlets reported, the Basquiat failed to sell. According to some daddy sources, the Basquiat had a guaranteed price of $10 m and when it sold below that, Phillips had to handle things on their end privately. Not a great look for Henny.
Sales at Phillips overall for the week didn't break the bank, and that seemed to be the general mood overall.
Sotheby's
In one ridiculous moment at Sotheby's this week, the chaotic Instagrammer, Simon Shaw even took his turn on the rostrum. However, for Simon, this resulted in him literally letting a hammer go flying and getting a list. This later required someone on their maintenance to do a search and rescue operation for it, and eventually it was recovered. Despite this more amusing moment in the room, Sotheby's did have some highlights for the mid November sale week. A$65.5 million Monet Nymphéas to a record-setting Leonora Carrington sculpture that sold for $11.4 million, led the sales.
Take the Cattelan sale. The duck tapped banana which first appeared in 2019 at Miami Basel at Perrotin by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, known for his jokester sensibility quite literally stole the show on Wednesday. He is also one artist that can help the art world poke sense of itself and in an industry that takes itself so fucking seriously, we need more of it. It's why I started this account, well that, and to objectify hot daddies but, also as a way to get out some of my larger frustrations about this industry and how it functions and as a way to call out some aspects of if that I find most disturbing and frankly horrifying in an effort to hopefully repair it. The banana was bought by crypto bro Justin Sun, who at this point, has now eaten it.
For me, one of the biggest standouts of this week's sale, besides Henry Highley making love to all of us and contemporary art on the rostrum, was Phyllis Kao. Kao stole the show last fall during the evening sale in a fantastic Prada waistcoat and keen sense of how to run the room. She has continued to auction over the last year, and in September, finally reached some larger mainstream recognition following the world record sale of a dinosaur
Phyllis took the second half of Sotheby's Tuesday night sale following Oliver Barker. For me, I choose to look at it like Ollie opened for Phyllis. Phyllis was a show stopper in her floral suit that resembled a Monet painting, and she commanded the room with a confidence that has flourished in the last year. I think it was always there, and she has an elegance and a sophistication and an ease that allows her to work the room in an almost seductive way that auctioneers need to get you to bid more. But standout in a very male dominated space is also hard and with major auctioneers on the whole still being men, European men specifically (here's looking at you Henny), this also presents an uphill battle and larger conversation around how much more inclusive the art world needs to be.
My auction queen in an amazing suit.
That aside, Kao crushed it. To me, she is a once in a generation auctioneer and has a natural and innate quality that can't be taught. On the rostrum you are naturally drawn to her and how fantastic she is and like other auctioneers before her, Phyllis I think will define this era for auction houses for years to come.
Christie’s
Christie’s had a really good contemporary sales week overall and possibly performed the best out of all three of the houses. In total their sales achieved over $680 million which resulted in 87 per cent sold by lot, 92 per cent sold by value, and 123 per cent sold hammer and premium against low estimate. L’empire des lumières by Magritte was a record breaking sale that sold for over $110 million and resulted in a 10 minute bidding war.
René Magritte (1898-1967), L’empire des lumières, 1954. Oil on canvas. 57 ¼ x 44 ½ in (145.4 x 113 cm).
My calming David Kleiweg de Zwaan was also back on the rostrum for the 20th Century Evening Sale. David generally performed well with sales reaching $302,007,600, selling 77 per cent by lot, 88 per cent by value, and 114 per cent hammer and premium against low estimate. Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half sold for $68 million. One auction who was on the lookout for and didn’t really see was Darius Himes. While I am told he was there, I missed him. I guess we will have to wait for next season to find him.
Headlines for 12/3/24
Koyo Kouoh Named Curator Daddy for Venice Biennale 2026
WIth the Venice Biennale just wrapping up, they announced today their curator for 2026 which will be Koyo Kouoh. Kouoh is one of Africa’s most well known curators, and will be the second curator from the continent to organize the fair. Okwui Enwezo made history in 2015 for being the first.
Koyo Kouoh named Venice Biennale curator for 2026.
She is currently the executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, located in Cape Town, South Africa, an internationally known art hub. Daddy is excited to see what is on the horizon for the next biennale.
NASA Names Moon Crater After Ruth Asawa
In November, sculptor daddy Ruth Asawa reached new historic heights when a crater on the moon was named after her. This now makes her one of 23 artists to join this elite club which is in comparison to 100 male artists. Eye roll. We love that she is forever immortalized on the moon.
Miami Beach Bingo| Where in Miami Beach Are Benjamin Godsill's Loafers?
No art fair could be complete without a game of Art Daddy bingo and a fair game. For Felix last year I wanted you to locate Tara Downs's nipples, and last year, we wanted to track Ben Godsill and his loafers. Well, for the 2024 version of Basel, back by popular demand, we are now looking for Ben's Belgians in the greater 301 area code.
Ben and Nate are down in Miami to cover the fairs, look at art, be seen in their art bro clothes, and engage with the art crowds. And their food, gossip and Miami edition of the pod are sure to come. And the art daddy will be sure to not listen. They are my favorite art world duo to call out as of late.
In a NYT Style section manner, I also want to set forth some taste making elements.
I am reading: I'm reading How Fascism Works
I am drinking: Pomegranate Dragon Fruit Seltzer from Good and Gather
I am looking at: All the men over 60 with real estate in other countries on daddy apps. I am also going to auctions to meet men over 60 with real estate in other countries so this counts as a form of looking.