MIAMI BEACH, FL.- PULSE Contemporary Art Fair closed its ten-year anniversary in Miami Beach with renewed energy and stellar results. Collectors, curators and exhibitors praised the fair’s convenient location, well-designed venue, strong community of galleries and welcoming atmosphere. Helen Toomer, Director of PULSE Contemporary Art Fair stated that in such an overwhelming and oversaturated market, she was thrilled that PULSE was a platform for sales as well as meaningful connections and conversation.
PULSE’s central location on Indian Beach Park in mid-Miami Beach provided visitors with an anchor point and a reprieve from the frenzied activity in Miami this past week. Fairgoers celebrated the beachside venue’s intimate scale and were pleased to have the opportunity to fully experience and engage with the art, artists and exhibiting galleries in a calm environment.
Strong sales reports from galleries in all categories proved that the carefully curated approach to the exhibitor selection process and the open layout of the space was a successful model. Established galleries such as Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery from New York, Elizabeth Leach Gallery from Portland, Purdy Hicks Gallery from London, HosfeltGallery from San Francisco and Gallery Poulsen from Copenhagen reported their strongest sales at any fair to date. This success was mirrored by new galleries such as De Soto Gallery which completed its first art fair with a sold out booth, Zhulong Gallery which sold a net-based work by Alexandra Gorczynski for one of the highest prices achieved for this category of digital art, and Guy Corriero’s abstract works from junior projects were quickly acquired.
There were a number of artists whose works generated significant attention from curators, museum representatives and institutional and private collectors. Artists who left their stamp on this iteration of the fair include Rosa Santos Gallery’s booth of abstract works by PULSE Miami Beach 2014 Prize winner Andrea Canepa; Yorgo Alexopoulos’s digital “Double Swell” pieces presented by Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery; Beverly Semmes’s gauzy soft sculptures and Kathy Butterly’s whimsical ceramics presented by Shoshanna Wayne Gallery; Sam Messenger’s web-like paintings and Ghost of a Dream’s art fair-inspired installation presented by Davidson Gallery; a series of cheeky text-based paintings by Lisa Levy of Schroder Romero Gallery presented an opportunity of for self-reflection and selfies; Susie Ganch’s feather-like sculpture made from Starbucks cups shown by Sienna Patti Gallery and Jen Dalton’s real estate office installation hosted by Winkleman Gallery elegantly brought attention to environmental issues; and Maya Hayuk’s brightly colored abstracts presented by Circle Culture Gallery provided everyone with a reminder that looking at art can be joyful experience.
PULSE Miami Beach proved to be a draw for those with interest in acquiring museum-quality from forward-thinking emerging talent to limited edition, hard-to-find pieces by established artists. From local high schoolers, college students, museum groups and celebrities including Swizz Beatz, Betsy Johnson and Solange Knowles, PULSE also welcomed curators and collectors from institutions as diverse as Crystal Bridges, 21c Museum Hotels, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Istanbul Modern, Museum of Art and Design in New York, Hudson River Museum, and local museums such as the Perez Art Museum and NSU Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. Collectors from all over the world were in attendance with a significant showing of US buyers from New York, Los Angeles, Aspen, San Francisco and Dallas.
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair will continue the momentum gained over the past year with an equally dynamic New York fair, with new dates from March 5-8, 2015 at the Metropolitan Pavilion on 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011. The fair will return to its current Miami Beach home of Indian Beach Park in December 2015.
