Press Release

Miami International Art Fair – MIA: Highlights Unveiled

Miami International Art Fair – MIA: Highlights Unveiled Miami, FL - December 10, 2011 – The 3rd edition of Miami International Art Fair (MIA), one of America's most exciting mid-winter contemporary art fairs, will return January 12-16, 2012 with a dynamic ensemble of 28 international galleries representing artist from Europe, Latin America, United States and Asia. The Fair will feature paintings, sculpture, photography, design, fine art glass, video and installations from a bevy of established museum collected artists as well as some of today's most promising emerging artists.

The Fair will relocate aboard SeaFair – the 228-foot megayacht venue – docked at 100 Chopin Plaza in Miami's premiere downtown entertainment district and will include a waterside installation and sculpture exhibition in Bayfront Park – designed by acclaimed sculptor and architect Noguchi which adjoins Miami's Museum Park and the new Miami Art Museum. Over thirty large scale sculptures by major international sculptors will be on public display.

Focusing on projects that reflect on universal subject matters, Hardcore Contemporary Art Space (Miami) will present work of local and international artists who use innovative and provocative mediums to foster questions about our post-contemporary society. At MIA the gallery will bring works by the renowned Latin American artist, Gastón Ugalde. He is called "the most important living Bolivian artist" by the Konex Foundation in Argentina and is often referred to as the "Andean Warhol" by art critics. Ugalde is also known as "the enfant terrible" of the Bolivian Art Scene and gained global attention with his controversial series of "coca paintings ". Gastón has been experimenting with coca in his art since the 1980s and will exhibit a selection of coca works at the Fair. The gallery will also feature Venezuelan artist Milton Becerra. Becerra is known for addressing cultural and environmental concerns through his mixed media works and has a unique technique of weaving organic materials – a skill learned during time spent with Amazonian tribes in the early 80's. He has been exhibited in prestigious museums worldwide including Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Ludwig Museum, Aachen; and the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro.

Cernuda Arte (Coral Gables) specializes in the exhibition and sale of Colonial, Early Republic, Vanguardia, and Modern master Cuban paintings, as well as fine artworks by contemporary artists. At MIA 2012, the Gallery will exhibit a collection of established and emerging Cuban artist including Wifredo Lam, Agustin Cardenas, Mario Carreno and René Portocarrero among others.

Black Square Gallery (Miami) has flourished in the Miami art scene since the Gallery was founded in 2010. Specializing in works from both accomplished, as well as promising young artists from around the world, Black Square Gallery will exhibit works by Emilio Garcia, Pablo Lehmann, Victor Sydorenko, Taisha 3,14, Zhanna Kadyrova, Anibal Vallejo, Jorge Chirinos Sanchez and Taro Hattori.

Kavachnina Contemporary (Miami) will exhibit emerging, mid-career artists both local and foreign in various media and will feature a large scale sculpture installation in MIA's sculpture garden at Bayfront Park. Among the sculptors exhibited will be the artistic duo Muher with their acclaimed "Palm Tree" works, Dutch stainless steel sculptor Ronald Westerhuis, South American artists John Angee and Cecilia Lueza, Spanish sculptor Joan Barrantes, Italian sculptor Maria Cristina Carlini, American artists Gilbert Boro, Claudia Klein and local Miami artist Jorge Fernandez.

Evan Lurie Gallery (Carmel) will feature works by renowned Italian sculptor Oriano Galloni, whose stunning figures in marble, wood, and aluminum range in height from 6 to 30 feet. A monumental 30-foot high marble sculpture entitled "White Moon" has been generously donated by the artist, and is expected to fetch an estimated $2.5 million at auction, with the proceeds from the sale benefitting the non-profit Arts for India. Galloni has also designed and donated 30 small-scale sculptures for the launch of Arts for India at the Guggenheim Museum New York on April 26, 2012. Among the pieces exhibited at the Miami International Art Fair will be additional new works by Galloni available for sale. The Evan Lurie Gallery will also feature new works by sculptors Brad Howe, Carlo Borer, Kevin Barrett, and Gino Miles, as well as two-dimensional pieces by Jorge Santos, Victor Wang, Alexi Torres, and Jason Paul Bennett.

Art Link International (Lake Worth) will present a collection of Modern Masters as well as emerging artists. The gallery will feature artwork and a live painting performance Friday evening by celebrated graffiti artist John Matos – better known as Crash. Crash has revolutionized graffiti as an art and earned the craft the respect of the art world. Crash also caught the eye of music giants like Eric Clapton when he presented him with a detailed Stratocaster; Clapton has since commissioned 5 guitars now dubbed "Crashocastors", one of which recently sold for $321,000. Crash will donate one of his works to benefit the Marli Foundation for Ovarian Cancer during a benefit for the Foundation on Saturday, January 14th aboard SeaFair. Among the additional works exhibited will include a 1979 original Joan Miro, as well as original paintings by Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella, two original Botero drawings from the 1980's, a Venetian glass exhibit of Dale Chihuly circa the 1990's and an important painting, Dame mit Tomate, by painter Paul Klee completed in 1930, as well as works by Jimmy Ernst, Charles Green Shaw, Jim Ceravolo, A.R. Penck and Tom Wesselmann.

From the far reaches of South Korea, Ejung Gallery (Seoul) will present works by artist Lee Kyu-Hak. Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh the artist uses mixed media including styrofoam, magazines, newspaper and Korean traditional paper, hanji, to create his textured works. In addition, the gallery will present work by sculptor Moo In-Soo. An exhibition of artists Frank Hyder and Florence Putterman will be presented by Projects Gallery (Philadelphia). Hyder has participated in more than 150 group shows and has had over 80 solo exhibitions throughout North, South and Central America, including 8 individual exhibitions in New York City.

The Fair will commence with a private preview, January 12th from 6:30-8:30 PM, for the members of the MOCA Shakers, sponsored by Sinless Cocktails. The MOCA Shakers (ages 21-45) have quickly become one of the fastest growing groups in Miami with a dynamic roster of young professionals interested in networking, socializing, cultural exposure, philanthropy and community engagement. For more information on the MOCA Shakers and to discover how to become a member, please visit http://www.mocanomi.org/membership/.

The preview evening will continue with a Collectors' Invitational from 8:30-10 PM for additional distinguished collectors and VIP guests. Priority boarding tickets will be accepted for admission to the Collector's Invitational portion of the preview evening.

Fair hours are January 13-15, noon to 10 PM and Monday, January 16, noon to 7 PM. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15 for a One-day ticket, $20 for a Multi-day ticket and $30 for a Priority Boarding ticket; discounted tickets are available on the MIA website at www.mia-artfair.com.

For more information on participating exhibitors and programming, please visit the Fair website at www.mia-artfair.com. For information on the one-of-a-kind venue, SeaFair, please visit www.expoships.com.