At Art Basel Miami Beach this year, a new marquee event joined the annual rotation of parties, dinners, and talks: the Art Basel Awards ceremony.
The awards were launched in New York back in May, ahead of Art Basel’s flagship fair in Switzerland, with 36 honorees—or medalists, in the parlance of the initiative. That group was then asked to vote on up to 12 “gold” winners, which were announced on Thursday night in South Beach at the New World Center. A block from the fair’s home at the Miami Beach Convention Center, it was designed by Frank Gehry, who died on Friday at 96.
The night’s host was musician and collector Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, who, as a Grammy winner, is no stranger to such events. “Awards shows are interesting,” he began his remarks. “We dress up, we practice our cute faces for the camera, we rehearse our thank yous. But tonight let’s do it different. Let’s celebrate the hustle, the craft, the reward. Let’s celebrate the ones who said no to easy, and yes to hard work.”
Attendees included photographer Ellen von Unwerth, uber-curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, dealer Nicola Vassel, collectors Don and Mera Rubell, and artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, who brought over from the fair two of his dystopic Regular Animals robots, one with the face of Jeff Bezos, the other of Elon Musk. It was quite the crowd, all seated together in the center’s concert hall.
The artists get $50,000 apiece, either as an honorarium or as a charitable gift that can they can give to an organization of their choice. Those in the “established artist” category also receive a commission that will debut at Art Basel in Switzerland next year. The top winners were as follows:
– Cecilia Vicuña in the “Icon” category,
– Nairy Baghramian and Ibrahim Mahama in the “Established” category for artists,
– Mohammad Alfaraj and Saodat Ismailova in the “Emerging” category,
– Formafantasma in the “Cross-Disciplinary” category,
– Joel Wachs in the “Patron” category,
– RAW Material Company as the winning “Institution,”
– Candice Hopkins won in the “Curator” category,
– Gasworks / Triangle Network got the “Allies” award,
– Negar Azimi won for “Media & Storytelling,”
– and fashion brand Hugo Boss presented the BOSS Award for Outstanding Achievement to artist Meriem Bennani.
It was a lively affair. Actor Emma D’Arcy, a star of HBO’s House of the Dragon, lent her voice to help guide the action, and an abstract, glowing form on a large screen bobbed to the inflections of her announcements. “We’re here to celebrate the full spectrum of creativity, and what’s shaping arts and culture,” she said, in a recording, at the start. “Please silence your cellphones and immerse yourself in the future of art.”
On the ground, Swizz kept the audience engaged, even at one point roving the aisles for someone to interview and landing on collector Komal Shah. “If you could predict the next big change in the art market,” he asked, “what would it be?” She was quick: “It’s a no-brainer that women artists deserve a lot more, and deserve to be at the top of the art world.”
On with the show! There was a lovely half-time performance by cellist Kelsey Lu, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, one of the jurors for the awards, addressed the audience. “The Art Basel Awards are trans-generational and inclusive, recognizing the many dimensions of the art world,” he said. “At a time marked by separation, they nurture dialogue and remind us how vital the transformative power of art is for society.”
The crowd then adjourned to the New World Center’s roof, where empanadas were passed around in cigar boxes and the mezcal pours were generous.