The Meridian section, curated by Yasmil Raymond, the Rector of the Städelschule and Director of Portikus in Frankfurt, Germany, presented large-scale artworks making political statements aiming to open up public discussion. Anastasia Bay’s ambitious Maestra Lacrymae, Acte V, 2024, specifically created for Art Basel, represents a harlequin or a gulliver, a sleeping or deceased giant lying on a coffin-like bed covered in a blue blanket – to a viewer, a metaphor of the world-as-we-know-it ending came to mind. On the backdrop of the recleaning figure, there were three large paintings on orthogonal panels, each topped with lunettes showing crowds rendered in a fluid, Ensorian manner. This strong visual statement referenced numerous classical depictions of processions with a strong protagonist at the center. 

Another interesting work in this section was Portia Munson’s Bound Angel, 2021. An oval-shaped table is laden with mass-produced, mostly white feminine figures all bound up in ropes, alluding to a rigid standard for women and a cultural code that upholds this standard.

At the fair, I had two conversations that framed Art Basel Miami in an insightful way. The first conversation was with Sagarika Sundaram, an Indian-born and New York-based textile artist whose work, Released Form, was commissioned by the UBS Art Collection for the UBS Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024. The work itself is a harmonious symphony of colors, grounding and arresting at the same time.

Sagarika, please tell me more about the artwork presented as part of the Art Basel this year. Where does the idea of Released Form come from including its formalist dimension, color symbolism, and scale?

SS: The title 'Released Form' comes from two things. First, I structurally made the work in a way that it releases from within while being made from one piece of cloth, currently hanging 3x its original size. Secondly, I’m thinking about laughter, as it is a form of release. Where does laughter come from in the body? I’m working from that same unknowable space, an instinctive, intuitive, but also joyful place. 

 In terms of color, I am probably influenced by, for example, the color combinations of flowers that I saw in markets near the temples in India where I was growing up where people were making garlands for ceremonies, or a rare color combination in a sari. I am not directly referencing them, but they do show up in the work. I would like to see freedom in my work. I am promiscuous with color.

Do you specifically address any current issues or crises through your piece?

SS: The work operates on a subliminal level, I am not saying anything through it, on the contrary, I am listening to it as it is telling me things once it is finished and hanging up. I have to listen carefully to what it is saying and carry that into the next work.

An intersection of art and craft is of vital importance to your practice. How does it connect to the community around you?

SS: I buy about sixty to hundred kilos of wool a year, sourcing it from small growers in the Himalayas and Catskills in Upstate New York. It takes many people to make the work and roll the work into one complete whole - a mixture of studio assistants, friends, and volunteers help me in this process. For 'Released Form,' I invited my friends to come and bless the work, to give it their best intentions; for me this is the way to share the work with my people before it leaves the studio. Charging the work with good intention is important to me.

This year has been a major one for this career, including a show at Palo Gallery, Salon 94, and a collaboration with UBS for ABMB. Looking back now, what do you think was the major, decisive step that solidified your career as an artist?

SS: At the Armory Show in 2023 I had a work titled 'Iris.' It was featured in the New York Times and reviewed by Martha Schwendener. For me, this was the turning point in my career. The fact that someone who has so much experience would pick specifically one work of mine amidst thousands of artworks at the fair was a certain affirmation for me. I was waiting for this to happen, for the work to meet a critical eye.

The second conversation I had was with Meredith Rosen of Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York.

This December your gallery presents Carla Accardi, Karl Gerstner, Charlemagne Palestine, and Gowoon Lee at Art Basel Miami Beach. What affected your selection of these specific artists?

I always put forward my best curatorial approach.  This year the works by Carla Accardi, Karl Gerstner, Gowoon Lee and Charlemagne utilize musicological strategies of rhythm, sound, and composition to bridge visual and auditory language.

Do you feel that art fairs are still relevant parts of the art system? Or their role and significance has shifted?

Art Basel is very important to my business. Not only for sales, but the relationships we’ve created throughout our participation in the fair have significantly impacted the trajectory of our gallery.

From your presentations in previous years, one could see that you intentionally present a more European aesthetic in Miami. Do you feel that this is a difficult undertaking?

Our program brings attention to many under-recognized European artists in the United States. Art Basel Miami Beach is a platform where we can bring our gallery work in New York to a greater public audience.  

All in all it was a wide-ranging and substantial fair, a pleasure to attend.