December 2, 2005
The Miami Herald
Basel isn't only draw for art fans

BY BRETT O'BOURKE

It's noon on the opening day of the -scopeMiami alternative art fair at the Townhouse Hotel and Allen London, a collector from Boston, is not happy. He has his eye on a piece of art displayed in the lobby, but he can't find a representative from the gallery that's showing the work. The room the gallery occupies is locked.

''I've been collecting for a while so I know what I like,'' says the soft-spoken London. ``When I see something I like, I move quick.''

The Townhouse Hotel is only about two blocks from the convention center where Art Basel Miami Beach, this week's main event -- the reason London is in town -- is being held.

''The larger fairs are a catalyst for these smaller ones,'' he says. ``I wouldn't come down to Miami just for this but it's great when there are more spokes to the wheel.''

Alternative art fairs, which concentrate on works from emerging artists -- running concurrently with large-scale, established events like Art Basel -- are on the rise globally. This year, the return of NADA, -scopeMiami, OMNIART-Miami and Frisbee, which have all grown in size, and the addition of new fairs Pulse and Aqua, help solidify the increasing importance of Miami as an art marketplace.

And it's happening during a time when the U.S. contemporary art market is white hot. A record was set at Christie's last month for the most money ever paid for a piece of contemporary art at auction: $20 million for Mark Rothko's Homage to Matisse . The record stood for all of one day before New York art dealer Larry Gagosian dropped $21,250,000 at a Sotheby's auction for Cubi XXVIII , a sculpture by David Smith.

Artwork prices at auction are at an all-time high, having risen 41 percent since the beginning of the year, according to industry tracker artprice.com. And not only are there more dollars in the art market, but more individual buyers as well.

Karl Schweizer, director of art banking for UBS, the Swiss bank that sponsors Art Basel Miami Beach, offers two reasons for what he describes as a strong art market. First is a global growth in personal wealth; second is a decreasing birth rate. ''Wealthy people worldwide are growing,'' Schweizer says. ``The main growth is in the U.S. and Asia . . . that means that probably more wealth is available and it's a fact that art has a social component as well.''

When demand is high, suppliers appear to fill the gaps. Enter the alternative art fairs.

''The proliferation of fairs is a response to the desire of collectors and visitors [to access more art at diverse price points],'' says Helen Allen, director of Pulse, which debuted Thursday. ``Competition is good. It expands the market.''

The galleries featured at the alternative fairs tend to be younger, cutting-edge galleries exhibiting pieces by emerging artists. The work -- while interesting and sometimes attractive to the deeper-pocketed buyer -- tends to show with price tags more palatable for the novice or aspiring collector.

Prices range from as low as $150 to as much as $150,000.

Last year, the two most-established alternative fairs here, NADA and -scope, estimated sales of about $4.5 million and $2.2 million respectively.

`BREAKOUT YEAR'

''Last year was our breakout year,'' says Michael Sellinger of -scope, which also runs fairs to coincide with larger ones in New York, L.A., London and the Hamptons. ``Miami has always been our No. 2 market behind New York.''

But it's not just consumer demand that is spurring the growth in the size and number of fairs.

''[All the galleries] want to be in Basel or NADA but there are only so many slots and it's very competitive,'' says Jaq Chartier, a gallery owner from Seattle who created the Aqua art fair. ``We wanted to give galleries another venue.''

Chartier says that by inviting galleries mostly from the West Coast, she created a fair that offers something ``different than the New York aesthetic that dominates the other fairs.''

While each of the fairs focuses on new art, they tend to come at it from slightly different directions.

The exhibition spaces at Frisbee and OMNIART are largely artist-run, with OMNIART-Miami showing mainly local artists. NADA and -scope (which requires 80 percent of the work shown in each gallery be from one artist) act almost like a developmental league for the bigger fairs.

So what does all this mean for the inexperienced buyer who's looking for something nice to hang in the hallway?

''There is an incredible potential for people to collect,'' says Sellinger . ``Especially for those not comfortable with their eye, people for whom buying art is not a part of everyday life. Fairs like -scope are little less intimidating and there is a high concentration of good work.''

STARTING OUT

Sellinger , who is also an art buying consultant, says don't even think about art as an investment when you're starting out.

"Learn the process, stay informed, set your price parameter and -- while it's not interior decorating -- understand the space you're working with. And at the end of the day, buy what you love. Buy it because you want to live with it.''

Allen London, the Boston collector, couldn't agree more.

After borrowing a stranger's fair catalog, he called the gallery directly in New York and got the information on the piece from the lobby.

''I bought it,'' he says with a smile.