Scope Miami Beach 2022
Miami Art Week (@miamiartweek) is the art world equivalent of the Zion rave in Matrix Reloaded. 1,200 galleries fill out 20 fairs spread across the city, interspersed with galas, happenings and many other “must be seen at” events. To describe it as overwhelming would be an understatement, but I had to start somewhere. I chose Scope.
Situated between the famous Art Deco skyline and the blue waves of the Atlantic, Scope is literally located on the fine grained, linen coloured sand of Miami’s South Beach. Just follow the flashy pedicures strutting between the mangrove hedges to get to the entrance of the air conditioned tent housing 127 stalls and an amphitheatre showcasing the latest contemporary art.
I was eagerly anticipating this show, curious to see what I’d find from the roster of galleries that overwhelmingly represented the Americas. But like a pimped out breakfast burrito, many of the works were messy and hard to digest. Lots of intentionally distressed, chaotic collisions of symbols and styles that aimed to evoke street art, pop culture and Americana all in one bite. A lot of it was catchy, clever sellable stuff that looked like it was only made to be marketable. Frequently at high-end prices far beyond what I’d expect any of it to be worth this time next year.
Repetitive themes included astronauts, Star Wars, skulls, celebrities and McDonald’s. Lots and lots of McDonald’s, although nobody did it better than London’s own Lucy Sparrow (@sewyoursoul). It often takes an outsider to truly capture what makes something special about a culture, and her McFelt installation certainly made waves.
But getting back to the Americans… DO. NOT. MAKE. EYE. CONTACT! Unlike in London, gallerists here will approach YOU and start explaining everything before you’ve even seen it. “This blah blah blah work by the artist was made using blah blah and it’s about blah blah blah and references their blah”. I found it exhausting, but free bottled water from the bar temporarily restored my faith in humanity. Plus, there were plenty of gems to be found among the trends.
Here’s some works I liked:
Img 1 — Embossed, painted wood panels that mash up pop culture with traditional Korean motifs, by Seong, Tae-jin (@seongtaejin_official)
Img 2-3 — 3D collage sculptures made from torn strips of ink on paper, by Julia Sossinka (@julia.sossinka)
Img 4-5 — Air brushed faces in foam, by Thalia Hernandez (@x.thalia)
Img 6 — Wood and lace wall works by Elisa Ortega Montilla (@elisa_ortega_montilla)
Img 7-8 — Artefact series by Daniel Fiorda (@danielfiordaprojects) who buries cassette tapes and mobile phones in plaster
Img 9 — Various late 90’s / early 00’s drawings collaged onto acrylic by Karl Stengel (1925 - 2017) were some of my favourite works in the show, possibly because they so radically stood out from the rest of the crowd.
Img 10-11 — My mother was incredibly enamoured with a series of borosilicate glass pipes presented by Glass2grass (@glass2grass) that she repeatedly claimed she didn’t know were bongs. Many of these were indeed beautiful works, but I suspect my therapist and I will be discussing mum’s suspicious interest in these works in far more detail than she was willing to reveal at the show.
As art fairs go, Scope didn’t disappoint, even though the art skewed a bit too trendy for my tastes. It’s generously sized, incredibly well organised and set on an iconic beach location you just can’t beat.
Scope Miami Beach ran from 29 Nov - 04 Dec 2002.
For more information, visit scope-art.com or follow @scopeartshow on Instagram.