Director Bridget Finn fronts critical criterion and fresh finds at her debut Art Basel Miami Beach.
Bridget Finn, Art Basel Miami Beach director PHOTO BY JAMES JACKMAN, COURTESY OF ART BASEL
Last year, Art Basel selected Bridget Finn, a seasoned New York-based arts professional, to spearhead Art Basel Miami Beach. In 2017, Finn co-founded Reyes | Finn Gallery in her hometown, Detroit, and was previously an exhibitor at the Miami fair. This familiarity is supplemented by her extensive curatorial, commercial and nonprofit art world experience. Miami Magazine speaks with Finn about her ambitions for the world’s splashiest and busiest art fair.
What is unique about this Art Basel Miami Beach?
Whether a first-time visitor or a seasoned fairgoer and collector, this edition was designed to maximize the opportunity for discovery. A refreshed artistic program welcomes 285 galleries, including 34 first-time participants, from 38 countries and territories internationally across all sectors. Meridians, curated for the first time by Yasmil Raymond, features 18 large-scale museum-quality artworks, including new and key historical pieces by leading artists Alice Aycock, Zhu Jinshi, Portia Munson, Danh Vo, and Franz West, among others. This year, Meridians has also been repositioned on the main show floor, offering a new experience that is not to be missed.
What is your future vision?
We are categorically focused on the quality of exhibitors and works on view and on continuing to deliver an unparalleled cultural experience. It’s important to maintain what makes the show so singular—its diversity, experimental spirit and unique position geographically and creatively at the intersection of the Americas.
How important is representing diverse creative practice?
We are dedicated to platforming artistic voices and perspectives from ranging cultural contexts and artistic movements, including those underrepresented in the art history canon. Our Survey sector specifically spotlights significant yet historically overlooked practices of women artists such as Lynne Drexler, Greta Schödl, Deborah Willis, Sonya Rapoport and more.
How does Miami’s growth inform the fair?
Established in 2002, Art Basel Miami Beach’s success story is interwoven with the City of Miami Beach’s cultural evolution. Greater Miami’s fierce and growing community of artists, galleries, institutions, patrons and partners continues to drive cultural momentum. We are a proud engine of this broader cultural ecosystem, which continues to reinforce our show and vice versa.
Photography by: Photo By: James Jackman, Courtesy of Art Basel
