Cristina Salmastrelli is slowing the rhythm of PULSE in all the right ways.
After years in different roles with the PULSE satellite art fair, its new director, Cristina Salmastrelli, is adding a little yang to the yin for the event’s 15th anniversary. For starters, her team appointed a theme, Calm in the Palms, as well as a new, 200-seat Malibu Farms restaurant, grab-and-go market and a wellness lounge. “I wanted to incorporate something for awareness and self-enrichment,” she explains. “Even if it’s just to take a 15-minute break so you can re-energize yourself. During Art Week there are so many things we forget to do for ourselves.”
Salmastrelli was equally egalitarian when it came to selecting PULSE’s participants: “I need to make sure I’m creating a balance between different mediums, emerging and established artists, and art that will be of interest to an international and local crowd. PULSE was originated to be a boutique fair experience with a diverse portfolio. We always wanted to be a balance where we didn’t overwhelm the eye.”
Salmastrelli joined Ramsay Fairs, PULSE’s parent company, in 2011, and every year since she has coveted an artwork or two. This year, she has her eye on a still from Gregory Perkel’s two-part video series reflecting on the last 40 years in the art world, which will be shown in its entirety at PULSE at the Black & White Gallery/Project Space booth. Once the fair ends, Salmastrelli’s main focus will be its expansion into other markets, but until then, her advice to this year’s fairgoers is as follows: “Don’t miss out on the beauty that is in front of you. We’re looking at creativity from artists, and emotions, proclamations and missions that are coming from people’s souls. We have to remember, as viewers, that we are completing what it is to make art. Don’t rush.” Dec. 5-8, $35-$100, Indian Beach Park, 4601 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 212.255.2327
Photography by: Nick Garcia
