“It is a joy to snoop around an art fair before the feeding frenzy begins. The stands of old-time dealers were still stacked high with crates (…), other gallerists were fine-tuning the positions of their art objects and hanging lights…” wrote Sarah Thornton in her “Seven Days in the Art World” book.
Related articles: SCOPE Art Show 2020 - A glance to the Art Fairs Future - Creating the future of the arts. 31 emerging artists
The Canadian art writer, Sarah Thornton, was referring to the complex and interesting world of art fairs. These few lines represent a pleasant reminder of what an art fair is made of: hard working; small details to create a perfect mood and atmosphere for the expected guests and buyers; those last tricks to make the booth look perfect and the works of art look great. Due to the recent restrictions, we have been missing these thrilling experiences for a while, but, step by step, we are figuring out ways to get back to reality again.
A perfect example is Scope Art Show. Thanks to a team of experts that studied the best way to present the fair to the public for several months, SCOPE created an immersive fair for Miami Beach: Immersive Miami Beach | Part 2. And we are sure that these new features will make the fair even more enjoyable, both in a physical and in a digital but tangible way.
As we already wrote in our magazine (SCOPE Art Show 2020), it is globally known how SCOPE is a remarkable fair that focuses on new visual trends and international galleries with a vivid vision towards contemporary art. “At SCOPE, the audience can find various galleries for different tastes and groundbreaking contemporary art pieces. It is an interesting fair both for buyers and for art critics, as they can develop their researches and studies. For this reason, the fair, that managed to expand itself in New York, Miami and Basel (since 2008), can count cumulative sales over billion dollars and the attendance of more than 1.2 million visitors. Not bad for a fair that was born 20 years ago and that has changed locations and point of views during its path”.
SCOPE Miami Beach this year will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a new, extremely curated, immersive program: from the first gaze at its website, the fair welcomes its users and guests through an all-embracing digital platform. Virtually exploring the show, the audience can almost feel as they were walking the pier of the fair, on the sandy beaches in front of the massive hangar containing the 140 galleries, exhibiting their last trends.
“We believe in the power of art to broaden perspectives, start difficult conversations, and ignite lasting political and societal change. As a part of our ongoing effort to create space and opportunities for more diverse voices, we are proud to be expanding our New Contemporary Program, a program that stands as a critical contribution to both global politics and local community engagement, by partnering with non-profit art organizations that are fighting for inclusivity in the art world by uplifting Black artists and thinkers”.
So, the fair takes on a new guise. Next to the digital innovations immerging the audience into the fair reality, new and genuine values are spread via a large-scale video wall, placed inside the show and “featuring wellness programs presented by Invisible Hand and talks by Paul Laster, Tyler Shields, the Black Artists and Designers Guild, Eva Woolridge, featured videos from ICA Boston courtesy of Daily Plinth”.
Among these videos, installations and messages, the one by Dr Kelly Jennings can be mentioned as a perfect introductory starting point for this experience. She, in fact, talks about a “state of curiosity” and “jamais vu” (never seen) as ways to discover new things, especially in a time of exile. This exile that we will all cherish thanks to new things and adventures.
