Brass Knuckles by Robert Lazzarini at O.H.W.O.W. Gallery

I’ve resisted attending the annual art carnival that is Art Basel Miami Beach since my last excursion in 2003. From that trip, during the convention’s second iteration, all I remember is a blur of expensive cars, beautiful women at exclusive parties in boutique South Beach hotels, and an ocean of vodka. (Some figments also remain of a moment when I posed as film director Wes Anderson in order to successfully Jedi mind-trick my way past security into the Visionaire party at the Raleigh Hotel; but that’s a story for another blog posting.) What I don’t remember from that first trip was what I went there for in the first place: the art.

Al Farrow sculpture made entirely of real weapons at Pulse 2010

The problem with these kinds of art super events, such as the Armory show in New York and Frieze in London, is that you are bombarded with a tsunami of art, all at once, and none of it is contextualised. Whereas the biennial-type events in cities such as Venice, Sao Paulo and Istanbul and are curated and seek to provide a cohesive and critical social commentary, the art fairs (and the dozen-odd simultaneous outrigger fairs that attend them such as NADA, Scope, Seven and Pulse) make no conscious, intellectual effort; they don’t even pretend to. Instead, they are flea markets for millionaires and billionaires. This is where buyers and sellers of this most expensive of commodities come together to transact; it doesn't leave much nectar for critics and curators like me to be nourished.

Once considered the low-stakes rec room sport of listless adolescents, Ping-Pong's been enjoying a revival as of late, thanks in part to Ping-Pong hideaways like New York City's SPiN. Academy Award-winning actress Sarandon, a Pong fanatic herself, is a part-owner of SPiN and will be bringing all the table tennis fun to Art Basel Miami when she hosts the Art of Ping-Pong December 4th at the Delano. The event, co-hosted by SPiN Galactic and the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, will feature a rubber Ping-Pong table specially designed by Nathalie Karg and Tom Burr as well as artists competing against each other in a tournament that, fingers crossed for neck-craning attendees, will get arty and ugly. Alas, it's an invite-only evening, but if you're one of the lucky few on the guest list, keep your eyes peeled for Calvin Klein, Julian Schnabel, Richard Phillips, and other art stars.

Below, Sarandon, who sweetly told us she won't be competing in the evening's games (though we're not sure if we believe her), tells us about Ping-Pong as an art form.

This event is called the "Art of Ping-Pong." Is Ping-Pong its own art form?

I think so. It's very beautiful to watch, especially when you're watching people who really know what they're doing, but it's fun to watch when they're people who don't know what they're doing. The tables themselves, though, and the ones being built for our party, are so beautiful. And it's challenging for designers. It's not like an ordinary object that you use every day. You can find a way though, to make it really elegant and really funny.

Ping-Pong seems like the perfect sport to pair with the oh-so-seriousness of Art Basel.

One of the best things about Ping-Pong is that it's so social. I think it's a wonderful way for people from all over the world to talk and socialize and have exchanges. That's why I think it's so much fun -- you can actually talk to people while you're playing and have funny exchanges.

And will you be competing on Saturday?

I don't know if what I'll be doing is competing. That's a little strong. I might be laughing and drinking and playing, but I don't know if you can call that competing. Ping-Pong will sort of be more of the backdrop.

By Elizabeth Thompson for AOL + Paper.

{{Art Basel Miami Beach officially begins on December 2 but for many gallerists, artists, collectors and curators, the parties and events begin today. There are so many events happening during this most important week for contemporary art in North America and making sense of it all is difficult. Though there are a lot of guides to the festival online, this post from Poder360 is one of the best we could find. It'll help you get started if you are heading south for the weekend. -- The Ministry of Artistic Affairs}}

FOR ART’S SAKE

The artists are coming, the artists are coming. And so are the art dealers, the collectors, the critics, the celebrities, the wannabes, and the whole wondrous, over-the-top, aesthetic throwdown that is Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest fair of modern and contemporary art in the country.

Not only is the fair itself spectacular—40,000 people are expected, more than 250 galleries from every corner of the world and more than 2,000 artists are represented—but Greater Miami is transformed into an art medium, with satellite events all over town, and that for which our town is famed: partying.



Sometimes it can be hard to tell entertaining and entertainment from art. A woman with her head in a case full of crude oil is art. A man jumping out of an airplane and slowly parachuting to the beach is art. Chinese folk who barely speak English selling virtual real estate for real money, that’s art too. Weird art, but art nonetheless. Come hang with Art Basel. You may be amazed, delighted or befuddled. But you won’t be bored. That’s for sure.

Country Club is pleased to premiere the first paintings from a new body of work by Ryan McGinness. "Women: The Blacklight Paintings" is the first glimpse from a series of new works and projects planned for New York and Los Angeles over the next year. This new body of work will encompass sketches, drawings, paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and prints.

For the Miami launch of Women, McGinness and Country Club have partnered with The Standard Miami Beach and the South Beach’s Club Madonna. For the duration of Art Basel Miami Beach 2010, The Standard will replace their printed bar materials with items designed by McGinness for the Women project. Club Madonna, a gentleman’s club, will exhibit the first four fluorescent blacklight canvases. These paintings, and all subsequent work from the series, are based on figure drawings of over 50 models completed during sittings with the artist over the past year. McGinness plans to continue his unique sketching process at Club Madonna with the venue’s dancers for the duration of the fair. In conjunction with this project Country Club is publishing a limited edition blacklight poster for the event.

In 2007, McGinness designed the environment for the Art Basel Miami Beach Art Positions which included over 50 large-scale paintings and a skate ramp that consumed the courtyard area surrounded by shipping containers. This year, in addition to the project with Country Club, McGinness will complete a blacklight mural titled 33 Women for Wynwood Walls. Earlier blacklight canvases will be exhibited with Michael Kohn Gallery at Art Basel.

RYAN MCGINNESS
Women: The Blacklight Paintings
CLUB MADONNA | MIAMI, FL
DECEMBER 2 -- DECEMBER 5, 2010

For additional information please visit Country Club Projects or the studio website of Ryan McGinness.