Exploring Art Basel in Miami Beach with Kathleen Goncharov, senior curator at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, means toggling back and forth between novelty and nostalgia. She is always eager to discover works by artists she does not know, but when she comes across a piece by one she has worked with—either in Boca Raton or during previous stints in New York at the New School and Creative Time, in Durham, North Carolina at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and elsewhere—it prompts fond reminiscences. Here, she shares her favourite works at the fair.
Keiichi Tanaami, Red Shade (2021), Nanzuka in Meridians
“This is very smart. It’s so much more interesting than current anime. He’s referencing Western art history and Asian art history, but then there’s also Betty Boop, Wonder Woman and UFOs. I’m totally into UFOs—one of the first shows I did in New York was an exhibition at the Queens Museum about them. I’m always looking for video because in Boca Raton we have this big projector in our education centre that you can see from outside.”
Wangechi Mutu, The Claw (2018), Gladstone Gallery
“That last solo exhibition of hers at Gladstone, with the large bronze of the winged figure, I really think that was one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. That’s beautiful; I like it a lot.”
Giulio Paolini, L’altra figura (1983), Mazzoleni
“This is a Giulio Paolini, who I love. I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy and I’ve always been a big fan of his. He’s a little after the Arte Povera movement but he’s Roman, which shows here.”
Mary Sibande, Ascension of the Purple Figure (2016), Kavi Gupta
“I like Mary Sibande’s work a lot and I think this piece is quite striking. She had work in [Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now)] at the Met Breuer; what she does is always really interesting.”
Rodney Graham, Untitled (2021), Lisson
“This is a big, Modernist Abstract painting; you’d never look at it and think ‘Rodney Graham’. There are other examples here—like the Zanele Muholi sculpture [at Yancey Richardson’s stand]—but it’s always really interesting to see an artist moving on to something else. And this is beautiful—who knew he could paint?”
Maya Stovall, 1526 (NASDAQ: FAANG) (2019-21), Reyes Finn
“The work is very understated but I think it’s very smart. All the numbers are important dates for Black people in America, and then 2040, which is when an MIT study from years ago predicted a total global collapse.”
David Hammons, Untitled (2007), White Cube
“This is from a show David Hammons did in 2007. He’d just started to make money and he bought these fur coats and then ruined them as a bit of a joke about the Upper East Side, since it was his first show at Mnuchin Gallery. They also say something about people at art fairs.”
Marcelo Silveira, Pele XX (2009/21), Nara Roesler
“This piece is pretty stunning, and he’s an artist I’ve never heard of, so that’s a good thing. It’s craft materials and it’s magical.”