“It’s like the Museum Olympics ” is something I recited daily during this year’s Basel season. With an inbox filled with fair passes, an Outlook calendar stuffed with activations, and collaborative notes dancing with immersive events, this year’s art week almost felt like a choppy breath of fresh air amongst previous years.

It’s been three years since I last attended Art Basel Miami while actively working within a museum institution. Swimming with excitement and wariness, I felt equipped to tackle the multitudes of engaging conversations, artworks to digest, and lack of sleep. This year, I made it my mission to navigate Basel with intention.

Per my therapist’s advice, a few weeks prior, I purchased a planner to contain all of the contents from several of my calendars and miscellaneous sticky notes to maintain my schedule on the go. I utilized this new planner to intentionally organize my Basel week day by day with fairs, activations, and events I plan to attend while leaving enough space for plan b options to intersect. When I say Basel with intention, I mean by researching and genuinely looking into what spaces align with you. Do you want to attend, or do you fear missing out? Between battling disgusting traffic, swarms of crowds, and intense overstimulation, would you be able to say you got the most out of your Basel experience?

In many ways, this Basel felt a bit calmer than in previous years. It almost felt like there were fewer independent pop-up exhibitions this time, but that still did not shy away from the many activations happening all around Miami.

In tune with my last Basel review in 2021 and tandem with my return to Miami, I deemed it necessary to share insight on the artworks that stalled me and left me inclined to research further:

If I had to think about my top three fairs every Basel, the Prizm Art Fair would be in that category. Founded by Mikhaile Solomon, this year’s 12th edition of Prizm left me excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue discovering incredible diaspora artists through this fair.

One of those artists was Maxwell Pearce, who showcased this large-scale painting made with oil paint and shoelaces. I was immediately captivated by the use of material and the way Pearce truly captured the essence of this figure, which made me feel nostalgic when thinking about the impact of Jet and Ebony Magzine.

I especially love that Peace allows parts of the shoelaces to trickle past the canvas in a way that acknowledges his use of this unconventional material. I spoke with Pearce, who attended the Prizm’s opening preview and discovered more insight into his practice.

The woman figure in this work and his other two similar paintings are of model Lovely Hill, also Pearce’s grandmother. Hearing from Pearce directly about the considerable impact of his grandmother’s trajectory on his family from then to now made me gravitate to the work even further. Alongside Pearce’s artistic practice, he is also a player on the Harlem Globetrotters Basketball team, a professional basketball team that combines athleticism, comedy, and entertainment in their exhibition games. Thus, adding such an interesting intersectional element to the use of shoelaces in his work connects both worlds he stands within.

I’ve enjoyed connecting with Cierra Britton and her gallery via LinkedIn for a few years. I continue to be inspired by her dedication to representing and celebrating BIPOC women artists. While perusing the NADA Art Fair, warm, flesh-tone paintings stopped me in my tracks, and it was great to notice that the booth that these paintings sat within was part of the Cierra Britton Gallery.

Bre Andy showcased six oil paintings from her From the Outside In Series. What captivated me about these paintings, particularly the painting titled Within Reach was the intimate way that Andy depicts these undressing moments. It inspired me to romanticize my process of decomposing and removing the day’s articles.

*Deliverance*, 2024, by Terron Cooper Sorrells

I first encountered the Richard Beavers Gallery at the Untitled Art Fair in 2021 and was over the moon when I entered their booth at the Untitled Art Fair 2024. Greeting visitors were these vibrant paintings from Terron Cooper Sorrells's See Me As I Am series. Within these artworks, Sorrell offers a profound commentary on Black masculinity, exploring themes of resilience and generational trauma through striking paintings.

What struck me the most about the painting Deliverance are the almost spiritual elements of the birds, the holding of a book, which one may assume is the Bible, and this woman’s otherworldly figure that seems to have come down to input energy within the male figure’s heart figuratively. Sorrell’s work has a way of leading figures to view these depictions of Black masculinity through a hardened but also soft lens.

One aspect that also excites me when coming into contact with Richard Beavers Gallery during the Untitled Art Fairs is how they never fail to curate a booth that expounds on the current times society is in. Sorrell’s work speaks directly to the past and current times we face politically, systematically, and spiritually.

*With each crash against the unyielding shore, I surrender to the tides that shape my fate, A paradox of stillness, an unspeakable core, - In the dance of time, I endlessly contemplate.*, 2024 by Sophie-Yen Bretez.

Artworks that include text elements will always hold me in place, and that’s precisely what many paintings by Sophie-Yen Bretez have done. Bretez’s work on display contained this bright pink hue in conversation; these figures resemble the artist, featuring elements that resonate with the artist’s livelihood. For example, the French address and stamp on the letter in the upper left-hand corner speak to Bretez’s childhood and residency in France.

This work, in particular, is titled With each crash against the unyielding shore, I surrender to the tides that shape my fate, A paradox of stillness, an unspeakable core, - In the dance of time, I endlessly contemplate. The figure representing Bretez seems to be having a moment of reflection with a corresponding poem that speaks to the sensory ways Bretez has interacted with these precious moments of reflection. In many ways, this work engages with the power of journaling and marking moments of selfhood and time.

*Weird Honey / Bagel Breath (diptych)*, 2019 by Thomas Bils

The last artwork that has not left my mind since art week was a diptych artwork titled Weird Honey / Bagel Breath by Thomas Bils. This artwork was part of a group show titled Body & Spirit at Spinello Projects.

The dark hues within this work, in conversation with the subtle rays of light, comforted and slowed me down, which is ironic considering that I didn’t have much time to navigate this show before running to a work event. Something about this scene and these tonalities speaks to somberness, stillness, and nostalgia. This scene made me reflect on the many times I’ve laid in bed, stared at my ceiling fan, and allowed my mind to walk a path of disassociation.

The painting of the rays of light splashing against the open closet also enhances this feeling of staring into the mundane but mentally lost in otherworldy mindscapes.

Do you Basel with intention? -An Art Basel 2024 Reflection

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