Untitled Art fair began in 2012, and this year takes place from Wednesday, December 6 through Sunday, December 10, 2023. Untitled is located right on Miami Beach between Ocean Drive and 12th Street.
I asked a few of the artists on display to talk more about their work and creative processes.
Interviews between artists and Amy Boone-McCreesh
WHERE CAN VISITORS SEE YOUR WORK THIS YEAR?
I’m showing new works with ADA Gallery this year at Untitled Art Fair (booth B27). ADA is based in Richmond, Virginia, and I’ve been showing with them for a few years now. I’m excited to work with John again! @the_ada_gallery
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PIECES ON VIEW
I’m showing two wool carpets, plus maybe a few small paintings could be on hand in the back. I’ve been working on a series of carpet designs over the past six years, and they’re commissioned and tied ethically from pure wool and natural dyes. I make the distinction that I’ve designed them because I’m frequently asked if I make them by hand (definitely not – this requires specialized skills that I don’t have), but I conceptualize them as artworks within the larger body of work I’m chipping away at within my ongoing efforts in the studio. I make paintings depicting objects and other paintings, and also make objects that include paintings or appear as if they originated from one of my paintings, so carpets came about in my work as an effective means to produce something that plays at the gap, moving between object and picture. One very green carpet is titled “The Materials” and it depicts a pond framed within a rectangular walled space, filled with a collection of objets d’art, paintings, architectural elements, plants, tools, and a lone repeated figure. The other carpet, very pink, is titled “Pink Wake”, and it depicts a large arena-like ceremonial architectural space filled with a similarly broad collection of objects, along with a sparse berobed audience observing from the surrounding stands. Each of my carpets depicts a landscape from a bird’s eye view, so the composition is somewhat map-like, borrowing from the perspective format often used in certain early computer/video games like the Zelda series.
WHAT IS DRIVING YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE RIGHT NOW?
Each year (or each big exhibition, sometimes it takes longer than a year) I start to think of a new metafictional space to occupy, in which I am the artist but also in part the viewer and occupant of the space. I imagine these spaces all connected together, but focus on one at a time. Right now I’m working on developing new paintings and sculptures around a control room – the security center for a fictitious manor, and the things seen through its various sensors. Since the carpets take some time to complete, these at the fair belong to bodies of work exploring a sculpture garden and a subterranean habitation – prior projects – and this new work is now in the beginning phases of exploration. So far I’m only painting, but I’ve been excited about developing some 3D printed ceramic objects and molded forms to be used in sculpture for a future show. When I make work I have to be completely convinced by it in the end – I have to make the transition from occupant to artist to viewer – and I’m very much in the occupant/artist phase, trying to get deeper into my head. I’m doing a lot of research around machines and physical interfaces, and am looking forward to working out all of the technical problems and finally getting to the point where it finally comes together and I can forget it all and believe in the objects and images I made. Getting there.
ARE YOU IN MIAMI FOR ART WEEK?
No, unfortunately! I’m too far away and otherwise occupied at the moment to make the trip. I’m sad I won’t be there but hope a few friends will be able to stop by and see my work. I think next time I will have to go, no matter what – I’ve actually never been to Miami for the fairs and owe myself at least one pilgrimage.
WHERE CAN VISITORS SEE YOUR WORK THIS YEAR?
My work is on view at Untitled Art Fair with Dinner Gallery in Booth B29. Dinner is a New York City based gallery, and im showing alongside Anna Ortiz
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PIECES ON VIEW
I’m showing several new pieces that are all made from a combination of different dyed and digitally printed textiles, bound together with embroidered thread. My newest and biggest work titled Electric Hothouse is on display on the back wall of the booth, with two small paintings on either side.
WHAT IS DRIVING YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE RIGHT NOW?
My creative practice is somewhat self generative these days. I am always looking to nature for inspiration, but the process itself is what really guides my work. Recently, I’ve been playing with photoshop ai tools as an extension of my painting process. I’ve also been screen printing my drawings on fabric. I like the balance between hand drawn techniques and digital ones.
ARE YOU IN MIAMI FOR ART WEEK?
Yes! I’ve been here for a few days but I’m flying out tomorrow night. Come say hi at Untitled on Thursday 🙂
WHERE CAN VISITORS SEE YOUR WORK THIS YEAR? WHAT GALLERY ARE YOU SHOWING WITH?
I’m showing at Untitled with County Gallery, Booth A42
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PIECES ON VIEW
I have two large paintings entitled Pull VI and Pull VII on view. I use oil paint in an unconventional way by extruding it in small marks or “threads.” Collectively they create the illusion of a woven surface. In this series of paintings, all titled Pull, I’ve been han dmixing a gradient of blue that shifts over time. Upon close inspection it’s very difficult to pinpoint where change is occurring and yet from afar, it becomes quite clear. The speed of change and the organic movement in the mark making are subtly different in each piece. At County, you can see two of these paintings side by side. The title Pull has many meanings, one being; To move one’s body in a specified direction, especially against resistance. Undertaking these paintings is a physical endurance challenge (they each took three months to create) and I started this body of work soon after the loss of my mother. To me they embody this physical and psychological resistance, while also presenting a contemplative expanse for reflection and a record of moving forward.
WHAT IS INSPIRING YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE RIGHT NOW?
In abstraction there is a space where meaning is felt, but not necessarily nameable.
I’m always searching for that moment when the material becomes meaning and makes my hair stand on end. In my practice, I’m turning toward smaller experimental works that push the sculptural possibilities of oil paint.
ARE YOU IN MIAMI FOR ART WEEK?
Yes! I am in town and looking forward to seeing many artist friends and new work (and the beach)!
IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS OR TIPS FOR THIS WEEK
My tips are; surround yourself with good artist friends that make you laugh, don’t forget to swim in the ocean, and check out some shows in Miami that are happening outside of the fairs. I’m headed over to the exhibition “To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions from the Jorge M Perez Collection” at El Espacio 23 , curated by Tobias Ostrander.
WHERE CAN VISITORS SEE YOUR WORK THIS YEAR?
Selenas Mountain Gallery, Chelsea NYC, Booth C40 @ Untitled Art Miami Beach
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PIECES ON VIEW
Searching (Juro Que…)
2023, Acrylic, airbrush, artist’s iphone 5c and credit card, plastic blue ball, plastic flies, artificial butterfly, metal jewelry chain and painted artificial leaves on canvas.
ATM Bob Marley
2023, Acrylic, airbrush, denim jeans, black bandana, and 3D animation video on canvas mounted on wood panel.
Prayer Hands #2 ( after Sha’Carri, after Dürer )
2022, acrylic, airbrush, collage and aluminum on wood panel
Bad Bunny, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of Music in Their Time
2023, Acrylic, airbrush, charcoal, ink, plastic fly, and oil on canvas
WHAT IS INSPIRING YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE RIGHT NOW?
I’m currently inspired by themes of world building, mythology, digital and pop culture and underrepresented narratives.
ARE YOU IN MIAMI FOR ART WEEK?
Yes I am here for Miami Art Week
