As markets shift and collectors change, Art Basel Miami Beach adapts

The artist known as Beeple is at it again.

His “Regular Animals” exhibit — part of Art Basel Miami Beach’s inaugural AI sector, Zero 10 — was an instant hit at Wednesday’s VIP opening. The project features flesh-colored robot dogs that resemble Rock ’Em Sock ’Em robots, each wearing the mask of a famous man: Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg. The dogs snap images of the crowd and “poop” out original artworks in the style of the person they represent — Musk’s “Cognitive Blueprint” series in black-and-white; Zuckerberg’s “Metaversal” in shades of blue; Picasso’s Cubist take, and so on.

“It’s weird, but it’s not meant to be insulting to these people,” Beeple told the Miami Herald.

But beyond the spectacle, Art Basel Miami Beach itself is entering a moment of transition.

As the fair hits its 23rd year, insiders are asking how its role is shifting amid market volatility and increasing global competition. Gallerists were cautiously optimistic that the market’s slump — what several dubbed “the most difficult year” — may be easing, pointing to strong sales at Art Basel Paris and the November auctions in New York.

Still, Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz says the most notable change isn’t just economic — it’s generational.

“There’s a changing of the guard in who’s buying art,” he said. “They’re younger, they’re more global, they’re more female. They’re coming from different industries. They’re self-made in many instances.”

And those new buyers are reshaping the ecosystem. While overall spending dipped 12 percent in 2024, the number of transactions ticked up, according to the UBS Art Market Report — a sign of younger collectors entering the market. Many of them are buying online, said Artsy CEO Jeffrey Yin, noting that the platform’s sales volume is up 20 percent year over year. “They don’t always have time to go to art fairs,” he said, “but they feel comfortable buying online.” Even so, Yin is among the tens of thousands in Miami this week for the in-person experience.

Art Basel becomes more ‘hyper-regionalized’

In the Survey section of the fair, Max and Julia Voloshyn of Voloshyn Gallery, with locations in Kyiv and Miami, are feeling confident.

At Art Basel Paris, the gallery sold over half of its booth. An hour into the Miami Beach fair, two paintings by the late Ukrainian-born, New York-based artist Janet Sobel were placed on hold.

Though the market has been wobbly, the gallery has been able to find its footing and cover its expenses, Max Voloshyn said. The Voloshyns feel that the market has stabilized since October, calming some nerves going into Miami Art Week.

“It’s a different public,” he said, referring to the Art Basel crowds in Paris and Miami.

Horowitz pointed out that the Miami Beach fair’s profile is changing as fairs in other cities rise — including Paris, whose strong October edition drew collectors who once would have prioritized Miami. Paired with global tensions, travel hassles, and even recent immigration raids, some international visitors are choosing to sit this year out.

“There’s a bit of a hyper-regionalization,” Horowitz said. “The Miami Beach fair is more and more American as our Basel fair is more and more European and the Hong Kong fair is more and more Asian. There are still a lot of people coming internationally… but this show has become more and more American.”

A growing number of wealthy residents moving from California and New York to Florida is also changing the collector base. Brightline’s trains from Palm Beach to Miami sold out on Wednesday, and tech figures like California collector Komal Shah and even Google co-founder Sergey Brin were spotted around town, fueling speculation about South Florida home-shopping.

Among gallerists, opinions on the “Paris Basel” impact varied.

“By having two Basel shows, there’s less incentive for collectors to come to Miami,” said gallery owner Piero Atchugarry.

But New York gallerist Friedrich Petzel, who had booths this year in Basel, Paris and now Miami, said he had seen no fall off since the rise of the Paris fair. The three fair locations help with the ever-rising costs of shipping and logistics. Two hours into the Miami show, he had sold several works, including a canvas by Charline von Heyl priced at $550,000 and a massive acrylic by Austin Martin White priced at $60,000. “It’s a good start,” he said.

Miami gallerist David Castillo, whose booth featured works priced from $15,000 to $200,000, said he also was having a good morning. “I’ve sold 5 works already, and everything in my [Design District] gallery is sold except two pieces.”

‘The art world is here’

The VIP opening indicated optimism about the Miami Beach fair’s place in the ecosystem.

“Our clients have sold really well out of the gates,” said Horowitz, noting big sales including a work by Helen Frankenthaler for $300,000; all of Beeple’s $100,000 dogs sold; and Hauser gallery is on record as selling a total of $4 million already.

Swiss-based Hauser & Wirth reportedly sold 40 percent more on this year’s opening day than they made in the entire week at last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach.

“The buzz in the halls is totally palpable,” he said.

But whether the Beach fair maintains its hold on the larger art world after 23 years is immaterial, said veteran Miami collector, artist and filmmaker Dennis Scholl at Wednesday’s opening. The fair bestows an “imprimatur of quality” on the art offerings that’s a virtual guarantee for a collector like him.

“When I think of Art Basel, I think of the excitement of seeing work by a new artist on a wall in a gallery I don’t know,” Scholl said. “That happens over and over.”

The evidence from the crowd of collectors and curators on Wednesday, he said, is that all the old faces are here once again.

“It’s very hard to get around because of all the air kisses,” he joked. “The art world is here. There’s been no diminution at all.”

To be sure, said influential Miami gallery owner Fredric Snitzer, the position of the Beach fair in the larger art world has changed, but it’s all relative. That’s because of the dramatic proliferation of fairs since the inaugural Art Basel Miami Beach fair in 2002.

For collectors, he said, that makes it to some degree a buyer’s market.

“There are 25 times as many fairs, especially between September and now,” Snitzer, who has had a booth at every Basel Beach edition since the beginning, but he added: “It still has a lot of traction. It’s still a tremendous draw. The quality is extraordinary. If you’re smart, you recognize the opportunity.”

And the fair has always been subject to the broader art market’s ups and downs, he said.

There have been years when he sold everything he brought to the fair, and years when sales have been slim.

This year, he said, “I think I’ll do OK.”

Less than an hour into the fair, Snitzer had already rung up some sales, including a semi-abstract landscape in oil by thirty-something Miami artist Ema Ri, a graduate of the New World school whose work is suddenly a hot commodity.

Ri is only one of numerous Miami artists represented at the fair, noted Cathy Leff, director of the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood. Also at Snitzer is work by Noah Cribb, who has a residency at the Bakehouse.

“This is their moment,” Scholl said, referring to Ri. “They are coming out to the world.”

Buzzed-about works and hot sales

Besides Beeple’s art-pooping dogs, there were plenty of works that had the VIP crowd buzzing.

The aptly named – if not grammatically correct – “Big Foots” inflatable sculpture by 78-year-old guerilla artist Pat Oleszko took over much of the David Peter Francis gallery.

The 13-foot-tall legs sport yellow-and-black striped stockings and pointy red boots and are listed for $60,000. And just five years ago were slated for the rubbish pile, only Oleszko was too lazy to call someone to dispose of them. Sometimes it pays to be lethargic. Her

Other works that had collectors chattering —not necessarily about buying, but still— were works about sex. Some of it is pretty graphic, too. Almeida & Dale (Booth E6) provides an eyeful with Maya Weishof’s painting of a couple hard at it. The work, “O mundo de dentro; o mundo de for a” is an oil and charcoal on canvas, with sewing details.

The Nicodim Gallery has several works by Isabelle Albuquerque on full display. Albuquerque, who happens to be from Los Angeles, models her sculpture on her nude figure. She created a series of “Orgy” works, including a wooden sculpture titled “Orgy 7,” which shows all but the artist’s head in the throes of ecstasy, with teddy bears attached in strategic places on her body. (Booth C30)

Then there are a couple of realistic sculptures by Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg that feature a woman seated on a basic office chair in contorted positions that seem to emphasize her feminine parts.

This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 2:35 PM.