10 Dec Miami Beach was (Virtual) Host to Over 100 countries for UNITITLED, ART fair

IDF was delighted that art lives on despite the pandemic. UNTITLED, ART closed its Miami Beach OVR at midnight on Sunday, December 6th, 2020 after having welcomed nearly 40,000 visitors from more than 100 countries over a five-day period, from December 2–6, 2020. The Miami Beach OVR featured 59 galleries from 30 cities in 18 countries.  

“During a global pandemic and under uncertain circumstances, I am proud that we were able to offer a marketplace to our exhibitors and collectors worldwide through our state-of-the-art OVR technology. Miami Art Week is one of the most important moments in the international art world calendar for galleries in terms of sales and networking, so it is important to us that we continue to use technology to innovate and elevate the virtual experience. And while there is no doubt that we look forward to staging a live art fair in Miami Beach next year, we feel strongly that the technology we have developed with our OVR and VR platforms will continue to inform our hybrid approach to UNTITLED, ART’s fair presentations in 2021,” said Jeff Lawson, founder of UNTITLED, ART.  Throughout the week, exhibitors reported robust sales, with more than 250 works of the art confirmed sold through the OVR platform and hundreds of additional sales and conversations taking place offline. 

“4 De la Serie AG (after Guston)” by Martin Pelenur.

UNTITLED, ART Miami Beach OVR led with innovations to the traditional OVR experience. An exhibitor floorplan offered visitors a sense of orientation to the online fair, with features that enabled easy navigation to and from exhibitor booths.  Individual viewing rooms featured works of art in realistic, high-definition computer-generated gallery environments with furnishings for perspective and scale. Guests also had the option of signing and commenting in an exhibitor’s virtual guest book, as well as engaging with the gallery directly through the virtual chat function, which enabled real-time communication and supported more immediate sales. Additionally, UNTITLED, ART’s Miami Beach OVR was uniquely positioned to return user-generated statistics to exhibitors on a daily basis, including visitor numbers and artists and artworks that were trending.  

Collector Bill Gautreaux said, “I have always purchased a lot of art from photographs and often work from an artist I had seen in person at some point. Six months ago, I wouldn’t have expected to be engaged in UNTITLED, ART, or Miami Art  Week virtually…but here I am, and it works and has some welcome pricing transparency.”

“Union Ave” by Mary Weatherford. 2013 (Lithograph, 27 x 24 in)

Daphna Bentata, a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, remarked, “Every year I love starting Miami Art  Week with UNTITLED, ART. This year has been a very different experience but UNTITLED, ART did a great job of creating a nice virtual alternative where I was able to discover new artists and meet new galleries. I felt it was very easy to  communicate with the galleries through the virtual chat function, and it was a pleasure to participate in the panel with  amazing collectors and important art supporters of the Miami community.”

UNTITLED, ART’s Artistic Director and Curator Omar López-Chahoud curated a series of virtual panel discussions focused on Contemporary Artists from the Caribbean, spotlighting artists and organizations from the region. More than  15,000 views were tracked across social media, including Facebook and Instagram. “I am delighted that our programming resonated with so many collectors and supporters this week. It was tremendous to be able to hear from such visionaries and I am thankful to everyone who participated and attended our virtual talks series,” said López Chahoud.

Additionally, UNTITLED, ART continued its support of local cultural partners in Miami, including The Bass, El Espacio 23, and ICA Miami, among others. Each day, notable voices from the art world contributed their Top Picks from the fair,  including Sarah Arison, Arison Arts Foundation; agnès b., designer and gallerist; Leilani Lynch, curator at The Bass; and  Susanna Temkin, curator at El Museo del Barrio, among others. “We enjoyed our first-time participation at UNTITLED, ART. Through the OVR we have been able to connect with new collectors from multiple locations but particularly the United States. We also appreciated the opportunity to take part in the talks program,” said Julie Taylor, Founder, and Director of GUNS & RAIN.

“It was a pleasure working with UNTITLED, ART Miami Beach OVR under this year’s unprecedented circumstances. The UNTITLED, ART team provided us with technical and strategic insights and introduced us to a broad audience.  Throughout the week, sales were solid and the entire experience for us was personable and flexible,” said Marina  Vranopoulou, founder of Dio Horia. 

“Para Siempre” by John Rivas. (Mixed media with embroidery on canvas. 20×16 in)