The Basel Connection
CORAL GABLES' PUBLIC INSTALLATION FOR ART BASEL
Last year artist Carlos Cruz Diaz painted in colorful crosswalk patterns in front of City Hall
Art Basel invades Miami again this year from Dec. 6 to Dec. 9, with works on display from 220 international galleries. While the big event is at the Miami Beach Convention Center, there’ll be another dozen shows around Miami-Dade County – all part of Miami Art Week, the first week of December.
The City of Coral Gables will be joining in with a temporary installation (recognized by Art Basel) called, “The truth is I welcome you.” For all of December and January, this installation by conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas will feature oversized speech bubbles from the poem of that title, each with English on one side and a foreign language on the other. Twenty-two of the bubbles will be attached to light posts on Miracle Mile, with empty bubble benches installed in public parks.
This year conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas will feature oversized speech bubbles from the poem “The truth is I welcome you,” as well as thought-bubble benches.
“Our goal is to bring well-known, recognized, world-class artists to Coral Gables – to support our legacy as a city of arts, founded by artists,” says Catherine Cathers, arts and culture specialist for the city. Brooklyn-based artist Thomas fits that bill; his works are part of collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He is also scheduled to speak at UM’s Lowe Art Museum as part of its annual Bubbles and Brunch event Sunday, Dec. 9.
This is the third consecutive year of Gables’ public art for Miami Art Week/Art Basel. Two years ago, it installed the phantasmagorical giant flower “Passion Passiflora Incarnation” in the traffic circle on Segovia at Biltmore Way. Last year it had the crosswalks in front of City Hall painted in colorful patterns by artist Carlos Cruz Diaz. Both have become permanent installations since then.
Two years ago, the giant flower “Passion Passiflora Incarnation” was installed.
“We think it is important to draw people from the arts community beyond Coral Gables, and to install public art for the residents to enjoy,” says Cathers.
