OVR: Miami Beach is what Art Basel Miami Beach is calling its 2020 digital edition, but it seems not everything happening alongside the international art fair has planned will be online. On Thursday, the organization released its full schedule for the Art Basel online viewing rooms (OVR), which is scheduled to take place from December 2 to December 6, and it looks like in-person events will also be on the docket as part of Miami Art Week.
The virtual portion of the fair will comprise two VIP previews and two general public viewings of works from 255 galleries (26 first-timers!) spanning 30 countries. Like the in-person fair, OVR: Miami Beach will be comprised of five sections: Galleries (works from leading galleries), Edition (editioned pieces), Nova (works created within the last three years), Positions (dedicated to emerging artists) and Survey (works created before the year 2000). Expect to see sculptures, paintings, photographs and installations, as well as video and digital works, from 1900 to the present.
Some of this year’s highlights include White Cube from London presenting an early installation by Tracey Emin; 10 artists | 10 films by Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, a project exclusively developed for Art Basel’s OVR: Miami Beach; and ROH Projects’ site-specific presentation by Kei Imazu and Bagus Pandega that takes places in an abandoned shopping mall in Bandung, Indonesia—among countless other surprises. Plus, in Mexico City, 10 galleries will present simultaneously IRL in a 20th-century villa located in the city’s Juárez neighborhood.
Though it’s not only Mexico that’s doing stuff in person, a number of local cultural institutions and galleries have presentations planned as well during Miami Art Week. There’s “Art Outside” at the Bass in Collins Park and “Witness: Afro Perspective”s from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection at El Espacio 23, among several museum exhibitions. Over in the Design District, David Castillo Gallery and Ramiken and other galleries will be organizing their own presentations. The neighborhood is where you’ll also find Design Miami/Podium, a pared-down version of the fair taking place in the historic Moore Building. All the while, OVR will host talks, panels and discussions looking to beef up of their knowledge of the current cultural scene.
For all its efforts to scale back and go virtual, Art Basel Miami Beach has a hefty lineup planned for 2020. Who said Miami Art Week was canceled? Surely, not us.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story, which stated that OVR: Miami Beach would host in-person events, has been corrected. The 2020 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach will be entirely virtual. Miami Art Week, however, will host live events throughout the city.