Aqua Art Fair 2013 Showcases West Coast and Midwest Artists Amid Critiques of Hostile Art Trends

The Aqua Art Fair took place from December 4 to 8, 2013 at the Aqua Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. This contemporary art fair featured works that some visitors found deliberately offensive, with several pieces conveying hostility through gestures or words. Among the exhibitors was Pele Prints, a collaborative print studio from St. Louis, which presented subtly colored collagraphs by Sarah Hinckley. K. Imperial of San Francisco displayed Joanne Freeman's paintings featuring graceful colored loops. Island Press, associated with Washington University in St. Louis, exhibited a striking print by Memphis-based artist Greely Myatt depicting a pile of word- and thought-balloons in various hues and patterns. Gary Baseman created an installation at the Shulamit Gallery space from Venice, California, featuring paintings of big-eyed, sausage-nosed homunculi hung from birch branches arranged as trees adorned with faux moss. This forest scene served as an homage to his father, a partisan who hid from Nazis for three years in Polish woods. Baseman's installation introduced a new figure—a woman wearing a robe decorated with Hebrew letters and magic eyes—marking his first exploration of psychological and historical themes. The fair, which began with a focus on West Coast artists, has expanded to include creators from the middle of the country, maintaining its reputation as Miami's premier venue for discovering innovative art from these regions.