Cesar Trasobares in Marble: “Hojas Libros”

The rage surrounding art world upstarts like Damien Hirst having cooled off, a leaner Art Basel Miami produced a tendency towards ‘meaning-driven’ work. Many galleries were displaying works by artists who were working with an intensity to find meaning, and their directors seemed not only eager, but obliged to explain the works and give them textures, through narrating the artists’ sources, inspiration and driving forces.

Sirous Namazi
Sirous Namazi “Untitled”

Sirous Namazi’s Untitled wall installation of intricate frames of painted enamel steel structures generates ideas of inclusion/exclusion. His work is drawn from his early years living in Stockholm. The director of the Galerie Nordenhake explained how as an immigrant from Iran, the artist lived within close confines that would later influence his works.


Super-craft: Brian Dettmer’s intricate reliefs carved from books, at PULSE MIAMI


Thomas Glassford

Mexican-based American artist Glassford shows from the Houston-based gallery named Sicardi. Glassford, a former architect, has a craftsman’s approach and a meticulous interest in everyday objects. This energized “arte povera” work made from abandoned broomsticks underlines Glassford’s point: that people don’t easily let go of such a palpable symbol of sweat and toil, time and passage. His search for meaning in the everyday objects that we can and can’t throw away takes him back to the streets of Mexico City, where his scavenges will surely yield new insights.


Manuel Rivera