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Headed to Miami for Art Basel and the surrounding Art Week festivities? Here’s our roundup of the top fairs to visit for 2025 — whether you’re hunting for eyebrow-raising art or the ultimate celebrity sighting.
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH | @artbasel
Show notes
More than 280 galleries from 43 countries converge upon the Miami Beach Convention Center in early December, but the spotlight this year will be on American artists of indigenous, Latinx and diasporic origins.
“This edition reflects the vitality of artistic production across the Americas. It is bold, rigorous and attuned to the moment,” says director Bridget Finn. Of course, powerhouses Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth and Pace Gallery and their blue-chip artists will also be well-represented.
New for 2025
The Oscars of the art world are here! The new Art Basel Awards are being touted as “the first global awards celebrating the full spectrum of the art industry.” Also new? Voloshyn Gallery, the first-ever Ukrainian gallery to show at the fair; El Apartamento, the first homegrown gallery from Cuba (one of its pieces was acquired last year by Pérez Art Museum Miami); and N.A.S.A.L., the first Ecuadorian gallery to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach.
Celeb spottings
Watch out for hot mikes if podcasting goddess — and our Alexa cover star — Alix Earle returns. Expect sightings of music industry luminaries like Travis Scott.
Show notes
For the 20th anniversary of the Design Miami brand, the OG side fair founded by Design District developer Craig Robins returns to Pride Park in Miami Beach and will be curated once again by London-based Glenn Adamson. The theme, “Make. Believe.,” celebrates the avant-garde collectible design of past and present. Look for the lacquered wooden chest with colored-glass fronts called “Arc en Ciel” by Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti and a bar cabinet with an embedded sound system carved into pink stone by Objects of Common Interest. Hostler Burrows will present a group show of 10 female, mostly Scandinavian designers.
New for 2025
Among the more than 70 galleries and artist collectives represented, seek out San Francisco-based artist Tina Frey’s sculptural bronze triptych. And don’t miss Perrier-Jouët’s inaugural design award.
Celeb spottings
Natalie Portman (left) and Owen Wilson were spotted at the 2024 Paris edition, so keep your eyes peeled. Powerhouse couple A$AP Rocky and Rihanna are regulars, as is Pharrell Williams (right).
Show notes
The New Art Dealers Alliance is a not-for-profit collective of contemporary gallerists who aim to cultivate and support new voices and keep prices affordable. That doesn’t mean it’s minuscule: 140 exhibitors from 30 countries will represent their nontraditional artists at Ice Palace Studios.
New for 2025
NADA will be hosting “Ecologies,” a week of public programming and performances across the city hosted in conjunction with the Knight Foundation and other orgs that focus on protecting the creative ecosystem — and offering tickets for as little as $45. Surrealist oils by Noah El Hachem at the IAH booth, hyper-realistic portraits by Iván Franco at Alzueta Gallery and luminous paintings by Jenny Kemp (repped by Duane Thomas Gallery) will be on display, and reasonably priced.
Celeb spottings
This is an under-the-radar sort of show, so if you see a guru-looking guy in sunglasses, it may very well be Jared Leto. No one’s sayin’ otherwise.
ART MIAMI & CONTEXT ART MIAMI | @artmiamifairs
Show notes
Art Miami keeps it real, hosting the longest-running contemporary art fair in Magic City — a 35-year-old expo where devotees can beef up their collections of 20th- and 21st-century artists (think Lichtenstein, Hirst, Giacometti) — while sister fair, Context, showcases both established voices and emerging talent currently working today. We love them both for their laid-back vibe at One Herald Plaza, a striking counterpunch to the breathless buzz over at Art Basel. “This year’s roster of galleries and artists offers dynamic, fresh perspectives,” says Nick Korniloff, executive vice president and director of Art Miami Fairs. “I’m thrilled to see how their talent will come to life, engage audiences and amplify their stories.”
New for 2025
Check out Yigal Ozeri’s photorealistic canvases, Julio Rondo’s “Message,” a mind-bending acrylic on wood and glass, and Taras Yoom’s surrealist sculpture, “Fast Money.”
Celeb spottings
No guarantees, but portraitist Martin Schoeller’s “Human Voices” camerawork series features cultural icons like Viola Davis (left), Bono (right), Serena Williams and our My Miami feature star José Andrés. There’s a chance some of those buzzy names will show up.
Show notes
The inclusive, multidisciplinary show in a billowy tent on Miami Beach is beloved for its cutting-edge, cerebral talks, so come early if you want to grab seats for a panel discussion, performance or reception. Explore works from first-gen, Newark-born painter and sculptor John Rivas; Lyndon Barrois Jr.’s exploration of image-making; and Eetu Sihvonen’s immersive games, featuring 3D printing and animation. As always, site-specific pieces will overtake the Special Projects section, while the Nest sector seeks to bridge social and cultural divides within contemporary art. “I’m proud to spotlight POC-run spaces that are often excluded from mainstream fairs and to provide them with a platform to reach a broader audience,” said Nest curator Jonny Tanna. Indeed, pieces can go for just a couple grand — probably less than you’re spending on your hotel.
New for 2025
Artist Spotlight, dedicated to solo presentations, debuts this year, focusing on outsider art and digital culture. Come early or we may have already snapped up Chavis Mármol’s dystopian “Struggle for Existence” sculpture on show at the Latinou stall.
Celeb spottings
The fair recently expanded to Houston with its first Texas edition, and Suki Waterhouse stopped by. She may drop by here as well — what’s not to love about Miami in December?
