NEW YORK.- PULSE Contemporary Art Fairs capped off an extraordinary year of growth with a highly successful third Miami edition. With a record 16,000 visitors, strong sales, and the inclusion of the inaugural GEISAI Miami, created by Takashi Murakami, PULSE firmly established itself as one of the most visible and trusted brands in the growing field of art fairs. Critics and the public unanimously saluted the high quality of works presented both in the galleries booths and in the installations program.
According to PULSE Contemporary Art Fair Director, Helen Allen, “This was our best fair to date. The new larger venue and overall improvements this year made the fair more manageable for our visitors and helped to facilitate sales by our exhibitors. The new space also allowed us to develop a large-scale installation and video program. We aim to use the momentum from our success at PULSE Miami 2007 to create increasingly dynamic programming for all our PULSE fairs in 2008.”
Eighty of the world’s leading galleries from 16 countries exhibited this year in Miami and all shared the positive reviews of their visitors. "This was the place to be," says Leigh Conner of Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, DC who reported that the gallery’s “sales and follow up have never been better”. Richard Stewart, a New York-based private dealer, working with New York's Magnan Projects, remarked on the fair’s friendly atmosphere, "It’s a great environment to interact with collectors," and Mark Moore of Mark Moore Gallery who has exhibited with PULSE Miami since its inception in 2005 remarked that it had been its “best fair ever”.
The high caliber and volume of curators and art professionals at PULSE Miami this year was evident, which was indicative of the quality of works for sale. According again to Leigh Conner, “uniformly, PULSE was considered to be the best Fair in Miami, with several curators and collectors opting to come back to PULSE twice rather than go to another Fair in Wynwood”.
PULSE Miami opened on Tuesday, December 4, 2007, with a private preview party that featured the US premiere performance of Japanese twin techno duo, Ryukyudisko, presented by Kaikai Kiki, and sets from Madonna collaborator DJ Tracy Young. Some 2,500 guests flocked the Soho Studios for five hours, buying feverishly and enjoying the entertainment that also brought celebrities like world champion cyclist and developing collector Lance Armstrong or actress Mandy Moore. Among other guests also in attendance were Arnold Lehmann, Marty Margulies, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Emmanuel Perrotin, among many others.
Among the many improvements allowed by the move of PULSE Miami to Soho Studios, the cultural programming ranked very high, with the inaugural PULSE PLAY>, a video lounge curated by Christopher Eamon, curator of the Pamela and Richard Kramlich Collection, and a specially-commissioned site-specific, large scale, cantilevered, arched entrance designed by German architect and artist Jürgen Mayer H.. Additionally, Minneapolis based artist Chris Larson showcased his ambitious Spaceship Shack, representing Ted Kaczynski's Montana cabin.
PULSE Prize 2007 - This year the PULSE Prize was awarded to Taiwanese artist Chen Cheih-jen, represented by Madrid’s La Fabrica Gallery. The PULSE Prize is a cash prize awarded to an emerging artist of distinction showing in the IMPULSE section of the fair. The prized work can be site specific performance, film, video installation or painting. The PULSE Prize selection committee is comprised of an international roster of curators, gallerists, and dealers.
PULSE New York - PULSE will return in March for its third New York edition and will be held at PIER 40 located at West Houston and the West Side Highway from March 27 - 30, 2008.
