Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week function as weathervanes for art market aficionados who want to know which way the wind is blowing. They’re also where dealers, collectors, and artists gather to air kiss, trade gossip over drinks, and scheme ahead of the new year.
For most people who actually live in Miami, these events, fairs, and invite-only dinners and cocktail parties mainly exist as happenings that pop up on an Instagram feed, not things that can actually be attended. Claire Oliver Gallery aims to offer something different with “LOOP,” an arts and culture experience that will occupy an entire city block of Miami’s Overtown district during Art Week.
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“We’ve always thought outside the box,” Oliver told ARTnews. “There are so many art fairs, and they are all so similar. I wanted to do something experiential—something that, when people go home, they’ll have had an experience that will resonate with them long after Art Week is over.”
“LOOP” will be anchored by a 5,000-square-foot gallery space where Oliver will show at least nine artists, including Robert Peterson, Gio Swaby, and Stan Squirewell. Beyond the gallery, the exhibition sprawls outward with large scale photography installations by Photoville, vocal and visual performances, and a food and beverage program that features minority-owned businesses.
The idea for “LOOP,” which Oliver said had been percolating for years, took shape when she and Squirewell, whom she represents, were discussing how he could bring massive, 10-foot-long works to Art Basel. “If we did that, only one piece would fit in our booth,” Oliver said. “That obviously wouldn’t work, but I want my artists to have full creative control and do what they want.”
So, she began looking for a venue in Miami where she could give her artist’s “carte blanche.”
With “LOOP,” Oliver is bringing to Miami a version of her program in Harlem, where being a part of the surrounding community is equally important to what hangs on the gallery walls. It’s not unheard of for Claire Oliver Gallery to hold artist lectures, or even an opera now and again, in its Harlem space. “Often the whole neighborhood will show up to welcome new artists. It’s really like going back to what the art world was 30 years ago, where things felt more like a salon,” she said.
The choice of location is an apt one. Overtown is a cultural hub for Miami’s Black and Brown community. Once an economically vibrant area, recent decades have seen the neighborhood fall victim to poverty and neglect. However, members of Overtown’s community are renovating the neighborhood by taking over spoiled city blocks and planting trees, opening community parks and renovating buildings.
In fact, according to Oliver, “LOOP” would not have been possible without the Southeast Overtown/ Park West Community Redevelopment Agency and its director James McQueen. The Lyric Theater on NW 2nd Avenue is one example of the work that’s been done to breathe new life into the neighborhood. The recently restored building once held concerts by music legends including Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr., often for free.
The neighborhood will play host to events outside the main gallery throughout Art Week. Photoville will showcase an installation of interactive 8 x 8 foot “house” structures in front of the Lyric Theater, which will be wrapped with Jeffrey Henson Scales’s images of the Black Panthers. Fashion designers BruceGlen will present an artist-driven collection, in collaboration with Gio Swaby and Robert Peterson, which will be sold on site at the gallery following the presentation, and musical artist MuMu Fresh is set to perform.
“You never know how transformative an experience is going to be for a particular person. That’s why community centered events like ‘LOOP’ are so important,” said Squirewell. “What kind of experiences are going to propel young folks to do something different with their lives? We never know. But if we all participate in the world around us, everyone will benefit. That’s what ‘LOOP’ is all about.”