The condominium we stayed at was in North Miami Beach and on the last day we went to the Deauville Beach Resort which was the home of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to giving support and encouragement to those who work in new contemporary and emerging art; facilitating strong, and meaningful relationships between members; and enhancing the public interaction with contemporary art. NADA Art Fair was founded in 2003. Members include galleries directors, non-profit art spaces, art advisers, curators, writers, museums and other art professionals from around the world.
NADA was only a few blocks from where we were staying. After a quick stop for omelets, we walked along the beach boardwalk till we found the hotel. After three solid days of looking at art, we were all experiencing art burn out. Everything started looking the same. Dealers in one booth explained to us that dealers from Art Basel liked to migrate up north to the NADA Art Fair to see something new and unexpected. He said these dealers might stop back several times that week. As he put it, “We are all learning as we go. There is no rule book.”
After walking through the Napoleon, Richelieu and La Jardin Ballrooms, only one image was engraved into my memory. There was a video playing that showed a giant tortuous grunting as it tried to mount another tortuous. The person in the booth explained that there were only a few of this species left in the Galapagos Islands and they were all males kept together in an enclosure. These males were each over one hundred years old and the last of their species. With all the odds stacked against them these Centenarians were still trying to propagate their species. The shells scraped and clicked as claws lost grip and the dance began again in slow motion. Life finds finds a way.
In the lobby, Grant Peterson lay prostrate in a leather chair, his fedora spooned neatly over his backpack. Like everyone in our party, he was exhausted, having seen enough art to last him another year.