Petzel's Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 Exhibition: A Review

We at LO'AMMI had the pleasure of meeting the team from Petzel during Art Basel Miami Beach 2023. Petzel was founded in 1994 by Friedrich Petzel and has since become a prominent contemporary art gallery in New York City. Over the years, the gallery has presented works by many notable artists, including Wade Guyton, Seth Price, and Sarah Morris, to name a few. Petzel has also participated in numerous international art fairs, such as Frieze. This time around, Art Basel was the venue of their world-class experience.

Cosima von Bonin, WHAT IF THEY BARK 07, 2022

Glass reinforced plastic, vinyl, and steel stand

74.8 x 51.2 x 27.6 inches, 190 x 130 x 70 cm

Photo by Jason Mandella

Photo courtesy of Cosima von Bonin and Petzel, New York

At Art Basel Miami Beach 2023, Petzel showcased works by artists integral to the gallery's program, including Charline von Heyl, Sarah Morris, and Emily Mae Smith. The exhibition also featured sculptures by Cosima von Bonin and Derek Fordjour, alongside landmark examples from Malcolm Morley and Joyce Pensato. The show also marked the debut of newly-represented artists Nikita Gale, Tomoo Gokita, Raphaela Vogel, and Austin Martin White.

All of the artworks on display at the Petzel exhibition showcased diverse emotional fluidity among the artists. While some works were more geometrical and symmetrical in nature, others appeared with more surreal and dimension-bending attributes. Nonetheless, all the pieces were thought-provoking. Here are some of our favorite pieces from the exhibition:

Sarah Morris

Four Seasons [Pinecone]

2023

Household gloss paint on canvas

65 x 48 inches

165 x 122 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Pieter Schoolwerth

Random Winner

2019

Oil, acrylic, and inkjet on canvas

76 x 58 inches

193 x 147.3 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Jorge Pardo

Untitled

2023

Watercolor, acrylic, gold leaf on

canson paper mounted on MDF

49.25 x 49.25 inches

125 x 125 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Emily Mae Smith, The Divine Medium, 2023

Oil on linen

78 x 110 inches, 198.1 x 279.4 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Tomoo Gokita

Deformed Snake

2023

Acrylic, colored pencil,

pencil, and paper on canvas

89.6 x 71.7 inches

227.5 x 182 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Charline von Heyl

Soft Crash

2023

Acrylic and charcoal on linen

82 x 78 inches

208.3 x 198.1 cm

Photo by Jason Mandella

Photo courtesy of Charline von Heyl and Petzel, New York

Derek Fordjour

YOKE GARI

2023

Bronze

108 x 27 x 27 inches

274.3 x 68.6 x 68.6 cm

Photo by Chris Roque

Photo courtesy of Derek Fordjour and Petzel, New York

Xie Nanxing, Shadows of Painting, No. 3, 2021

Oil on canvas

118.1 x 82.7 inches, 300 x 210 cm

Photo by Adar at Art Basel Miami Beach

Back in their native New York, Petzel is planning a series of events and exhibitions in the coming new year. In January, Petzel's galleries located in Chelsea and the Upper East Side will feature exhibitions by three remarkable artists whose artwork we also had the pleasure of enjoying during Art Basel Miami Beach - Ross Bleckner, Raphaela Vogel, and Isabella Ducrot.

Ross Bleckner, a New York-based artist, will unveil his latest series of paintings at the Chelsea gallery from January 18th to March 9th. Ross Bleckner's art style is characterized by abstract, gauzy images that possess a spiritual quality and evoke a sense of loss. He is a master of lyrical abstraction, and his work often references religious themes. Concurrently, Raphaela Vogel, a Berlin-based artist, will display her debut exhibition with the gallery from January 11th to February 17th.

Ross Bleckner, Untitled, 2023

Oil on linen

60 x 72 inches, 152.4 x 182.9 cm

Photo by Jason Mandella

Photo courtesy of Ross Bleckner and Petzel, New York

Raphaela Vogel's innovative art installation, comprising three distinct works, was recently showcased by Petzel at Art Basel Miami Beach ahead of her debut exhibition with the gallery in January 2024. The artist's unique approach involves the repurposing of industrial photo reflectors as her canvas while using metal rods and bioplastic horse heads to create wall-mounted artworks. In an era where decontextualized images are increasingly consumed by contemporary culture, Vogel's work raises questions about signification, support, and the assignment of hegemonic value to artistic formats. By subverting the traditional framing devices, the artist has presented a fresh and thought-provoking perspective that challenges the status quo.

Vogel's multimedia creations are known for their dystopian yet captivating landscapes, often blurring the lines between sculpture, sound, moving images, and the readymade. Raphaela Vogel's art is idiosyncratic and perplexing and cannot be easily categorized. Her works feature a variety of motifs, including animals, medical models, and architectural forms, and are often accompanied by video installations. The artist frequently includes herself as the protagonist in her works, blurring the lines between conventional self-portraiture and performance art. The exhibition will be accompanied by an artist talk and a live performance event at the Goethe-Institut, New York.

Titled left to right: A Tasteful Economy, The Modern Female Painter In Her Studio, A Modern Zoological Poster

Photo by Roman März, Berlin

Photo courtesy of Raphaela Vogel and Petzel, New York

Rome-based artist Isabella Ducrot's debut solo exhibition, titled "No Words," is set to take place at Petzel's third-floor Upper East Side location from January 10th to February 17th, 2024. The exhibition features new works on paper, including Ducrot's "Flowerpot" and "Tendernesses" series, which continue to explore her artistic themes of sensuality, touch, and repetition, which are integral to her work.

Born in 1931, Ducrot began her artistic career later in life and works primarily with antique papers sourced from across the globe, some of which were used to preserve medieval manuscripts. Ducrot's compositions bloom from her primary contact with the fibers, and she centers the hidden contents of the paper, allowing it to become an integral part of the image. In her "Flowerpot" series, Ducrot presents a study of volume, color, and texture through powdery pastels and wispy stems, while her "Tendernesses" offers lyrical portraits of intimacy with subjects wrapped in polka-dotted fabrics and their own bodies. "No Words" is made to offer a moment of communion with the earth and our bodies, celebrating the raw, pliable materials from which we create images and invoking transformation and regeneration. Overall, Ducrot's luminous surfaces invite viewers to reflect on the possibility of touch and the refuge of beauty in the face of pain, despair, and horror. We are excited to see what comes next for Ducrot and the rest of Petzel's renowned artists.

Isabella Ducrot, Tender Pots, 2023

Pastel, pigment, silver, and collage on paper

45.25 x 63.5 inches, 114.9 x 161.3 cm

Photo by Jason Mandella

Photo courtesy of Isabella Ducrot and Petzel, New York

If you want to learn more about Petzel and their artists, check out their website https://www.petzel.com/ or follow them on Instagram @petzelgallery.