Eager buyers and viewers thronged the aisles at the opening day of NADA at Ice Palace studios in downtown Miami last night (December 5), with sales, particularly of smaller scale paintings at lower price points, seemingly on fire.

Nearly every dealer we spoke to in the main galleries section and in the Projects section was upbeat, having closed at least some sales already, some solidified in the days leading up to the opening day.

Work by Jiyoung Park at Gallery Afternoon (Seoul, Korea) booth at NADA. Photo by Eileen Kinsella.

At Seoul-based Gallery Afternoon’s booth in the Projects section, curator Vicky Lee was chatting about the intimate landscape paintings on butter-cup yellow walls by illustrator-turned-painter Jiyoung Park—and how all of the roughly half a dozen works, plus two more (see below), had been reserved or purchased.

“We sold everything in 30 minutes,” Lee said.

A gentleman who strode up with a small group and immediately asked for a checklist, where the top price was a very reasonable $1,300, wanted to know how much longer the reserve on one painting was in effect and whether any others were available. Good luck to him! Two additional works that were brought but not yet displayed, had also been spoken for.

R.F. Alvarez, The Wall(2023). Photo by Andrea Calo. Image courtesy the artist and Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, Texas.

The story was the same two booths over at Austin, Texas-based Martha’s Contemporary, another first time exhibitor participating in the Projects section. The gallery showed four artists, including an engrossing embroidered floral work by Erick Medel, a painting by Rachel Bos, a floor-sited wood sculpture by Wes Thompson, and several small figurative paintings by R.F. Alvarez, all priced at $2,500 each.

By mid afternoon the entire booth had sold out, to the thrill of owners Ricky Morales and Meredith Williams. They praised NADA’s focus on emerging artists, noting that’s what prompted to them to join the association. Previously, they participated in an exhibit at NADA House on Governor’s Island in New York City.

Polly Shindler, Dog Sleeping On Stairs (2023). Image courtesy the artist and Deanna Evans Projects.

In the main section gallerist Deanna Evans was also a first time NADA exhibitor in Miami (having done a New York edition previously) and was fielding intense interest for the works of painter Polly Shindler, especially quiet peaceful interior scenes depicting puppies, cozy-looking bedrooms and inviting bookshelves, as well as exteriors of houses, and a bonfire beach scene for the outdoor settings. Prices ran from $2,000 to $5,000.

Erik Dalzen, Perpetual Amnesia (2023). Image courtesy the artist and Dimin Gallery.

New York dealer Rob Dimin was also in the fair’s main section, telling Artnet NADA had been very crowded all day, with healthy attendance from institutional collectors. “We’ve had great placements,” he said.

The gallery sold a monumental sculptural work by Erik Dalzen, Perpetual Amnesia, at approximately $20,000, as well as sculptural works on fabric-wrapped wood by Ye Qin Zhu for about $8,000 each.

New York’s Polina Berlin gallery, which made its debut at NADA, also reported a sold out booth. Their wares included six new paintings by Tamo Jugeli for $12,500 each and six new paintings by Carrie Rudd for prices ranging from $4,200 – $12,500.

At Charles Moffett, sales included two paintings by Julia Jo priced at $18,000 each; a painting by Alec Egan priced at $35,000; and two paintings by Keiran Brennan Hinton, one priced at $18,000 and the other at $7,000.

Rachel Uffner’s large and captivating booth, reported selling three paintings by Miami-based artist Bernadette Despujols, priced at $56,000, $50,000, and $20,000 respectively.

Other sales reported by the gallery included two paintings by Talia Levit for $25,000 each; two paintings by Anne Buckwalter for $9,000 and $7,000; a painting by Susan Chen for $32,000; three sculptures by Sacha Ingber for $6,500, $6,000, and $4,500; a painting by Elbert Joseph Perez for $9,000; a painting by Erica Mao for $7,000; and a painting by Anna Jung Seo for $3,800.

Camila Falquez, Samantha Siagama, Trans-Indigenous Leader, 2023 (2023). Image courtesy NADA and Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Meanwhile NADA and the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) announced their selection for the sixth annual acquisition gift for the museum, on which the two institutions collaborate annually. The NADA gift provides funding for PAMM curators to acquire an artwork for the museum’s permanent collection, which features international modern and contemporary art from the U.S. Latino experience, the African diaspora, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

This year, PAMM associate curator Jennifer Inacio and assistant curator Maritza Lacayo selected Camila Falquez’s Samantha Siagama, Trans-Indigenous Leader from Hannah Traore Gallery.

“This photograph is part of an ongoing series in which Falquez works closely with Colombian Trans communities to portray strong and powerful identities,” Inacio said.

The work depicts Samantha, a community leader and activist from the coffee-growing region of Colombia who works as a coffee picker on a farm. She leads and coordinates a group of fellow Trans women, who are exiled from the Emberá Indigenous tribe for defending their gender identity, according to the gallery.

“The artist aims to challenge notions of survival and resistance while highlighting the beauty and dignity of the model, preserving the essence of her everyday life,” according to the selection statement.

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