In an annual winter pilgrimage, top-tier denizens of the art world will descend this week on Miami for a whirlwind of art-fair scouting, museum shows, and, of course, a seemingly endless stream of exclusive parties. But, as is often the case with jet-set fair weeks, the artists themselves (particularly those without gallery representation) are left behind in their studios. Recognizing this predicament, PULSE Art Fair 2019 has introduced The Next Generation, a platform that allows artists without galleries to showcase one of their works.

Curated by fair director Cristina Salmastrelli, the Next Generation aims to give these its chosen visibility during one of the most highly trafficked art weeks on the calendar. Below, we select three standouts from The Next Generation’s selection.

Karen Amy Finkel Fishof

Karen Amy Finkel Fishof, Hands Off. Shomer Negiah (2019). Courtesy of PULSE Art Fair.

Karen Amy Finkel Fishof makes large-scale black-and-white photograms that are both mysterious to energetic, with ghostly figures leaping, playing, even protesting.

Born in the Bronx, Finkel Fishof found her early inspiration in the New York art world of the 1980s. It’s possible to see something of Robert Longo’s influence in her work. However, her camera-less images are more intimate and prone to the whimsies of chance. The artist stages her scenes in a dark room and then exposes them on light-sensitive paper. Created without negatives, each work is unique and impossible to duplicate perfectly.

Faustin Adeniran

Faustin Adeniran, Propaganda Repetition (2016). Courtesy of PULSE Art Fair.

Combining elements of mosaic and assemblage, Faustin Adeniran’s kaleidoscopically colorful work in an elegy for lost African cultural practices and traditions. Presently based in New Haven, the Lagos-born artist investigates the cultural and environmental loss caused by the act of discarding ideas, values, and objects. Working with bits of detritus, Adeniran delves into Nigeria’s past and present, and references Yoruba culture, racial and tribal conflict, and the complex history of colonialism on the African continent.

Sivan Sternbach

Sivan Stenbach, Classic Balloon (2019). Courtesy of PULSE Art Fair.

Sivan Sternbach first experimented with the tactile possibilities of clay over a decade ago, but her interest in molding shapes and textures came long before that. In fact, she was trained and worked as a professional pastry chef for years before delving into ceramics.

A delightful quality suffuses Stenbach’s creations in general, but she’s best known for her balloon sculptures, like the one spotlighted for the Next Generation. The work is so gorgeously natural looking that it is hard to believe that you are looking at a ceramic object.

PULSE Art Fair 2019 is located as Indian Beach Park, 4601 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, and 46th Street with direct access from the beach and the boardwalk.

PULSE Art Fair is open to the public from Thursday, December 5 through Sunday, December 8, 2019. A Private Preview Brunch will be held Thursday, December 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.