While at Context Art Miami, we had the chance to sit down with Adam Adelson, director of Adelson Galleries. Hear what he had to say about Miami Art Week, unique art collectors, and more.
ARTBnk: Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about the gallery?
Adam: Sure, my name is Adam Adelson. I’m the director of Adelson galleries. We have a gallery in Boston, which we’ve had for 5 years now; and a gallery in New York, which my father Warren Adelson opened up in 1964. We’re here at Context Art Miami, this is our second year exhibiting here. We’ve done a variety of other fairs in the past, but we’ve really been happiest with this fair. This year the location is infinitely better than Context was last year. It’s located just adjacent to Art Miami, such that you naturally walk from one fair into the other. And so, once people are done - generally, they walk through Art Miami first, they come right into Context and we’re one of the first booths that you see, typically. And we couldn’t be happier so far, the show just opened last night.
ARTBnk: How was the turnout last night?
Adam: It was slow at first, because everyone starts at Art Miami, but then after a couple of hours, it was packed. I mean, I didn’t have one second alone. And we started by selling the biggest piece in the booth. We sold a piece by Federico Uribe; this life sized polar bear that weighs about a ton. It’s made out of bullet shells. Recycled bullet shells. And we sold it to a young unassuming collector who is in a heavy metal rock band, and so it seemed perfect for their new home — their new mansion that they built in Miami beach — and we sold it for $180,000. So, it was a great start to the fair. And then after that we sold a few other smaller pieces by the same artist, Federico Uribe.
ARTBnk: Can you tell us a little more about Federico Uribe?
Adam: So, Federico is an artist that’s from Colombia originally but has been living here in Miami for the past 18 years and making artwork from unconventional media. His newest media are bullet shells. He repurposes unconventional media, like bullet shells, and creates animals or life-like objects out of these objects. He started with colored pencils about 18 years ago, and made dogs and cats and people out of colored pencils. And then he moved onto other objects like shoes and shoelaces, pennies and plastic forks; anything he could find he could recreate it into animals. He’s been showing at Art Miami with other galleries for the past 10 years now, so he’s become a very familiar face here. He’s got a lot of friends and collectors that come and see him every year, and he just gets more and more popular every year. We’re so lucky to have him as part of like a stable in the gallery.
ARTBnk: Which other artists do you have here with you at Context?
Adam: So, we have three other artists that we represent. We have Andrew Stevovich, who’s been with the gallery since 1982. We have Robert Freeman who we just started representing in Boston last year. And our newest artist, Steven Spazuk. Steven Spazuk is also showing with another gallery from Montreal, which is where he’s from, at Scope. And he’s working with Juxtapose magazine, in this pop-up space that they’re doing down on Flagger Street, it’s called Juxtapose clubhouse. It’s incredible. It’s this art-deco building, this three-story building, you have to check it out, it’s really cool. And it’s built almost like an old cruise ship, so you walk into this funky building— and it’s setup like an art fair— but it’s just a free show for people to see.
ARTBnk: Anything new this year that is sort of different than last year? Any things you weren’t expecting from Context, or any of the other shows?
Adam: Yea, well with Context it’s that not only are we closer to Art Miami, but they’ve changed the entire location. For years and years Art Miami and Context has been in Wynwood. Now we’re right next to the Perez Museum; we’re on 14th street right on the bay. And it allows for much easier flow of traffic. There’s a lot more parking, so it’s much more accessible for people to come and visit. And it’s just easier to get to. It seems to be, from what I’ve heard from people — I haven’t had much of an opportunity to walk around but —
ARTBnk: You’ve been quite busy.
Adam: Yea, it’s been a good year in terms of what the galleries are bringing. They say somehow it feels different. Which is the general consensus that I’m getting. Which is good, because usually the main complaint is it’s always same, I always see the same stuff. So, this seems to be a unique year all around.
ARTBnk: Speaking of “unique,” what’s the most unique or most interesting piece you brought with you this year to Context?
Adam: I would say it’s probably this life-sized horse that we have. It’s a horse by Federico Uribe, made out of bullet shells, rearing on its hind legs; it’s ten and a half feet tall. And it’s monumental; I mean it’s incredible. We actually didn’t even have it here last night, we just brought it in this morning. It was a last-minute addition, kind of inspired by the sale of the polar bear; so, we wanted to add another monumental piece.
ARTBnk: It’s a great piece. Thank you, Adam.
