Scope Miami 2009

SCOPE Art Show Inaugurates Its First Curatorial Committee

SCOPE Miami Art Show, December 2-6, 2009 in the Wynwood Arts District, announces that independent critic and curator David Hunt has been appointed Curatorial Director. To even further it's curatorial strength, SCOPE announces the following appointments to their newly established committee:

Franklin Sirmans, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX Naomi Beckwith, Assistant Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem Kate McNamara, Curatorial Assistant, PS1 / MOMA, New York Benjamin Godsill, Curatorial Associate, New Museum, New York

In their efforts to continue to strengthen the SCOPE brand, President Alexis Hubshman and Vice President Jeffrey Lawson have enlisted this curatorial committee to present museum quality offerings that reflect the most current themes in the contemporary art world. SCOPE is affording this younger generation of institutional curators the opportunity to present creative programming without the limitations that they may experience in their home institutions.

Mr. Hunt explained, “SCOPE is in a unique position to offer these young curators as much decision-making authority as they need or require or simply ask for. To that end, each curator will not be directly reporting to me, but to each other, lending an air of convivial transparency to every stage of the production process in order to increase the synergy between team members. In effect, we are granting absolute autonomy to an extremely talented and enterprising crew of art world professionals whose sheer number of bold ideas simply outweigh the number of opportunities to present them. It’s a dynamic way to close the gap between traditional fair programming and that of museums. In short, we are bringing the quality of these museums directly into the SCOPE pavilion to make the fair more historically relevant than ever, but also providing these young curators with a wealth of new talent from across the globe to choose from in their future curatorial endeavors.”

In over thirty fairs spanning the past eight years, SCOPE has solidified its position as the premier showcase for international emerging contemporary art, routinely hosting an impressive line-up of A-list galleries, blue chip institutional groups, and widely respected patrons whose unique collections reflect both a seriousness of purpose and a deep commitment to their personal visions. Moreover, SCOPE’s early advocacy of promising young artists has proved extremely prescient as those same artists later return to the fair after inclusion in culture-defining exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial and Greater New York, consistently garnering accolades in prestigious critical journals including Art in America, Artforum, and Frieze magazines.

From the beginning, SCOPE’s core mission has always been the creation of a flexible and fluid platform for both artists and dealers alike, which shapes rather than responds to market demand. Given that the fair model continues to be the most comprehensive way to ensure that our patrons receive a “total survey” of contemporary art as it occurs in real time, the need for a focused, innovative curatorial team is more than self-evident. In fact, it’s absolutely necessary to ensure SCOPE’s continued dominance in an ever-more crowded field of fairs and collateral exhibitions.

Scope Miami 2009
Kuratoren: David Hunt, Franklin Sirmans, Naomi Beckwith, Kate McNamara, Benjamin Godsill