From December 5 to 7, the Convention Centre in Miami once again became the epicenter of the art world, hosting the year’s final major event, Art Basel Miami Beach 2025. The 23rd edition featured 283 galleries from 43 countries, attracting over 80,000 visitors across VIP and public days — collectors, patrons, and museum curators from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Miami reaffirmed its status as a key meeting point for contemporary art in the Western Hemisphere.

Following record sales at Art Basel Paris in October and the November auction week in New York, expectations were high — and Miami delivered. “Art Basel Miami Beach has always been important to us, but this year the fair exceeded all expectations,” said a dealer from Proyectos Monclova (Mexico). “In the first hour, we sold two key works, and by the second day nearly 50 pieces had found new owners.”

For the second year, the fair was led by Bridget Finn, continuing her strategy of supporting young and debuting galleries. This year, 48 galleries participated for the first time. The Nova (works from the last three years) and Positions (solo projects by emerging artists) sections were moved closer to the main entrance to highlight their importance and maximize visibility.

The Meridians sector, now in its sixth edition, once again served as a platform for bold curatorial experiments, featuring large-scale installations, immersive projects, and media art. Curated for the second year by Yasmil Raymond, the 2025 edition titled The Shape of Time brought together 19 artists from different generations and countries, including Stefanie Syjuco, Luisa Rabbia, and Anne Samat. Their works explored how art can embody, distort, or suspend time.

One of the standout installations was Ward Shelley’s The Last Library IV: Written In Water. In a “post-truth” world, it creates an image of a chaotic archive of fictional banned books, secret files, and propaganda texts. “It’s funny, but there’s sadness in it,” said Raymond. “We live in a time when facts are distorted.”

In the year of America:250, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, political narratives were also present in the main sectors, Kabinet and Galleries. Pace Gallery drew attention with Kiki Smith’s bronze reliefs of eagles, left raw to reveal all casting marks, “like wounds,” according to the artist. White Cube presented David Hammons’ American Flag in the colors of the Pan-African movement: red, black, and green.

The most powerful political statement came from Gagosian Gallery, which installed a marble eagle by Maurizio Cattelan in an alcove against a purple background, frozen at the moment of destruction. Purple symbolizes grandeur and power, the eagle serves as a metaphor for the collapse of the “American dream.”
A breakthrough was the new Zero 10 section, dedicated to digital-era art. The name pays homage to Kazimir Malevich’s 0,10 exhibition (1915), underscoring a new chapter in digital art. The centerpiece was Beeple’s Regular Animals — autonomous robot dogs with hyper-realistic heads of tech magnates and artists, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Beeple himself. On preview day, all robots except “Bezos” (not for sale) were sold for $100,000 each.

ARTXCODE sold the generative work No Me Olvides for $160,000, along with 25 MP4 editions at $3,500 each. 
On the functioning of digital art galleries, dealer Sofía García explained that she does not maintain a permanent gallery space, operating exclusively through fairs. “The rapidly expanding international fair system creates excellent opportunities for this type of work,” she noted.

Art Basel Miami Beach remains a “market laboratory,” where sales across all levels — from established masters to emerging artists — offer a real measure of the art market. During the first hours of preview, sales were steady and confident. The president of Hauser & Wirth remarked, “Christmas came early for us this year!” The gallery sold 40% more than over all days of last year’s fair. Notable transactions included George Condo (Untitled, Taxi Painting) — $3.995 million, Gerhard Richter — $5.5 million (David Zwirner), Picasso — $2.8 million, and James Turrell — $900,000 (Almine Rech). The fair’s absolute top seller was Levy Gorvy’s portrait of Andy Warhol as Muhammad Ali, fetching $18 million.

The fair concluded on a high note. As Bridget Finn emphasized, Art Basel exists at the intersection of culture and market — where artistic ideas meet economic energy to shape the future, reflecting the spirit of the times and setting the course for the next season.