Photo by Sarah Douglas

Mickey Cartin in front of Tom Sachs's "Dollar Bill" (2007), in the booth of New York gallery Sperone Westwater at Art Basel Miami Beach

Art Basel Miami Beach 2007

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Art fairs present special challenges for discerning collectors like Mickey Cartin, who has his own private exhibition space in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut. Three years ago, Cartin gave 125 photographs from his sizable collection to Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art; selections from that group, including works by Lucinda Devlin and Spencer Finch, are on view at the Wadsworth until December 30 in the exhibition "Again: Serial Practices in Contemporary Art."

Since he is, after all, a collector, and therefore the fair's bread and butter, we allowed Cartin to flout the usual format and submit a sort of open letter to art fairs. Here are his thoughts on his whirlwind few days, as well as a few recommendations:

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This will not appear to be a journal as there is no way I can organize my thoughts and observations into any kind of chronology. There are simply too many things to see, too many unaddressed and ultimately unanswered questions, too many people to bypass, and too many visual images to hold on to. I do not recall the order in which these things happened. I can barely remember what day it is, and I have given up. 

I have been going to art fairs for over 20 years, and while my cynicism has grown over the last few years, I came here with the same sense of anticipation that I have brought to every one of them. I came here hoping to find exciting objects, and in fact I saw many. I do not want to know what dealers are offering in advance of the fairs, I don’t need to be the first one in when the gates open, and I rarely feel any kind of pressure to own the things that I find. I have made a collection of several thousand things by searching patiently on my own for things that matter to me, and I continue to resist with great determination the urgent call to action that sellers of goods at fairs want me to heed.

So this is how things have gone in general: I got here Wednesday and went to Art Basel Miami Beach. I saw many interesting things. I then ran to another art fair, and then to another. Then I went to a very nice dinner held by a gracious art dealer. I got kind of drunk, went to sleep, and when I woke up on Thursday I slapped myself in the face a couple of times, took a shower and a few over-the-counter painkillers, and then went to another art fair. After that art fair I went to another one and then to another. Then I drank some more wine and fell asleep and today I went to the Design Fair and a couple of other art fairs. The sum of all of this is that in three days I have seen more stuff here in Miami than the total amount of artistic output worldwide in the entire decades of the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and perhaps even the 90s too. It has never been more obvious to me that there are far too many artists, far too much stuff being made, way too many art dealers, and far too little editing and discrimination. In short, there is way too much junk being passed off as something else, and in art fairs that is called art. 

On a more hopeful note, and as I sift through all the stuff I have seen and try to recall the things that mattered to me, I can tell you this: if the consumer/collector has the patience and self-confidence to go off on their own, and to stop listening to everybody else and just go looking, there are many interesting things to see. How many insignificant, late, poorly screened Warhols do we have to look at, or how many eye-catching Anish Kapoor gizmos do we need to play tricks on us, before we realize that there are compelling works of art to see as well? In no particular order, this is what hit me:

Thierry de Cordier at Marian Goodman. This is an artist who has avoided all trends. He is a poet, a painter, and a storyteller interchangeably. His work is hard to find, and often even more difficult to grasp, but it's worth the trouble. He's hardly a flavor of the month: If art fairs are still around in 2017, and a dealer has something of his to offer, it will still matter then. I spent over an hour looking at his work.

Laura Lancaster at Workplace Gallery (Nada). This is an interesting painter whose great promise can be seen in the one out of five paintings here that really works. But unlike most other 28-year-old artists selling work in galleries for $20,000 and $30,000 and up, it really looks like Laura Lancaster is on to something. Unlike many of her contemporaries, who will probably become dentists or take up something other than art-making, this young artist’s promise is exciting.

Myron Stout at Washburn Gallery. There are two beautiful paintings on view here. These paintings should be $2 million, and not Peter Doig's or Richard Prince's. What is wrong?

Joe Coleman at Arndt & Partner. No one really knows what to make of Joe Coleman. He is a brilliant man with a robustly compelling point of view and astounding dedication to his craft of painting. It takes me an hour to completely absorb each of his paintings.

Alberto Giacometti at Acquavella. Giacometti has few peers, but this is a bit of a disappointing painting: wet, limp, and unsatisfying. What one wants from his mysterious works just doesn’t come through in this one. I was still really glad to see it, though, and this gallery knows quality.

Agnes Martin at Pace. This painting shines, even with all of the people walking by and getting in the way (it was installed in the hall outside of the booth). Even the noise, vibration, heat, perspiration, and pushing and shoving of an art fair couldn’t kill this painting. What a magnificent artist. Why will people pay $2 million for a Doig (and I don’t mean to pick on him—he's a very good painter) when they could buy an Agnes Martin? I saw a work by each of them at the same price.

Michael Fullerton at Carl Freedman Gallery (Nada). This is a nearly inscrutable artist who can really paint. I love the portrait of the virginal Luftwaffe boy, and this dealer is a pleasure. He loves art, and he is happy as hell to talk about his artists. Reminds me of the old days.

Joaquim Tenreiro at R 20th Century. This relatively unknown designer/engineer/craftsman makes humble, graceful furniture that can rival some of the best sculpture of his time. AND YOU CAN SIT ON IT. Serious art buyers—that is, those with real curiosity and without advisers telling them what to do—will appreciate this work. And Evan Snyderman, the shopkeeper, is a committed, well informed advocate who is completely approachable and generous with his time. 

I am glad I came here. I have worked my ass off and have seen less than 10 percent of all the stuff, and I am tired as shit, but I can’t wait to keep looking tomorrow. I had dinner with Marc Spiegler a couple of weeks ago and I gave him this idea. I think he wasn’t taking me seriously, though, so I hope he reads this, and what I'm about to say he should keep up his sleeve. It goes like this: 

When all the rich guys decide that buying art isn’t as cool as they used to think it was, and they stop showing up at the fairs, you should offer incentives for them to come back. If you remember, there used to be a TV game show that offered a 90-second shopping spree in a grocery store. The bell rang and the lucky contestants had to sprint through the store and load up their baskets. Marc, you should hold a drawing one hour before the opening of the fair and award this honor to five people. Give them two minutes to gather up their stuff. This will kick-start the fair business after the guillotine has fallen. I’ll be there. And if I'd been given the chance this year, I know exactly where I would have gone. 

And to Sam Keller……GOOD LUCK. You are a gem.  

Respectfully (and yes, seriously) submitted,

Mickey Cartin

Sarah Douglas is staff writer for Art+Auction.