Although we had intended to bring you the "Best and Worst" of Art Basel Miami Beach, we found the fair to be so strong this year that no booths struck us as disappointing enough to warrant a "Worst" appellation.

With the exception, perhaps, of the wince-inducing sculptural self-portrait by the late Dennis Hopper. Mr. Hopper was a great actor, a serious art collector, and a fine photographer — but his sculpture looked like something made for a Disneyland of the damned.

In any case, what follows are our choices for the "Best of the Fair," in no particular order:

><br>>1.Mexico City's power gallery Kurimanzutto: for its Gabriel Kuri sculptural pieces, including the concrete-tipped umbrellas — "a great way to prevent guests from stealing them at a party," as one attendee quipped — and for Abraham Cruzvillegas's hanging coconuts.

><br>>2.Harris Lieberman Gallery of NYC: for its wonderfully creepy Thomas Zipp installation.

><br>>3.Lisson, London: if only for Haroon Miroza's bizarre sound sculpture, which buzzes while causing little metal pins to bounce on its sub-woofer.

><br>>4.Bogotá's Valenzuela Klenner Galeria: Edwin Sanchez's photographic installation poignantly recalls the recent violent struggles in Colombia, and Jose Alejandro Restrepo's eyeball-sized video projections inspire wonder.

><br>>5.NYC's Lombard Freid: for the installation of tapestry-covered skateboards by Mounir Fatmi.

><br>>6. Switzerland's Galerie Gmurzynska: because if you're going to show Modern masters at a fair that has come to be dominated by contemporary up-and-comers, you might as well do it in a booth designed by Zaha Hadid.

><br>>7.Scotland's Modern Institute: We thrilled to the variety and depth here, from Eva Rothschild's polyurethane rug to the Richard Hughes room to Cathy Wilkes's paintings, to name only a few treasures.

><br>>8. Galleria Franco Noero of Torino, Italy: Shaped wall openings by Pablo Bronstein lead you into a corridor-like space with tubular sculptures by Lars Favaretto on the floor, while scraped paintings by Andrew Dadson lean against the wall.

><br>>9.ZieherSmith of NYC: Eddie Martinez's exuberant and enormous booth-filling mural helped make up for the relative dearth of painting at the fair this year.

><br>>10.New York's Nyehaus and Franklin Parrasch galleries: a joint selection celebrating the legendary Nicholas Wilder Gallery of Los Angeles, with pieces by John McCracken, Billy Al Bengston, Robert Graham, Bruce Nauman, Jo Baer, and others.