By F. Lennox Campello

It’s December, and as usual, and since 2006 – by the time this article hits the streets, I’ll be in Miami for the Art Basel week of Miami art fairs – the big dance of the artworld!

The last decade or so I’ve been doing some of the prime fairs in the area: Pulse, Volta, Scope, Art Miami Context, etc., but in the beginning, it was Aqua, which is held at the trendy Aqua Hotel on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach and which is owned by the same folks who run Art Miami… and Aqua is now Aqua Art Miami!

Those giant other fairs demand a lot of physical labor, and thus this year, I and my two compadres, Steve Wanna and Erwin Timmers, decided to “go back” to our roots and do Aqua again.  We’re in room 109 on the ground floor – which makes life so much easier for set up and packing up on Sunday!

In my opinion, Aqua is also the best Miami fair for emerging artists, and in my experience, it gets packed and the celebrities do love to attend Aqua! Over the fairs we’ve sold work to Rachel Maddow, John Malcovitch, and others.

Also, Aqua seems to have a great “wake effect.”

If you read this with column any regular emphasis, then you know that in the past, many times I have discussed the worldwide art fairs and the reason why contemporary artists need to be in them and why there are so many positive things that come out of them – other than sales – even after the fair is over.

As a sailor, I compare it to the wake that a ship leaves on the ocean… a wake that most landlubbers don’t realize is sometimes noticeable for hundreds of miles after the ship has passed through… if your sensors are good enough.

“She” first saw my work at the Aqua Art Fair in Miami Beach in 2012… then again at the Scope Art Fair in New York City in 2013, and then at the Affordable Art Fair in New York that same year. For three fairs in a row she visited, talked and discussed the work, usually offering hard and intelligent constructive criticism.

The end result? The wake effect from those fairs?

A year later she popped up into Aqua again – bought a few pieces of mine, and over the decade since, this collector has added almost 20 works to her Campello collection!

Aqua hosts galleries from all over by the way… in addition to many American galleries, this year there are dealers and galleries from Argentina, France, UK, Israel, and Switzerland!

And the Wednesday VIP opening at the Aqua Art Fair Miami Beach is always characterized by a giant party atmosphere, with much booze, tropical heat, and impossibly slim/tall women in 8-inch heels and buff, tanned muscly guys. In spite of all that, some cool art sales always manage to take place.

Openings usually “end” at 11PM, and because I’m usually thrashed by then, we leave at 11:30 and then it takes over an hour to navigate the first dozen city blocks of Collins Avenue, such is the humanity crowding the streets and sidewalks of this unique place.

One opening night a few years ago, a well-known collector who has written 39 bestsellers ended up buying my “Desi, Lucy and Fidel” video piece as well as two gorgeous photos by Cuban photographer Cirenaica Moreira. I also sold, on that epic night, four other drawings, including two to art gallery owners from other fairs!

Wish me luck this year!

About the Author: F. Lennox Campello’s art news, information, gallery openings, commentary, criticism, happenings, opportunities, and everything associated with the global visual arts scene with a special focus on the Greater Washington, DC area has been a premier source for the art community for over 20 years. Since 2003, his blog has been the 11th highest ranked art blog on the planet with over SIX million visitors.