The Director of Art Basel Miami Beach, Bridget Finn, On This Year’s Fair

Art Basel Miami Beach—a cornerstone of the global art market since its introduction in December 2002—is set to embrace design in a comprehensive way this year. “For the first time, Salone del Mobile will be curating our Collectors Lounge with Lissoni & Partners, furnishing the space with an array of leading Italian designers, while Design Within Reach and Moooi will take over the East Salon showcasing distinctive furniture and lighting,” Bridget Finn, the fair’s director, tells Surface. This is but one of many forthcoming highlights which assuredly will include discoveries from the 283 leading international galleries participating.

“The fair has always been rooted in exchange and discovery, and this year that spirit feels especially alive: from the dynamic interplay of North and South America to the dialogue between established and emerging voices,” Finn says. “While design, fashion, sport, and other cultural spheres naturally converge here, they do so because of the art—and the exchange it generates. The artists and their work anchor the entire ecosystem, setting the tone, shaping the dialogue, and drawing these wider creative communities into meaningful conversation.” It’s this richness of perspective, according to Finn, that makes Art Basel Miami Beach an essential destination on the international cultural calendar.

Finn says that the galleries remain the heart of the fair. “In the main sector we see strong modern-art presentations—for example, Berry Campbell spotlighting underrecognized women artists; Locks Gallery returning with a survey of seven decades of American modernism; Hirschl & Adler showing southern self-taught artists; and Sicardi Ayers Bacino emphasizing Latin American masters.”

“On the contemporary side,” she adds, “Miami’s Nina Johnson Gallery participates for the first time with new works by Diné artist Patrick Dean Hubbell; El Apartamento—the first homegrown Cuban gallery at the fair, opening a space in Miami—presents Cuban artists examining the notion of ‘otherness;’ and Gallery Wendi Norris shows new monumental paintings by Enrique Martínez Celaya.”

As with previous Art Basel Miami Beach iterations, the global Meridians division, curated by Yasmil Raymond, is expected to be a highlight. “Under the title ‘The Shape of Time,’ the sector will welcome 18 large-scale presentations,” Finn says. This includes “13 newcomers, such as Detroit’s Library Street Collective with Kennedy Yanko; Tang Contemporary, with spaces in Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, and Seoul, is showing Huang Yong Ping; New York’s DIMIN showing Justine Hill; and San Francisco’s Catherine Clark Gallery joining forces with New York’s Ryan Lee to show Stephanie Syjuco.”

This year, Art Basel Miami Beach launched Zero 10, a platform for digital art. Curated by Eli Scheinman, with announced participants including Beeple, Lu Yang, Pace Gallery, and bitforms gallery, it will highlight 12 exhibitors. “Zero 10 represents a decisive, long-term commitment to support and empower a rapidly evolving area of artistic production and collecting,” Finn says. “The inaugural edition anticipates an expansion to select global fairs in 2026, including Art Basel Hong Kong.”

Finally, Finn calls attention to some of the fair’s other special sectors: Nova, Survey, and Positions. “These curated booths are always worth taking the time to visit individually,” she says, “with first-time galleries like N.A.S.A.L. [the first Ecuadorian gallery to show at the fair], Franz Kaka from Toronto, and Carbon 12 in Positions; Candice Madey, W—galería, and YveYang in Nova; and Voloshyn Gallery, Erin Cluley Gallery, and David Peter Francis in Survey—and that still only just scratches the surface.” Furthermore, the Art Basel Shop is set to include AB by Artist editions from Sanford Biggers alongside Marc Jacobs’ JOY capsule collection in collaboration with artists David Shrigley, Derrick Adams, and Hattie Stewart.