Art Miami & CONTEXT 2023 – some initial thoughts

Posted on by MrNomad

We spent a Big, 8-hour day at Art Miami and Context, (on top of the 2 hours opening night)… we’re sharing a few pieces that caught our eyes and initial impressions.

First up: Art Miami

We concentrated on more recent contemporary works, although there were numerous galleries showing Warhol, Ruscha, Stella, Albers, Picasso, and other masters, with special emphasis on major (huge) Botero pieces which were almost impossible to get good shots of. Notably absent: Motherwell.

What did we see?

LOTS of Kenny Scharf, including a big wall right at the entry. Mr. Brainwash was showing everywhere. Selling? Not sure.

Wall of circular cartoonish face paintings by Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf wall at entry.

Paintings ruled, with limited freestanding sculpture (beyond the aforementioned Botero works) or photography (David Yarrow was most-represented).

A large, complex canvas depicting an interpretation of the Gullivers' Travels scene where he is tied down; in this painting, the Lilliputians have erected a carnival on his body.
author’s favorite painting at ArtMiami: “Gulliver’s Dream” by Arsen Savadov

Lenticular work is en vogue, and selling well, from multiple artists at prices from around 5k to over 40k.
Young Rae Kim’s reflective cut-metal wall pieces are prevalent across both fairs, plus #ScopeArtFair.

Some recurring subject themes across all fairs, too, which we’ll share once we’ve knocked out the last couple. A few years ago, it was deer. Take a guess as to this year’s in the comments!

Resin probably takes the most-used material crown after pure painting, used in 3-d printed and cast multiples, as well as pieces for the wall.

several small 3D printed skulls and masks with pop-culture references (like Boba Fett) at Art Miami
3D printed resin skulls

You can see more of what WE saw on our IG.

Allow yourself most of a day to get through these fairs. The combo is massive. It’s even better to split your visits over multiple days – we attended on opening night for a couple hours, and returned a couple days later, and *still* spent the whole day…

Accessibility & Comfort

Art Miami and CONTEXT are generally wheelchair accessible. In addition to the ubiquitous VIP lounges, you’ll find a couple seating areas, a cafe with outdoor seating (and surprisingly tasty & reasonably-priced sandwiches & beer) and a few porta-potty locations (could always be more of those!)

ArtNomads with artis friend Dennic Mitchell, outside the Art Miami & Context cafe
ArtNomads with artist Dennis Mitchell living it up at the Cafe

Practical Info

For Dates, Hours, Location/Directions and Tickets, please visit Art Miami directly.

Last updated: 1/20/2026 – SEO and accessibility edits