No time for the beach: around Art Basel Miami 2010

If the 250 curated galleries exhibiting over 2000 international artists at Art Basel Miami Beach (2-5 December) weren't enough to set the art lover's heart racing, a series of related events and exhibitions will also be running in Miami’s Arts District until the close of the fair:

Art Asia is the only Asian contemporary art fair to take place in the United States. Returning to Miami for its third edition, the fair showcases artworks by artists from China, India, Taiwan and Russia as well as work by artists from as far away as Iran and Tunisia. Highlights include Ecstasy by Lin Xin, a mixed-media 3-D installation comprised of electronic albums, video installations, and oil paintings, and two projects by Japanese pop artist Ushio Shinohara.

Established in 2004, this year's international design forum Design Miami will involve some of today's top design galleries including Galerie Patrick Seguin, Galerie Kreo, Jousse Entreprise and the London-based Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Highlights include design talks chaired by Stefano Tonchi of W Magazine and a design performance collaboration between Italian luxury fashion label Fendi and New-York based architects Aranda\Lasch. 

In its sixth edition, contemporary art fair Pulse Miami features over 80 international galleries. Divided in two sections, Pulse and Impulse, the fair integrates both established and emerging galleries. This year fair’s impressive lineup includes Pulse Play Video lounge, numerous live performance events as well as installations and large-scale sculptures. 

Red Dot Art Fair presents 40 international galleries specialising in modern and contemporary art. Showcased artwork by both emerging and established artists comprises photography, paintings, prints and sculpture. Some of this year’s highlights include lithographs by Roy Lichtenstein, oil paintings by Francoise Nielly and Cara Barer’s whimsical book photography.

Those on the lookout for today's up-and-comings should visit Verge, the only fair solely dedicated to emerging talent. The fair's second edition includes Small Wonderz (art) salon, presented by Artformz collective and showcasing small format work by 40 prominent artists and a video project by Black& gallery from Cornwall. 

Malgorzata Stankiewicz is a freelance journalist in arts and lifestyle.