David Zwirner is pleased to participate in this year’s edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. Presentation highlights include significant works by Josef Albers, Noah Davis, Marlene Dumas, Yayoi Kusama, Alice Neel, Elizabeth Peyton, Ad Reinhardt, and Robert Ryman, alongside new work by gallery artists Tomma Abts, Katherine Bernhardt, Marcel Dzama, Barbara Kruger, Nate Lowman, Oscar Murillo, Chris Ofili, Dana Schutz, Wolfgang Tillmans, Jordan Wolfson, and Lisa Yuskavage.
Featured at Art Basel Miami Beach will be an installation of early paintings by Robert Ryman that focuses on the years 1961–1964. The selection of works surveys a formative moment in his career when Ryman began to firmly establish the broad parameters of his radical and inventive practice, a period explored in the current exhibition at David Zwirner New York: Robert Ryman: 1961–1964. Curated by Dieter Schwarz and organized in collaboration with the artist’s family, the exhibition is on view at the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street location in New York through February 3, 2024. A complementary exhibition exploring Ryman’s drawings is also on view at the gallery’s London location through January 13, 2024.
Significant works by Noah Davis and Marlene Dumas will also feature prominently in the gallery’s presentation. Dumas’s The Schoolboys (1986–1987) depicts a group of teenage boys posed casually during a break or after school has let out, exhibiting their more private, personal selves. The Schoolboys reflects the differential between imposed social orders—epitomized by the students’ matching uniforms—and their individualized manner of self-presentation. Davis’s The Internal Contract (2009) is one in a series of six works loosely inspired by the story of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Isis. In these surreal scenes, which blend modern-day imagery with references to the myth, Davis draws a parallel between Osiris’s fate and contemporary Black experience in America. Known for his distinctive body of paintings that effortlessly synthesizes a wide range of reference points, Davis counted among his many influences Marlene Dumas, Luc Tuymans, and Fairfield Porter.
Also on view will be a presentation of three works by Lisa Yuskavage from 1998 to present, including a new work, Apparition (2023). Along with Surrender (1998) and Artist on Model Stand (2022), these paintings are at once exhibitionist and introspective, challenging conventional understandings of genres and viewership. A selection of paintings and works on paper by Elizabeth Peyton will also be on view, including Marc at Two Palms (2003), a painting of American fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Peyton’s figurative works attest to the psychical and emotional depths of her chosen subjects and map out delicate negotiations between beauty, desire, and the pictorial image.
The booth will feature significant historic works by Alice Neel from the 1960s and 70s, including Elizabeth on the Donkey (1977) and Nancy Greene (c. 1965), two paintings that demonstrate Neel’s signature approach to the human body. Additionally, Philodendron (1970), a luminous still life exemplary of Neel’s mature style, will be on view. Infinity Net paintings by Yayoi Kusama will also be presented, showcasing a selection of large-scale works from the series, which Kusama began in the late 1950s. From afar, the overall compositions appear flat and uniformly repetitive, while closer observation of the works’ surfaces reveals the materiality of the paint and the individual nature of the repeating elements. These works will be accompanied by more recent paintings and sculptures from Kusama’s oeuvre.
New works on view at the fair include Tomma Abts’s Untitled (2023), a four-part work on paper comprising watercolor, acrylic, and collage; The Judgement of Paris – Crowning (2022–2023), a new painting by Chris Ofili; and a new gouache by Dana Schutz. Schutz’s first solo exhibition with David Zwirner is on view in New York through December 16, 2023, coinciding with the major survey Dana Schutz: The Visible World, on view through February 2024 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
New vibrant, large-scale paintings by Katherine Bernhardt will also be featured, including Worldie (Messi) (2023). Here, among soccer balls and stubbed-out cigarettes, the Pink Panther extends a long leg, as if kicking, across the width of the canvas; he wears a jersey emblazoned with Argentine football player Lionel Messi’s surname and number. The new David Zwirner Books publication of the artist’s work, Katherine Bernhardt: Why is a mushroom growing in my shower?, is now available. David Zwirner Books and EDITION are pleased to host a book signing with the artist on Tuesday, December 5, at The Miami Beach EDITION in celebration of this new release.
