Verge Art Fair Miami 2009
Formerly Bridge
Verge is an international platform for the most exciting and interesting in new and emerging art. Verge exists to establish boundaries of the extraordinary as a counter to the natural compulsion towards stagnation in the way art is evaluated and delivered to the public. Staying true to this necessary state for the advancement of art requires a sustained focus on the best new ideas and practices of those marginal or newly emerging to international art audiences. The satisfaction of this fixed requirement for a healthy and competitive artistic culture is at the core of Verge as an international exposition of the highest quality artistic production and the galleries, museums and audiences who sustain it.
Presenting an exclusive total of 30 exhibitors this year in Miami.

Michael Workman is retooling the Bridge Art Fair into the leaner, meaner Verge, which (like Bridge) will focus exclusively on emerging art. (Verge, you may recall, was also the name given to a section of artist-run spaces housed within Bridge). Verge will launch this year in Miami to coincide with Art Basel, December 3-6, 2009. Now, applicants to Verge will be selected by a top-notch curatorial team including Dan Cameron and James Yood — a process that, in an interview with Artnet last week, Workman likened to that of a biennale. (info from Bad At Sports Blog)

ANTIDOTE, Brooklyn, New York, Carl van Brunt, Beacon, New York, ecoartspace, New York, New York, Front Room Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Galerie CP, Paris, France, Gitana Rosa, Brooklyn, New York, MANIAC, Los Angeles, California Nroom Artspace, Tokyo, Japan, Max Protetch Gallery, New York, New York, Rush Arts, New York, New York, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York, Mindy Solomon Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida, Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York, New York, Tsatsis Projects/Artforum, Thessaloniki, Greece, Vagabond Gallery, New York, New York, Vinyl Contemporary, Brooklyn, New York, Wild Feasties, New York, New York, Xinfu Gallery, Shanghai, China, Zvono, Belgrade, Serbia and others to be announced.

Dec 3-6, 2009
The Catalina Hotel and Beach Club, 1732 Collins Avenue
Website
PUBLIC HOURS:
Friday & Saturday, 4 – 5 December, Noon to 8 pm
Sunday, 6 December, Noon to 6 pm

FREE ADMISSION for Facebook fans!
Become a fan of VERGE on Facebook and download a pass for free admission! Be the first to receive updates and special invites, join us on Twitter!

PROFESSIONAL PREVIEW
Thursday, December 3, 2009, Noon to 6:00 pm

PLEASE NOTE: Admission to the Professional Preview is given to press and VIP (both Verge and ABMB cards are accepted) cardholders only. The Opening Night Preview is for those cardholders and for paid public admission.
ADVANCE TICKETS
Advance tickets for the Opening Night Preview and general admission are now available for pre-order online at a discount rate from our friends at Eventbrite ticket service.
TICKETS AT THE DOOR
Opening night preview: $20
General admission: $10, $5 for students and seniors
OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW RECEPTION PROGRAMS
Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:00 to 10:00 pm
POCKET OF LOLLIPOPS
Performance from 6-8:30pm
From www.pocketoflollipops.com: “The musical performance is a range from an indefinite mix of culture and technology. We have evolved a limitless sensation to stimulate various compression and transverse physical properties to produce a sense of intensity, which causes a direction of auditory art.” read the NBC Miami review
Bahar Bahebanani Screening of “Saffron Tea”
Catalina Hotel roof installation
“Saffron Tea” is about a person who is witnessing and reviewing her life. She is placed in an extraordinary situation and as an audience we are not able to say if she is comfortable in her condition or if she is suffering. The film constantly flows between her past and her present; from reality to dreams. It shows the stretched moments of the afternoons past with a slow tempo and nostalgia that crescendo into the lonely present.

Idea and Directing By Bahar Bahebanani
Produced By Sam Nosratian
Executive Producer Pooya Aryanpour
Camera, Kaveh Shah M.L.

Sound Designer, Negar Behbahani
Saffron Tea,” Single channel Video
TRT: 12′ 40″ , Tehran, Iran, 2008

Verge Goes Live With Artlog!
Visitors to Verge are invited to participate in the Verge Artlog Twitter feed aggregator service, Artlog Live! All Verge visitors are invited to Tweet or SMS their comments and read the live updates on events throughout Miami at live.artlog.com.

Text message vergemiami + a message to 41411
Post to Twitter with the #vergemiami hashtag

Twitter Verge direct! Visit the Verge Twitter page and join for real-time updates direct from the fair!

About Artlog Live
Available 24/7, Artlog Live lets folks discuss their experiences at all the art fairs in real-time via the web, SMS (text messaging) and Twitter, and will also provide up-to-date information on fair events, fair hours and parties throughout Miami.

Reciprocal Pass Admission
Verge partners with the Bass Museum of Art to provide reciprocal pass admission to the fair and to the Bass Museum! All member cardholders will be granted ciomplimentary general admission to Verge (excluding the Opening Night Preview Reception), and all Verge VIPs will receive complimentary admission to the Bass Museum throughout the run of the fair.

Happy Hour Fundraiser at the Catalina
The Catalina Hotel bar offers FREE DRINKS daily from 7-8pm! Come for the drinks and support the Bass Museum at the same time: a “Tip Jar” fundraiser will be underway every day of the fair. Take a drink, leave a few dollars in the jar, and support one of Miami’s most valued art institutions.

“New Images” Photography Program Survey
Verge Miami will host a survey of new undergraduate and graduate work from the Department of Photography, chosen by members of the Verge Selection Committee. This Verge Miami survey will present work by twelve outstanding new talents including Dave Murray, Steven Daly, Jolie Flink, Virgil Wong, Kim Jeong Heon, Olivia Swider, Gwynne Johnson, Elan Bogarin, Roger Kate, Joelle McTigue, Karina Natis and Yvette Dostatni. Coordinated by Photography Department Chair Barbara DeGenevieve. On display in lobby areas throughout the Catalina Hotel.

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Known for pushing boundaries of critical thought and nonlinear problem-solving through creative output and conversation, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been called the “most influential art school in the United States.”

SAIC’s interdisciplinary approach to art and design, coupled with an unparalleled breadth and depth of renowned faculty, provides students with a range of opportunities unavailable elsewhere to rigorously develop their thinking and abilities through process, critique, and professional practices, including real-time integration with the art market.

SAIC students have access to a wide variety of resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago and its new Modern Wing, and several libraries, as well as numerous special collections and programming venues that provide students with exceptional exhibitions, screenings, visiting artists, lectures, and performances.

Consistently ranked in the top three fine arts graduate programs and as a top-level photography program by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC has been educating artists, designers, and scholars since 1866. SAIC offers undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate programs to nearly 3,200 students from across the globe. For more information, please visit www.saic.edu www.saic.edu.

VERGE EXHIBITORS
Anonymous Gallery, New York, New York, ANTIDOTE, Brooklyn, New York, The Atmosphere 23 Group, Chicago, Illinois, Cara and Cabezas Contemporary, Kansas City, Kansas, Carl van Brunt, Beacon, New York, ecoartspace, New York, New York, Factory Fresh/Skeweville, Brooklyn, New York, Front Room Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Galerie CP: Angela Cerny & Ronald Puff, Wiesbaden, Germany, Gitana Rosa, Brooklyn, New York, MANIAC, Los Angeles, California, MS Projects, Brooklyn, New York, Nroom Artspace, Tokyo, Japan, Max Protetch Gallery, New York, New York, Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes, Rush Arts, New York, New York, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York, Mindy Solomon Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida, Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York, New York, Tsatsis Projects/Artforum, Thessaloniki, Greece, Vagabond Gallery, New York, New York, Vinyl Contemporary, Brooklyn, New York, Chasmus/Wild Feasties, New York, New York, Xinfu Gallery, Shanghai, China and Zvono, Belgrade, Serbia