In the fair's Nova sector, artists are unafraid to tackle them head-on

Payal Uttam

From Indigenous rights to Black representation, today's most pressing topics take center stage at Art Basel Miami Beach

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This year’s&nbsp;<a href="/miami-beach/exhibitors#64611">Nova sector</a> at Art Basel Miami Beach is teeming with stories that need to be told. The artists on view shine a torch on diverse issues, ranging from generational trauma experienced by Indigenous Americans to energy poverty in resource-rich Africa. Featuring 26 galleries, the sector highlights&nbsp;works made within the last three years. Read on to discover six presentations that are not to be missed.Sky Hopinka and Josh Tonsfeldt Broadway, New York City Indigenous American filmmaker Sky Hopinka’s lush three-channel video installation Here you are before the trees (2020) will be at the core of&nbsp;Broadway’s Miami Beach presentation. The work takes viewers on a journey through the striking landscapes of the Mahicannituck (the Hudson River area) and the Waaziija (the homeland of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, to which Hopinka belongs), as well as the highway connecting the two places. Along with Ho-Chunk songs and sounds from nature, viewers hear a searing narrative by two Indigenous scholars on the disenfranchisement of their people. Here you are before the trees functions as both a portrait of Hopinka’s personal trajectory and the one of a Mohican tribe that was forced to relocate from upstate New York to the Midwest in the early 1800s. The piece is a poignant exploration of ongoing trauma experienced by Indigenous Americans. Flanking Hopinka’s installation will be&nbsp;New York City–based artist Josh Tonsfeldt’s ethereal resin casts of inverted flat-screen monitors. With the content these screens once displayed now inaccessible, the artist addresses the fleeting nature of memory; at the same time, he also&nbsp;amplifies&nbsp;the discourse on erasure&nbsp;that courses through Hopinka’s work.

Alteronce Gumby and Fred Eversley Nicola Vassell, New York City Bronx-based artist Alteronce Gumby once described his gemstone-laden paintings as spaceships that transport him to another galaxy. The effulgent works, presented by New York City gallery Nicola Vassell, offer viewers a similar otherworldly experience. Combining shards of stained glass, uncut gems, and acrylic, Gumby creates richly textured, kaleidoscopic wall reliefs. They will be shown together with luminous sculptures by 80-year old artist Fred Eversley, a former aerospace engineer who worked with NASA.&nbsp;Eversley, who was part of California’s 1960s Light and Space movement, made them by dying liquid resin and then pouring it into a mold on a turntable, which he set into rapid motion to create a parabolic curve. With this unique technique, he creates vibrant orb-like pieces that reflect on universal concepts of energy and light.Catalina Swinburn, Mónica Bengoa, and Patricia Belli Galería Isabel Aninat, Vitacura The trio of Latin American artists presented by Galería Isabel Aninat&nbsp;celebrates the power of textile art and craft. Argentinian-Chilean artist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/22393/Catalina-Swinburn">Catalina Swinburn</a> weaves paper into intricate garments and&nbsp;vivid tapestries. In her hands, delicate documents such as archival materials and&nbsp;geopolitical maps are transformed into armor-like mantles. Meanwhile, Nicaraguan artist Patricia Belli&nbsp;combines textile scraps into&nbsp;expressive fabric wall hangings that address the domestic labor of women in Central America. Finally, Chilean&nbsp;conceptual&nbsp;artist Mónica Bengoa recreates photographs using intricately cut felt, imbuing two-dimensional images with a sense of corporality and depth.

Jean Katambayi-Mukendi Ramiken, New York City The city of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may provide copper and cobalt for light bulbs used across the globe, but its residents are often left in the dark due to frequent power outages. Self-taught Congolese artist Jean Katambayi-Mukendi, who grew up in the mining capital, addresses energy scarcity – an often overlooked topic – with a series of drawings depicting fantasy light bulbs he titled ‘Afrolampes’. Sketched on graph paper&nbsp;using a black ballpoint pen, compass, and ruler, the light bulbs are filled with dynamic geometric patterns and circuitous forms. These chimeric drawings will form the backbone of Ramiken’s presentation. They will be accompanied by a playful cardboard and copper wire sculpture, which is in fact a fragile machine wired with functional circuitry.Qualeasha Wood Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern and&nbsp;New York City New York-based artist Qualeasha Wood’s textile work explores what it means to be a Black queer woman today.&nbsp;On view at Kendra Jayne Patrick’s booth will be her provocative selfie tapestries and campy,&nbsp;tufted wool works. While tapestries have long been the realm of religious and mythological subjects, Wood harnesses the medium to address the identity of Black femmes, and how Black femininity is being coopted for profit by corporations, celebrities, and influencers. By inserting herself into lofty scenes that fuse Renaissance iconography with digital imagery, Wood carves out a new space to explore her personal reality.

Em Rooney Bodega, New York City New York-based artist Em Rooney is fascinated by the representation of women – fictional or real – and their role as makers and subjects. For her solo presentation with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/10901/Bodega">Bodega</a>, she explores their depiction in literature and film, honing in on escapist fantasies created by male directors. On view in Miami Beach will be a series of brand new&nbsp;flower-shaped sculptures, surrounded by photographs depicting women in movement. Both series prominently feature steel and pewter. Having spent time working as a fabricator in a metal workshop, Rooney’s passion for metal is clear. Focusing her attention on the stark armatures and structures that act as containers of sorts for her work, she questions the power of framing and the restrictive devices that ensnare female characters.

Discover all galleries participating in Art Basel Miami Beach's 2021 Nova sector&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach/exhibitors#64611">here</a>.Top image:&nbsp;Qualeasha Wood,&nbsp;The Black Madonna Whore Complex (detail),&nbsp;2021. Courtesy&nbsp;of the artist and Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern and New York City.Payal Uttam is an independent writer and editor who divides her time between Hong Kong and Singapore. She contributes to a range of publications including Artsy, The Art Newspaper, South China Morning Post and The Wall Street Journal.

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Discover the galleries participating in this year's show

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Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 exhibitors

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