If you’re not headed to Miami (or already there), here is your TODO list from the Hotel Chelsea Blog.

The de la Cruz collection belongs to one of the grandes (and most gracious) dames of the art scene, Rosa de la Cruz, who frequently opens her art-filled house to the public (by appointment). Every nook of her Key Biscayne home — from the living room to the laundry room — is filled with works by the likes of the video artist Aida Ruilova and the painter Martin Kippenberger as well as a psychedelic installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus. Photo by Kevin Cooley. [source]

Via Modern Art Obsession, found in the Wall Street Journal:

The four-year-old Art Basel Miami Beach fair attracts thousands of visitors to its contemporary art sales and industry parties, but increasingly some of its biggest draws are tours of art owned by wealthy collectors, which offer a glimpse of some of the city’s most lavish homes and properties. Most of these are invitation-only, but it’s sometimes possible to get in through a local gallery or the fair office.

…

While it is all part of the fair’s goal of sharing art, these open houses can offer a financial benefit for collectors, who sometimes get discounts from dealers in exchange for prominently displaying works in their homes. Zach Feuer, a New York dealer, says that last year he lowered prices for three Miami collectors who showed the pieces in their home tours.

I don’t know how much we’ll manage to see in Miami, but there are several performances I want to recommend.

Elena Kovylina, Still from Waltz as performed in Berlin, 2001

The first is Elena Kovylina’s Waltz, presented by Schroeder Romero, which will be performed as part of the NADA Fair on December 1st, at 11:30am. Here is an excerpt from the gallery’s press release:

This will be the first time it has been performed in the United States.

Elena Kovylina, a Russian artists, will perform Waltz which, through its motions, is a metaphor for he rise and fall of the Russian military and culture. It was recently presented in video form at Schroeder Romero in the exhibition Russia Redux #1, curated by Elena Sorokina. Holland Cotter of The New York Times called it “a stirring performance in which grace and violence mesh.

Waltz was conceived in 2001 and has been performed in Germany and subsequently in several European cities. The artist subverts the prevalent clichés of the “Russian woman” whose body became one of the main sources of revenues in the new capitalist economy of the 1990s. She also subtly comments on a forced “reconciliation” between Russia and Germany, the former absolute war enemies and ideological adversaries. Choosing members of the Western audience to dance, the artist reverses the prevalent aesthetics of failure, empowering herself and symbolically activating what has been repressed.

James wrote about the exhibition Russia Redux #1, which I would consider one of the best shows of the year. You can read more about Waltz on the artist’s web site.

The other recommendation is basically all performances related to Frisbee, especially “Champion Fine Art Dance” with Flora Wiegmann and Felicia Ballos on December 3rd at 4pm.

Colter Jacobsen, installation view

We visited White Columns on Saturday, and I have to say the current set of shows is the best work so far of Matthew Higgs’s new administration. Roberta Smith appears to agree. Congratulations to White Columns for such a great review.

The group show in the main space, titled Open Walls and curated by Mr. Higgs, includes great work, with only two artists (Alexandre Singh and Robin Graubard) whose work I’ve seen before. The other artists in that show are Tariq Alvi, Colter Jacobsen, Christopher Russell, and Pam Servatius. The wall collage/painting/etc. by Colter Jacobsen and the collage wheelchair on the ceiling by Tariq Alvi are particularly impressive.

Elizabeth Peyton, Ladovico Capponi

In one of the White Rooms is a fun show called The Early Show, curated by Elysia Borowy-Reeder, Scott Reeder, and Tyson Reeder of the General Store in Milwaukee. The premise is a show of early work by artists who are now well-known, ranging from Cory Arcangel to David Reed. Some are works from the artists’ teens, but some are from childhood. It appears Ms. Peyton already had developed a specific style by the time she was 16 or 17. I also loved another opportunity to see the video of a performance by Insecticide, the band of a very young Cory and Jamie Arcangel.

Alba Ballard, Soft and Dry

While you’re there, don’t miss Arne Svenson’s images of Alba Ballard’s costumed parrots.

[All images are from the White Columns web site.]

We’re headed to Miami, as James says, November 30th to December 4th.