If you’ve followed this humble blog, you’ll remember I had an obsession with octopuses, octopi, It seemed these cephalopods were relentlessly following me. I’ve seen none for quite a while. Here are two at this year’s “Basel.” Along with artists I consider to be, their appearances made the art fair feel like old home week!

Then there was the ceramic vase at Galerie Negropontes at Design Miami.

All week, in different places, the works of some artists were repeated in different galleries.

Among the many privileges I count in my long career is the much too short time I was spent with the late Purvis Young. I already mentioned his recently restored mural that I made Constant Companion drive me by. I also caught a few glimpses of his work at Basel. This work captures the local history of segregation and its impact on the performing arts. After a gig in prestigious Miami Beach, black performers ended the night in clubs in so-called “Colored Town.”

Romaire Beardon is another “old friend,” whose moving collages I cannot get enough of. He was represented this year at Basel as well as the LVMH Culture House in Design District (see Design District post)

The Art Basel Kabinetts, small condensed, often interpretive exhibits focusing on the work of one artist, or one era are a feature which I look forward to every year. I was introduced to the collaborative, intricately neat needlework of Jordan Nassar, a Palestinian-American artist. He partners with a group of women in the West Bank.

I was thrilled to come across his Kabinett titled, “Rivers of Eden.” He views his embroideries to be landscapes, “imagined, utopic horizons.” Let’s hope that this landscape is not obliterated in the time to come.

Another friend, only met a few years ago is Curtis Talwst Santiago. His miniature dioramas capture environments found in African-American communities around the country. He took a Biblical view point this year.

From the first time I saw the woven, floating staircase by Korean artist, Do Ho Suh, I’ve been entranced by his large-scale weaving. The other day I was introduced to another style. Again, his medium is threads, in the case on handmade paper from the STPI Print Studio, what he calls thread drawings.

Yinka Shonibare‘s works have always intrigued me. He, too, went in another direction. Rather than one of his usual sculptures using African textiles, “Windy Chair” covered with the usual Dutch wax-inspired print.

It’s been a while since El Anutsui‘s expansive, intricate, so-called “bottle-top installations” rocked the imaginations of the artworld. Here is a recent contribution to his body of work.

On a final noted, this cutey had a furry partner who hid him/herself in their vehicle. The gallerist I was visiting with had to stop to catch a photo, too!