SCOPE Art Show: Breaking art world barriers for 24 years

October 31, 2024

SCOPE Art Show is held right on the sands of Miami Beach. Image courtesy of SCOPE Art Show

Contemporary art galleries and large-scale fairs can sometimes feel like an insider-only affair, with those in-the-know backing artists who already have name recognition.

SCOPE Art Show has always been a little different, with an aim to give emerging artists and the galleries that support them a platform to showcase their work to art-world tastemakers, seasoned collectors looking for something new, and the perhaps intimidated but art-curious public. By their very nature, these exciting up-and-coming talents have brought a fresh perspective and energy to the show over its 24 years.

"Throughout its history, SCOPE has been a unique platform for emerging art and artists, and we have always remained true to our mission as an incubator for contemporary art,” said SCOPE Art Show founder Alexis Hubshman.

“This has taken many formats, including collaborations with curators and tastemakers, and programming spanning art, design, music, technology, wellness and hospitality.”

In with the new

SCOPE made its debut in New York in 2001, but Mr. Hubshman’s brainchild began a decade earlier when he arrived in the city to start his career as an artist after graduating from Bard College and a year-long stint studying architecture at the Glasgow School of Art.

Like many new to the early ‘90s art scene, Mr. Hubshman found emerging artists such as himself were underrepresented in gallery settings, relegated to back rooms in favor of established talents, if given a chance at all. He knew that a gallery to provide such voices a platform was needed to balance the widespread conservative approach to contemporary art.

SCOPE features a wide variety of multidisciplinary work from emerging artists. Image courtesy of SCOPE Art Show

This led to him opening RARE gallery in the Meatpacking District with the goal of putting the spotlight on emerging artists, boldly bringing new voices to the forefront and challenging previous notions of whose art was important.

This novel approach soon gained traction and RARE began participating in international art fairs. Mr. Hubshman, however, found the same problem in them as he had seen in established New York galleries – an air of insularity and exclusivity that clashed with his mission to make art accessible.

Thus, SCOPE was born: an innovative platform for galleries to showcase their emerging artist rosters. The first event in 2001 was held at the Gershwin Hotel – now The Evelyn – where each of the 28 participating galleries, curators and art organizations chose one emerging artist to feature.

A year later, RARE gallery was invited to participate in Art Basel’s inaugural fair in Miami Beach and SCOPE launched there the same week – both major milestones for the world of emerging contemporary art.

SCOPE is now held as a yearly bespoke activation fabricated from the ground up, right on the sands of Miami Beach, garnering a wide and diverse audience. SCOPE now showcases exhibitions and works from artists, curators, partners and art organizations throughout the show, and continues its focus on innovation, new perspectives, setting trends and the always electrifying, very personal, discovery of art.

Rising tides

One such moment that celebrated underrepresented artists came in 2014, when Grammy Award-winning musical artist, producer and art aficionado Kasseem Dean, known as Swizz Beatz, curated an exhibition at SCOPE to critical acclaim.

Over 100,000 people attended SCOPE Miami Beach in 2023. Image courtesy of SCOPE

Previously more anonymous as a major art collector, Mr. Dean and his wife, Grammy Award-winning musician Alicia Augello Cook, known as Alicia Keys, founded The Dean Collection – a family art collection and cultural platform – that same year. The pair, now well-known for championing Black artists and fair compensation for value-appreciated works, has amassed over 1,000 pieces, featured in the collection’s first major museum exhibition earlier this year.

Another major SCOPE win for emerging talent materialized at the last edition of the fair in 2023 with the establishment of the Pérez Museum Art Museum Acquisition Prize. Funded by Mr. Hubshman, SCOPE gifted one artwork on view at the fair to the Miami museum’s permanent collection.

The museum, which focuses on modern and contemporary art from the U.S. Latine experience, African diaspora, Latin America and Caribbean, chose “fecund memories of sky and salt… the amnesia of a history unrehearsed, still lush…” by Deborah Jack from Pen + Brush Gallery. The prize will continue on this year.

The event’s warm welcome to all those creating and interested in contemporary art has helped it develop into the most-attended show during Miami Art Week – last year SCOPE entertained over 100,000 visitors, a testament to the allure of its original mission and intent on remaining a vibrant art community.

“Something that sets SCOPE apart from any other art event is that we proactively evolve our programming and the structure of the fair itself to support new and exciting talent and bring their voices to our audiences in dynamic ways and through unique experiences,” Mr. Hubshman said.

To experience the next SCOPE Miami Beach, set for Dec. 3-8, 2024, purchase tickets here.

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SCOPE Art Show: Breaking art world barriers for 24 years

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