The seventh Art Basel Miami Beach opened Wednesday to VIP collectors eager to view but slow to buy, art dealers with lower expectations than they had in previous bull years, and art themed around global lamentations on the state of money, love and politics.

A somewhat quieter atmosphere reigned during the ultra-exclusive First Choice hours, with shorter lines at the Miami Beach Convention Center and spaces still available in its parking lot. But there were still plenty of European accents heard, two-cheek kisses doled out -- and serious conversations about purchasing artworks before the fair opened to the general public at noon Thursday.

''Surely, everyone is worried about similar issues,'' said Jaime Riestra, director of Mexico City's OMR Gallery, which has been exhibiting international artists at Art Basel since its Miami Beach debut in 2002. ``The world is in crisis and the art we are bringing this year reflects that.''

Riestra was surrounded by a floor sprinkled with copper and silver coins -- part of the installation Fortuna by Pablo Vargas Lugo, a Mexican artist who lives in Lima. Look closely at the Mexico-made coins, and note that they are timepieces. The installation, which includes a wood table full of ''coins,'' carries a $35,000 price tag, and viewers were asking Riestra to give them free samples.

''I can't give them out, but maybe this crisis is an opportunity for people to speculate less about the value of art and return to what art is supposed to do -- fill your soul,'' Riestra said.

Another gallery, Bortolami of New York, wooed buyers by enclosing its booth in a chain-link fence bathed in 24-karat gold, the work of New York artist Aaron Young. Titled fenceMiami, the fence had openings as if it had been vandalized, and people slid through these holes into the booth. But unless you were a serious buyer, gallery representatives refused to quote a price for the work or smaller golden fence sculptures titled Zorro and Fat D.

Despite global economic woes, Art Basel remained a feast for the eyes: 266 international galleries exhibiting the works of some 2,000 artists, new galleries from Dubai, Bangalore, Mumbai, and a colorful crowd strolling through the maze-like booths. Maybe the crowd wasn't as colorful as in other years -- people seemed to have toned down in every conceivable way.

But there still were notables: a coiffed Jackie Kennedy look-alike wearing a tailored ''Laundry Bag'' dress, a grown-up man in a lime green, white polka-dotted overcoat, and a couple dressed as a Russian soldier and his lover -- he in a vintage brown uniform, she (really a he) in a red suit and blond wig.

Fewer sales on opening day led to speculation that Saturday and Sunday might become the fair's discount days. But some collectors were buying early on Wednesday and by the beginning of the Vernissage, the evening preview for regular VIPs, the convention center seemed crowded.

Local arts philanthropist Adrienne Arsht spotted artist Kris Martin's massive swinging bell installation, asking price $250,000, just after the fair opened.

''It's taking my breath away,'' said Arsht, who bought the piece within the hour. The work, titled For Whom . . . as a reference to author Ernest Hemingway, originally sat in a Belgian church. Martin rescued it, removed the clapper and programmed it to swing. Arsht plans to install it at the one-time home of William Jennings Bryan that she recently purchased in Miami.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@