- Action Line by Brendan Fernandes
- Posts
- Presents & Presence in Miami & at Home
Presents & Presence in Miami & at Home
Art Basel FOMO, Radical Presence
AN ACTION LINE SPECIAL EDITION
A quarterly review of media shaping my world. I share things I saw, I see and upcoming engagements where my work can be seen.
The annual Art Basel event in Miami always brings an exhilarating energy as the art world gathers. However, this year I've made the deliberate choice to stay in Chicago to slow down, reflect, and plan for 2026.
While I anticipate some FOMO, I'm using this quieter time to observe the art world from a distance. It's clear that significant changes are underway, marked by growing conversations on privilege and equity, and the increasing role of resistance and social consciousness in creativity.
This issue of Action Line is dedicated to presence: how we show up, achieve visibility, and how our communities continue to make space for one another in uncertain times.
ACTION LINE: PRESENTS AND PRESENCE
CLICK EACH ARTICLE FOR SUMMARY AND MY THOUGHTS
The event was filled with a dazzling, purpose-driven community that came together for a night of celebration and legacy. This year’s gala honored an extraordinary lineup, including Tracee Ellis Ross, Teyana Taylor, supermodel Iman, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, and Shaquille O’Neal; alongside my dear friends, dancer Paige Fraser-Hoffman and artist Derrick Adams.
Hosted by my Chicago friends Linda Johnson Rice and Alexa Rice, whose family founded EBONY, the evening was a vibrant tribute to artistry, entrepreneurship, and visionary leadership. It wasn’t just about individual accolades, but about a collective spirit of excellence and pride that illuminated every corner of the room.
Knowing and seeing these culture-shapers together and witnessing their deep commitment to uplifting one another left me both humbled and inspired. EBONY’s enduring legacy is a powerful reminder of the responsibility to carry forward the pulse of Black excellence for generations to come.”
Someone just spent $236,000,000 on a painting. Here’s why it matters for your wallet.
The WSJ just reported the highest price ever paid for modern art at auction.
While equities, gold, bitcoin hover near highs, the art market is showing signs of early recovery after one of the longest downturns since the 1990s.
Here’s where it gets interesting→
Each investing environment is unique, but after the dot com crash, contemporary and post-war art grew ~24% a year for a decade, and after 2008, it grew ~11% annually for 12 years.*
Overall, the segment has outpaced the S&P by 15 percent with near-zero correlation from 1995 to 2025.
Now, Masterworks lets you invest in shares of artworks featuring legends like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso. Since 2019, investors have deployed $1.25 billion across 500+ artworks.
Masterworks has sold 25 works with net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.
Shares can sell quickly, but my subscribers skip the waitlist:
*Per Masterworks data. Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd
PROFILE TONIKA LEWIS JOHNSON
Tonika Lewis Johnson’s official MacArthur Foundation profile offers the most authoritative and detailed account of her acclaimed work as a social justice artist and photographer. She uses participatory art projects and multimedia storytelling to highlight and address disparities caused by systemic disinvestment in Chicago’s neighborhoods, particularly exploring segregation and urban divides through initiatives like the Folded Map Project and UnBlocked Englewood. The MacArthur Fellowship she received in 2025 includes an $800,000 no-strings-attached grant to support her ongoing creative work aimed at fostering community dialogue, repair, and resilience.
“Her projects don’t just document disparities; they create new spaces for connection and healing—showing us how presence in the face of historical divides can be a profound act of hope and repair.”
GRAB ATTENTION
Posts that caught my eye
While mediums and materiality are frequently discussed, the narrative often missing is: How is an artist introduced to a material? What influence does their community of artistry have? And what role does access to resources play in expanding creative possibilities?
-Brendan Fernandes
This piece is about unity, about the beauty of individuality and the strength and beauty that comes from finding the common threads that allow it to move as one.
-Brendan Fernandes
