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Get to know Andrée Sfeir-Semler whose Beirut- and Hamburg-based gallery Sfeir-Semler is participating in the Galleries sector of Art Basel's Miami Beach show for the first time and will exhibit a variety of works by artists Etel Adnan, Walid Raad, Akram Zaatari, Timo Nasseri, and Yto Barrada, among others. 

Meet Sfeir-Semler

"I love what I do...It's my passion, and the center of my life." - Andrée Sfeir-Semler, founder of Sfeir-SemlerWhen Andrée Sfeir-Semler’s Beirut gallery opened shortly after the assassination of the Prime Minister and the same day the Cedar Revolution began, the future of the gallery was already shadowed in doubt. ‘You had the feeling that the war was starting all again...You wouldn’t be able to leave your house after 7pm and that’s bad for an opening,” she says, laughing. ‘And we had 1800 visitors. And it was&hellip;I get emotional.'Andrée chose the Quarantina area due to its industrial aesthetic as well as the fact that it provided her with a large space, beautiful lighting, and the opportunity to represent more than just the chic parts of the city. ‘[The Quarantina] is in the city but not part of the city...The city is a city of contrast. You have beauty and ugliness next to each other. You have reasons to make art every second&hellip;”Most of the artists Andrée represents are conceptual, and - unsurprisingly, given the history surrounding the gallery - their work reflects human rights issues and political situations. ‘Their ideas come first, and then they look for the right medium to express.'

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Get to know Andrée Sfeir-Semler of Beirut- and Hamburg-based gallery Sfeir-Semler participating in Art Basel's Miami Beach show