Art, exclusive events and an engaging atmosphere.
Every year in Miami, just as we finish digesting our turkey feasts, we are hit with Baselmania. This singular Basel based art fair that came to Miami 22 years ago from Switzerland and created a hurricane explosion of art, hits us and leaves behind the biggest art hangover. What is basically just the leading contemporary art fair in the Miami Beach Convention Center, has spread its tentacles of art infusion to every nook and cranny of both Miami Beach, Miami and beyond.
Numerous art fairs, hotel and restaurant exhibitions, street and beach installations, private collections, cocktail parties, yacht parties, block parties, invitation-only dinners, art and design talks, crypto conferences, family office gatherings, brand activations, fashion shows, and all-out jam-packed music festivals all descend upon our little slice of paradise in the Magic City the first week of December.
For the entire week after Thanksgiving, Miami is invaded with a combo of art collectors, artists and party people clogging our causeways and streets. What is normally a 10-minute Uber ride, now takes longer than driving from Miami to Key West. Oh yes! It only took the City of Miami Beach 22 years to finally offer free water taxis to try to de-stress us while traveling from the island of Miami Beach to the mainland of Miami to experience all that this Art Week has to offer. Everyone has a different Miami Art Week experience. You talk to ten people and ten unique art week experiences transpire. It is best to pick your battles and the path of least resistance. Stay on the beach or stay on the mainland and go to those places you have invitations to.
Beach installations
I’ve attended all 22 years of what has evolved into Miami Art Week, so I am bit jaded and hard to impress having seen so much over the years. What was new and exciting this year? Honestly, the very best for me was “The Great Elephant Migration” of 100 life-size Indian elephants transported to the sands of Miami Beach. They arrived early, a week before the madness began, making a bike tour up the beach to see them a pure pleasure. Made of Lantana camara, an invasive weed, these massive creatures’ message was about how we need to learn to co-exist in any environment.
Nearby, on the beach was another novel star-shaped art installation in the sand called “Miami Reef Star” by local Miami artist, Carlos Betancourt with Alberto Latorre, curated by Ximena Caminos and Dodie Kazanjian showing the relationship between the cosmos and the ocean which will be moved under water into the sea to be seen by plane in the future as an underwater reef. Also, on the beach was “Seletega” by Nicholas Galanin, with thirty-foot-tall sails messaging the invasion of indigenous land by aristocrats.
Monday
On Monday I had to bypass due to the lack of enough hours in the night were: steel Mansion Yacht House opening cocktail, WEAM (World Erotic Art Museum) vernissage for “Forbidden Fruit & Breaking Boundaries,” Michelangelo sculpture unveiling at BitBasel (Bitcoin talks fusing technology & art) in the Sagamore Hotel, Opera Gallery 30th Anniversary celebration with their exhibition called “Unveiling Masters in the City” an homage to Miami’s artistic landscape, and probably many more Monday night events.
Faena Art
Faena Art, from the Faena Hotel and their Faena Art District in Miami Beach, is always a buzz of art activity and filled with creative types roaming around. An enclosed Ai experience titled “Infinite Faith in a Finite World” by Lyra Drake was the focal point in the lobby/cathedral entrance hall. Marina Abramovic had an installation in Faena Project Room called “A Tribute to the Nomadic Spirit.” The Faena penthouse transformed for a few nights into the House of Robb hosted by Robb Report and was an oasis from the madness if you were on the list and arrived early. From the panoramic beach view to the liquid libations and food buffets, it was a nice respite for a few hours.
Talks were the focal point. I made sure to be front and center for the talk with the man of the hour himself, Alan Faena, a true creative character who has built a mini hospitality empire with his name. I loved hearing him say he does not consider himself in the hospitality industry, but rather in the business of making people happy and elevating their souls. While in the Faena District, I strolled to Casa Faena to check out that art installation. And I also took some photos of the permanently based, Damien Hirst $5 million gold-carat encrusted dinosaur encased in glass on the back terrace of the Faena Hotel.
Tuesday
Design Miami is usually first on my agenda to attend their vernissage and start the week sipping some Perrier-Jouët bubbles from their pretty hand-painted flowered flutes. I love interior and spatial design, so this fair is one of my favorites. This year’s theme was “Blue Sky” to demonstrate the power of a bluesky thinking approach to design, past, present and future. It is small and easy to quickly navigate, seeing all within an hour.
I stayed for a design talk by Italian shipbuilder, Rossinavi about the future of yacht design, a nice diversion from all the other interior design talks. Night one I joined Rossinavi for a private dinner and had the good fortune of sitting next to Federico Rossi, second generation owner of the family shipyard in Viareggio, Italy. Designer Yves Behar was part of the Rossinavi talk and dinner.
Tuesday many of the other art fairs like Untitled, Scope (tents on the beach) Art Miami & Context (tents in Miami), ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami Design District), NADA Miami (New Art Dealers Alliance at Ice Palace), and MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art in North Beach) have their vernissages/VIP Previews so that they don’t compete with the grandaddy fair, Art Basel with its Wednesday preview. It’s hard to attend all. My time was tight to make it to my dinner, so I saved those fairs for other days. Later in the week, I caught my breath at the beachfront Biatch Tequila Lounge at Untitled.
Wednesday
Wednesday, Art Basel, the premiere art fair, has their VIP Preview and vernissage for those lucky enough to have this access. The fair opened to the public on Friday of Art Week. Ruinart champagne was once again the Art Basel champagne partner and Casa Dragones Tequila was present in both the VIP Collector’s Lounge and on the main fair floor. I was privileged to attend the VIP preview and enter the Art Basel VIP Collector’s Lounge. Here is where you can rub elbows with real art collectors.
The Bass Museum has their opening party on Wednesday eve within walking distance from the Art Basel fair. The Bass reception is always fun and filled with a wide variety of artsy folks. Red Dot & Spectrum, sister fairs in Mana Wynwood also had Wednesday night previews, but I elected to stay on South Beach. Aqua, a sister fair of Art Miami, hosted in hotel rooms and common areas of a funky South Beach hotel, had their preview on Wednesday eve too. Soundscape Park in South Beach had something going on, but again, just too much to choose from.
Thursday
Thursday of Art Week, the crowds migrate to the Miami side and attend either the PAMM (Perez Art Museum Miami) party along with thousands of others or the Design District block party where there are tons of things going on at all the designer/luxury branded shops and galleries and on the street and inside courtyards.
There are just too many to list, but a few of the biggies with activations in the Design District included Dior with “Dior Lady” and Gucci with an oversized snow globe, while Cartier marked its 100th anniversary of its Trinity Collection. LVMH Culture House was a five-day immersive art and cultural experience. Miami Fashion Week shows hosted some artsy fashion shows lead by the goddess of wearable art, couture designer, Ema Savahl for a show in Dua Hotel in the Design District. Up in Sunny Isles, the Ritz Carlton hosted a private artist cocktail. But yikes, this is a completely different direction from the Design District so I took a pass.
Friday
Friday, commoners could attend Art Basel fair as it became open to the public. In the evening, the Betsy Hotel hosted an event with art curated by owner, Lesley Goldwasser. It hosted a private dinner titled “The Wings of Art” for Red Bull at RED restaurant which was an elite art and philanthropy networking environment.
Saturday
Saturday kicks off annually with the Sagamore Brunch on South Beach. The afternoon affords time to catch up on fairs and/or private collections missed during the week. BitBasel hosted a night party called “The Future of Arts.” When wondering where to hang at night, Faena is/was always a good idea at their Living Room Lounge with live music nightly if you can get past the velvet ropes.
Sunday
Sunday, the big bash was the Influencer Global Awards gala at the Eden Roc Hotel. Yes, of course, influencers are everywhere during Art Week since this is a global weeklong, jet set event full of loads of content to capture and post. Ema Savahl Couture made another splash hit with her wearable art fashion show which opened with a tranny/influencer on the catwalk followed by super sensual styles worn by an assortment of feminine models.
If the week-long art explosion wasn’t enough, then Sunday night Elrow’s electronic music festival at Factory Town titled “Hallucinarium” was the place to be for a multisensory journey that went beyond the limits of reality into the realms of pure imagination. It was an immersive music and performance-based experience, inspired by, and based upon the psychedelic, spiritual art of Alex & Allyson Grey. The event took participants on a cosmic journey through the peaks and valleys of human consciousness.
Smashed into Miami Art Week was a slew of parties and activations. Here are just a few highlights. Deepak Chopra was part of an art week panel at a private residence hosted by the Family Office Association. CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort founded by Sean Penn & Ann Lee) hosted their fourth fundraiser at the beach tent of Soho Beach House raising more than $1 million. Celebrity sightings included Leonardo DiCaprio, Diplo, former NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Brazilian Victoria Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio among others.
Pucci brought a carnival-like atmosphere to Miami Art Week with their Pucci Fun Fair held at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Pucci-themed games, fortune-tellers, gelato stands, and a disco dance floor kept the VIP guests entertained in a whimsical, colorful atmosphere. The Golden Goose along with host, Karolina Kurkova and artist Valfre hosted a sneaker-filled cocktail soiree in the Design District. Balmain had the Balmain Lounge with artist Jenny Chandler at MM in Mila Restaurant. Miu Miu and Gigi Hadad held an after dark party at their boutique in the Design District. Fendi had a launch party for their new Design District store with Silvia Venturini Fendi and CEO, Pierre-Emmanuel Angelogiou present.
Renzo Rossi celebrated 30 years of his Pelican Hotel on Ocean Drive in South Beach and his new Room55 penthouse with a private party. The Standard Hotel Spa showcased “D’Puglia” to celebrate the rich heritage of Puglia. MiraFromMiami, Miami-based international designer, stylist and fine artist, took over SLS Hotel in South Beach. 1 Hotel presented the “Wellness Oasis” presented by Chase. Seaspice on the Miami River, crafted a five-course Alba White Truffle dinner with guest Chef Giuseppe Iannotti blending fine dining with creative essence. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. BMW & Kith collaborated again at the Lincoln Road Parking Garage with cars designed by Kith. Tribeca Festival Miami at the Miami Beach Bandshell offered a mixed program of music, screenings and talks. So many more parties and events happened all week long in Miami. But who can keep track of them all?
Museums & private collections
Here are the main art museums and private collections that were worth visiting during Miami Art Week: ICA, The Bass Museum, PAMM/Perez Art Museum, Wolfsonian Museum, Rubell Museum, Margulies Warehouse and El Spacio 23. The Wynwood Walls is the largest outdoor street art museum in the world curated by Jessica Goldman Srebnick whose father, Tony Goldman is the visionary behind gentrifying this neighborhood. The Museum of Graffiti in Wynwood is another to add to the list.
Art sales
At the end of the day/week, was any art sold? This after all, is the main purpose of Miami Art Week, at least for the galleries and artists. Artnet summed it up saying it was good enough not to be desperate, but not good enough to be euphoric. Yes, a David Hammons sold for $4.75 million, a Richard Prince for $4.5 million and a Yayoi Kusama for $3.5 million. Those are just the top three sales amongst a long list. The results are still coming in and many are not disclosed. For the Magic City, the economic impact totaled $547 million.
The art world and party world once again descended upon Miami for the first week of December called Miami Art Week. The art fairs grew in numbers from participants to attendees from around the world and added many new showcases and concepts. Every industry and luxury brand seemed to want their slice of the Miami art week pie. Art Basel Miami Beach had 286 galleries from 38 countries and territories and 75,000 attendees with seven-figure acquisitions to sold-out emerging artist booths. Untitled had 176 exhibitors from 34 countries with an “East Meets West” theme culminating in the most ever representation of artists and galleries from the East during Miami Art Week with many pieces selling to institutions and private collectors. SCOPE included 85 exhibitors from 15 countries. Art Miami had 176 exhibitors from 34 countries while Context had 73 exhibitors from 19 countries. That’s a heck of a lot of galleries and art to put your eyeballs on in just one week. And don’t forget, that Art Week is so much more than art. Miami has truly defined the ‘art of the party!’
In conclusion, Miami’s role as a cultural and geographic center of the world was evidenced by the diversity of perspectives and creativity shown during the week. Yes, the Magic City is truly magically in many ways! Hopefully, by December 2025, the art hangovers will have subsided and a fresh overdose will begin to take place.
Hope Gainer
