The outrageous excesses of the high-end contemporary art world will be on conspicuous display as Art Basel Miami Beach takes over the Miami Beach Convention Center November 30 through December 4 to coincide with Miami Art Week. The most prestigious art fair on American soil returns following a one-year pandemic interruption with limitless opportunities for the 1-percenters to flaunt their wealth.
Fortunately for visitors not travelling to South Florida via private jet, a robust ecosystem of events has sprung up around Art Basel Miami Beach allowing for “luxury adjacent” experiences that present as fabulous on Instagram without presenting as bankrupting on checking accounts.
A general admission ticket to Art Basel Miami Beach costs “just” $65. Not bad considering general admission at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom costs $109.
Looky-loos can peruse the hundreds of booths outfitted by the leading art galleries from around the world. For anyone with six or seven figures to spend, start with Acquavella Galleries and its astonishing presentation of paintings from Jean-Michel Basquiat, George Condo, Keith Haring, Willem de Kooning, Wayne Thiebaud and Andy Warhol.
Speaking of Warhol and Basquiat, W South Beach has debuted a refreshed art collection valued at $100 million with a focus on the iconic duo. Twenty-one original Warhol’s feature in the collection curated by part-owner Aby Rosen from his personal collection. The public is welcome to view the artworks on display throughout the hotel’s lobby spaces during Art Week.
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Miami’s ever-expanding roster of luxury hotels serve as backdrop for many of Art Week’s swankiest happenings. At The Gabriel Miami guests will have the opportunity to paint Porsches alongside Tanja Stadnic in an interactive demo during an exclusive co*cktail soiree on December 1 at 6:00 PM. To attend, email RSVP@TheDanaAgency.com.
Prefer motorcycles to cars? A hand painted Ducati by Punk Me Tender can be seen at CONTEXT Art Miami (November 30–December 5; One Miami Herald Plaza on Biscayne Bay) where 61 international galleries will be showing off their treasures. Single day tickets are $55.
Prefer yachts to motorcycles or cars? In partnership with LL Cool J’s “Rock The Bells” lifestyle brand, Cheetos makes its Miami Art Week debut with “Yacht The Basel: The Art of the Cheetle,” a hip-hop inspired art exhibit curated by Lefty Out There. The official unveiling will take place on December 4 from 1:00-6:00 PM on the 220-foot, four-story mega-yacht Seafair which will be docked at Bayfront Park downtown.
Art Week attendees can view the exhibit featuring eight vibrant original art pieces created from Cheetos’ iconic orange dust, also known as Cheetle, aboard ship and enjoy live DJ sets. Attendance is free with an RSVP.
Art Week’s most intriguing opportunity also occurs offshore, not on a yacht, but in a 1960s sea cabin off Coconut Grove. Half Gallery presents an offsite activation called “Stiltsville,” a single-day (December 2) exhibition one mile out to sea where six cabins have existed for more than 60 years. In the last few, the structures have been absorbed into the Barnacle Historic State Park and protected.
Half Gallery will be the first to exhibit art inside one of the historic Stiltsville homes. Guests will arrive by boat to see the show, enjoy refreshments and admire the view along with some 20 artists who have work included.
Participation in this event, incredibly, is free. RSVP to stiltsville@14BMarketing.com for the 2.5 hour trip (45 minute ride there and back, 1 hour at the show; boats leave at 10:15 and 11:45 AM and 1:15 and 2:45 PM).
Another must-see for Art Week visitors minding their per diem can be found just around the corner from Art Basel inside the suites of the Dorchester Hotel. The International Fine Print Dealers Association 15th edition of INK Miami (December 1-5) is free to attend, as is “The Choreographers’ Scores: 2020” celebrating YoungArts’ 40th Anniversary season. Works on paper take center stage in this presentation of a rare collection of pieces created by 26 U.S.-based choreographers. Each artist was commissioned to contribute a handmade score to be editioned as a fine art print by The Lapis Press. The exhibition opens to the public at noon on December 1 in the YoungArts Gallery. Daily reservations should be made in advance at youngarts.org.
Across Convention Center Drive from Art Basel Miami Beach, Design Miami/ has become the global authority for collectible design, driven by the idea that design is as collection-worthy as art, staging events presenting museum-quality 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting and objets d’art from the world’s top galleries.
Don’t miss Kohler’s collaboration with contemporary artist Daniel Arsham which debuts at Design Miami/. The partners bring together creative innovation and expert craftsmanship through a one-of-a-kind limited-edition 3D-printed sink entitled Rock.01. Rock.01, comprised of 3D-printed vitreous china and hand-poured brass, will be available for purchase in an edition of 99.
General admission to Design Miami/ costs $35.
Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams
Art Basel Miami Beach backdrops the U.S. debut of artist David Shrigley’s partnership with Ruinart Champagne. British contemporary artist David Shrigley will be in Miami to launch the series which includes a collection of 36 drawings, two ceramics, three neons and a doorway. Celebrate art purchases at the Ruinart Bar at The Edition Hotel (November 30-December 4) with a glass, or bottle, of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs or Rosé at the dedicated Ruinart Bar located in the lobby.
Art Week visitors can start each morning with the world’s most expensive cup of coffee-$1000-(November 29-December 5) at Ur Special Coffee, a pop-up coffee shop by viral animator Danny Casale, aka Coolman Coffeedan, The Art Plug and Marcel Katz Art at The Bagel Club Miami. Why spend a grand on a cup of Joe? This java features Superlost Coffee’s new Sidra variety, a high-quality bean from Colombia which will be available to the public for the first time at the pop up and is served in a cup featuring an original artwork created upon purchase by Coolman Coffeedan.
Care to make that Café Caribbean?
Brugal 1888, a premium rum crafted in the Dominican Republic, unveils its third secret La Ventanita (the window) location at the Nauti Grind Bodega inside the Nautilus by Arlo from December 1-10. Limited edition Brugal 1888 bottles colorfully adorned with Huichol art–a traditional Mexican craft–blend rum mastery from the Dominican Republic with stunning Mexican artistry. Guests can peruse an art installation while sipping on freshly brewed cafecitos or handcrafted Brugal 1888 co*cktails.
Art Week’s premier culinary tradition returns for its 20th anniversary this year on December 4 from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM at The Sagamore Hotel which hosts its annual Sagamore Brunch. Art activations plus a special musical performance from the South Florida Symphony, gourmet catering, mimosas and mixology stations can be indulged upon for the non-indulgent price of $45.
Material World
To celebrate 100 years of CHANEL N°5, Es Devlin has created a site-specific installation that translates the iconic scent into a full synesthetic experience. Transforming Jungle Plaza into a multisensory environment, “FIVE ECHOES” is comprised of a temporary forest with over 1,000 plants, shrubs and trees drawing inspiration from Coco Chanel's deep relationship with nature. Within the forest, a monumental, sculptural labyrinth is animated by a synthesis of light, color and sound, realized through Devlin's close collaboration with CHANEL's In-House Perfumer and Creator Olivier Polge.
Jungle Plaza is an events space located in the Miami Design District which goes all-out for Art Week, unveiling its annual Design Commission, a physical and virtual site-specific installation coined “Tomorrow Land.”
Swiss luxury skincare brand La Prairie opens its first-ever pop-up Beach Club from 12:00-4:00 PM on December 2. The pop-up will offer guests a beachfront installation to enjoy signature indulgences from La Prairie's Swiss Luxury House through “Art of Perfection” beauty treatments with umbrellas, lounge chairs and a raised deck for seating and mingling–no cost, RSVP required.
Luxury backpacks are even a thing during Art Week. Sprayground has teamed up with The Museum of Graffiti to host a retail pop-up inside The Confidante hotel’s 1930s House right next to its gorgeous pool on the beach. Sprayground’s world-famous, uniquely-designed backpacks will be available for purchase along with limited-edition releases only available that week.
At the Museum of Graffiti in the Wynwood neighborhood, find a PUMA Takeover. This two-day event celebrates PUMA’s rich history in break dance culture. Events on Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4 begin with a live sneaker customization and giveaway at 11:00 AM daily, followed by a 4:00 PM break dance battle taking place on a custom dance floor surrounded by new murals. Adult tickets are $16, kids under 13 are free.
Go Big or Go Home
November 29-December 5 the Miami Mural Festival takes over the world epicenter of murals and street art, Wynwood, displaying 500,000 square feet of new murals with no admission fee.
Following a $27 million investment in its transformation, Flagler Street is re-emerging as a historically significant, vibrant center of Miami. The Flagler Street Art Festival (November 30-December 5) brings the promise and potential of this district to life. The festival will put a series of large-scale experiential digital art exhibitions on public display; unveil 15 new murals commissioned to be live painted throughout the week and debut illuMia, a towering, 24-foot-tall NFT art exhibition space produced by ArtRepublic featuring 100 artists’ works curated by SuperRare to be projected on the facades of Flagler District buildings in an interactive nighttime visual experience. No fee for admission, but RSVP is required.
Miami Beach’s New World Symphony presents “EMANARE.” On view over two evenings, November 30 and December 1, from 7:00-11:00 PM, this participant-generated artwork will be projected onto the building’s famed WALLCAST®. An audience from across the globe can activate the work by entering messages of positive intention and affirmation via QR-code, or through the artist’s, Paula Crown, website, by answering the question: “What positive message do you want to emanate into the world today?”
Inspired by Buddhist prayer wheels, “EMANARE,” Latin for emanate, scrolls these positive messages in a ruminative, meditative fashion across WALLCAST®, pulsating with calming colors and a soundscape developed for the artwork in collaboration with New World Symphony Fellows.
Cube Art Fair will activate 50 billboards in the Design District, Wynwood and Downtown Miami (December 1-5) with its centerpiece being a mural projection on the 400-foot-tall Intercontinental Hotel, located at the Bayfront Park a few blocks away from the Perez Museum, where the NFTs will be mapped on the side of the building.
Diamonds and Gold
Johnathan Schultz debuts his “Out of the Darkness” collection featuring artwork that integrates precious metals and diamonds at Le Art Noir, Diversity in Color, taking place at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. This collection includes a one-of-one chandelier which is considered among the largest diamond artworks worldwide and will be on display at the exhibition for the first time. $25 general admission tickets to Le Art Noir can be purchased here.
Tim Bengel’s Who Wants to Live Forever? sculpture casts avocado toast in more than 26 pounds of pure gold. The template for the work was a real avocado bagel which was 3D scanned and cast in gold. The artwork consists of 27 individual golden parts, including a pumpkin bagel cut in half, five tomato slices, ten arugula leaves, five onion rings, and five avocado strips.
See it (booth #AM 210, Galerie Rother)–or purchase, asking price roughly $3 million–at the 31st edition of Art Miami (November 30-December 5) at One Miami Herald Plaza on Biscayne Bay in the heart of Downtown. General admission tickets $55.
Art with a Purpose
In light of the extreme abortion ban in Texas and subsequent anti-choice legislation being introduced across the country, Planned Parenthood is hosting an emergency benefit auction in exclusive partnership with Artsy to help raise funds needed to continue offering abortion care to patients affected by these bans. A private co*cktail party at the Nautilus Hotel on December 2 will feature artworks directly donated from leading contemporary artists with an online bidding portal open to the public. Proceeds will help affected patients obtain an out-of-state abortion.
Confirmed artists include Nicole Eisenman, Sam Gilliam, Futura, Jenny Holzer, Simone Leigh, the Robert Mapplethorpe Estate, Marilyn Minter, Amy Sherald and Kara Walker.
