Elena Soboleva is a gallerist in New York. She wasn’t able to get to Miami this week but that doesn’t stop her all-seeing eyes and ears from bringing you this report:
With the fair underway and many the important sales over with, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the last two days of parties and events heating up Miami’s art scene.
The interesting shift comes this year with several major artists in attendance – including Marina Abramovic, Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin. The latter two are not known to hit the party circuits regularly and Hirst admitted that it’s his first Miami Basel. It is intriguing as to why he would choose to come after years of abstention and may have something to do with his upcoming “Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011” retrospective to be held simultaneously across all of Gagosian’s eleven locations in January of 2012. It appears that the king of contemporary art-marketing is feeling some PR pressure himself.
The most coveted invite at this year’s ABMB was the Ferrari and Interview Magazine party held in the windy parking lot designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The Tuesday night fete was hosted by Interview’s Peter Brant and Sotheby’s Tobias Meyer in honor of Ferrari Chairman Luda di Montezemolo. The guests, who included Vito Schnabel, Flo Rida, Val Kilmer, Nate Lowman and Dasha Zhukova, were entertained by six floors of exotic cars, Solange Knowles spinning all night and a new 3D work by Marco Brambilla, whose epic animation can be spotted in the elevators of the Standard hotels.
Later that night, Art.sy ‘beachside’ barbecue at the Soho Beach House sponsored by Louis Vuitton drew everyone’s attention and the likes of Eli Broad, both of the Hilton sisters, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Naomi Campbell. All the celebrations were hosted by the Art.sy founder Carter Cleveland along with investors Zhukova and Wendi Murdoch, with Larry Gagosian on the sidelines.
After the numerous Wednesday brunches, VIP previews and the main Vernissage – the partiers hit the strip and the lucky few attended the private dinner hosted by MOCA and the Kingdom of Morocco (no joke) at the Raleigh Hotel. Jeffrey Deitch could be seen canoodaling with the Hiltons as Lindsey Pollack worked the room and Alexandra Richards DJed this lavish event. That same evening Dior opened its inaugural Pop-Up shop, causing a stir in the fashion world and featuring a collaboration between the fashion house and the German artist Anselm Reyle. It featured ceiling-high video screens and vibrant neon décor, appropriate for the location. The event attracted Stefano Tonchi, Larry Gagosian, Zaha Hadid, China Chow, Klaus Biesenbach and Simone de Pury. The Bass Art Museum also held an afterparty for that evening celebrating the opening of Erwin Wurm’s new show “Beauty Business.”
