Culture

Art Basel News You Can Use – Part 3

Sorting through the hundreds of emails about events and promotions at Art Basel Miami and checking them out has been quite a job. But the biggest challenge (for everyone) is figuring out how to navigate the traffic. Sometimes I’m reluctant to brave it all, but the allure of what could lie in store prevails, and off I go. And it’s almost always worth it. So grab that extra caf coffee and go for it. Here are some of the special happenings WTT (worth the trip or you could also say worth the traffic). At the end are some additional short tips.

Thursday, December 1^st

The National Hotel is showcasing nearly 100 photographs and playful scenography of renowned French designer and photographer, Maurice Renoma. The artist also decorated the hotel’s Cabana Suite and lobby with his Parisian furniture, and launched a pop-up retail shop with some of his signature pieces in the hotel’s Martini Room. Presented in collaboration with Markowicz Fine Art, the exhibition is on display at the hotel from December 1^st, 2016, through April 30^th, 2017.

Sunday, December 4^th

Art + brunch, what a way to end Art Basel week. Besides the annual Breakfast in the Park brunch at the Frost Art Museum, other options you’ll want to consider are the Lowe Art Museum’s Bubbles & Brunch, this year featuring famed artist Donald Sultan speaking about his current exhibit, the “Disaster Paintings”. Brunch is at 10 a.m. and the talk is at 12 pm. Tickets are free with Museum admission (no need to reserve) and for members and Art Basel VIP cardholders…..then there’s the Jewish Museum of FIU’s bagel, lox and cream cheese brunch from 10 to 2. It’s offered in conjunction with the current exhibit, Jewish Treasures of the Caribbean. Contemporary photographer Wyatt Gallery along with Hank Willis Thomas discuss current issues and themes documented by artists, photographers and photo journalists worldwide.

Thursday – Sunday, December 1-4^th

In advance of Innergy Meditation’s new studio opening in Miami Beach late December, the company is hosting a pop-up studio at Mondrian South Beach during Art Basel, featuring various teachers and techniques of guided meditation that are more fun than dogma. Locals and visitors alike can start their day submerged in mindfulness for 30 minutes with group classes held every morning at 9 a.m. from Thursday, Dec. 1^st through Sunday, Dec. 4^th. These 30-minute meditation sit-ins are free and open to the public. To RSVP, email rsvp@innergymeditation.com.

The French design site Invisible Collection debuted in Art Basel this year in a townhouse with select pieces for its show, “Chambres a Part”, from now to December 4. Founded by Anna Zaoui and Isabelle Dubern, The Invisible Collection is an online platform with pieces designed by esteemed names in French interior design and architecture. The online site (and exhibit) features furniture and art from leading French interior designers whose pieces are otherwise only available to project clients. Along with the furniture is artwork by the likes of Hernan Bas, Cecily Brown, Olafur Eliasson and Mark Hagen. A plus is that the exhibit is housed in a townhouse that you may have been wondering what it was all about, with its highly original stenciled façade (next to the Vintro Hotel). The building is home to a modeling agency. The exhibit is open from 4 to 7 p.m.

Jeffrey Deitsch and Larry Gagosian, art world luminaries, present a major show titled Desire , and it’s not to be missed. The exhibition, Desire, focuses on modern and contemporary approaches to eroticism in art, exploring the emotional, physical and spiritual aspects (note: it can be quite graphic). Fifty artists from modern masters like Picasso, Diego Rivera and Balthus to Jeff Koons, Cecily Brown (a fave) to emerging talents are featured. The Moore Building, Design District, Hours: today– Dec 3rd: 10am–8pm Dec 4th: 10am–6pm. Free.

Special kudos go to the Night Market at Pao at the Faena Hotel from now to December ^3rd. Inspired by the famed food street markets (a fave of Anthony Bourdain) in Southeast Asia, Night Market features exclusive 4 course menus designed by a different chef in collaboration with James Beard Award winning Chef Paul Qui and paired with music and inventive cocktail collaborations by Bombay Sapphire’s North American Brand Ambassador Gary Hayward and Faena’s mixologist Marko Tomovic. And a terrific option, if you’d just like a light bite sitting outside, enjoying cool live music and people watching, there are also night market carts and a bar at Pao Terrace. Dishes range from beef kalbi with cheese and kimchi hodduk (our fave) and Cambodian noodles with green curry stock to fresh Filipino spring roll with hearts of palm, carrots, lettuce, fried peanuts and garlic, tofu, and coconut soy caramel. It’s offered from now to December 3 from 5 p.m. to midnight.

Night Market Chef Collective Dinners at Pao by Paul Qui

Seats 8pm nightly; Tickets are $175 per person, plus service and tax.

December 1: Christopher Haatuft – Tickets Available

December 2: Erik Bruner-Yang – Tickets Available

December 3: TBA

For tickets visit https://paofaenamiami.tocktix.com/ or call 786-655-5600.

After enjoying our taste of Asia, it was off for a nightcap of Perrier Jouet that always gives one of the best parties, and this year teamed up with Wilhelmina for its 50th anniversary with a themed “Eden” environment at Casa Faena.

Tips:

Uber and Lyfft have been working well so far. No surge pricing yet, but it’s good to check out the estimated cost before clicking set pickup.
Patricia Field, costume designer for “Sex and the City” and now for “Younger” is showing her art/fashion line that is sure to be, shall we say distinctive? The exhibit is at the White Dot Gallery, 174 NW 23rd Street through the end of December.
Kudos to the Design District that has information booths stocked with maps and small bottles of mineral water.

PULSE, near the Eden Roc Hotel, is one of my favorite and lesser known shows. They always have a selection of international galleries and quality offerings.