On top of Art Basel and Design Miami, Miami Art Week 2022 featured over 280 galleries from 38 countries, from satellite fairs, brand activations, A-list fundraisers, and store and hotel openings, to blockchain launches and parties galore. It was so gratifying to see events happening all over Miami-Dade, from Homestead and Opa Locka to Coral Gables, Overtown, plus the expected venues. And putting on my promotional/marketing hat, Miami Art Week will surely be a boon to positive and far reaching word of mouth of Miami as a tourism destination. Since my focus was on art and design, the photo gallery of Miami Art Week 2022 is all about art with one notable exception: a visit to a popup of a favorite Italian designer whom I met at one of the first Miami Swim Week events. So here’s the gallery of favorite contemporary works from the fairs.

Spanish visual artist, sculptor, designer and engraver Jaume Plensa seems to be everywhere these days with his sculptures. A good place to see one of his sculptures is in the garden at the Perez Art Museum  (PAMM).

On view at Saatchi Yates in the Design District were the paintings by “hot’  contemporary Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa who resides in Addis Ababa. By Saturday almost all of the works had been sold.

Love these playful ceramic benches by renowned Italian designer Gaetano Pesce for Bottega Veneta, though I wonder how you can make them comfortable.

The Dolce and Gabbana fine jewelry exhibit at Design Miami was so sumptuous and extravagant, it would have put the jewelry of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette to shame (an exaggeration, but you get the picture). Watches, bracelets, necklaces were in rotating glass cases while craftsmen were fashioning new masterpieces in the background. Serious eye candy.

What to say about this one? Surely instagrammable.

Glass lunch boxes by contemporary Chinese art legend, documentarian and political activist Ai Weiwei.

Beautiful work by  Magdalena Campos-Pons, a Cuban-born artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. Campos-Pons works primarily in photography, performance, audiovisual media, and sculpture. She is considered a “key figure” among Cuban artists who found their voice in a post-revolutionary Cuba.

Amoako Boafo has been a favorite ever since seeing his work in a solo exhibit at the Rubell Museum in Miami. For more about the Rubell Museum and other private museums in Miami, click here.

The House of Mua Mua fashion label describes itself as ‘ for millionaires who like to have fun with fashion”. Their tag line that appears on bands of some of their fashion, “for those who don’t give a chic!”.Designed by Italian Ludovica Virga and made in Bali, the pieces are definitely conversation pieces and this year, they’re all about sequins. Sequin backpacks, bathing suits, pajamas, handbags, long slinky dresses, you name it. The two day popup was at the SLS South Beach.

One of the most exciting shows a good friend and I agreed was at Prizm Art Fair which displayed works in mixed media by artists of color, from Africa and Haiti to throughout the USA.  I found the work fresh, different, and innovative, and a number of the artists were on hand to talk about their work. Here are some of my favorite pieces: