We had a full day of artfairs yesterday. We started the show with going up to the Deauviille to see the period interiors and spaces. The Deauville was the hotel the Beatles stayed in during their visit to Miami--and it was fun to go see it with Alex. The wind was high so we went outside onto the beach to hear the rattling palm trees and see the brilliant choppy sea. Then, back in the car to park down on South Beach to experience Aqua, a smaller and one of my more favorite venues. Aqua is a traditional Miami hotel that has been emptied of all the furniture, and each little room becomes a gallery so you can go from room to room seeing work from all over the states from the up and comers that are carried in these smaller venues. There is always something tremendous to see, with this time being no exception. First off, there is a gallery that was specializing in these stunningly large and lush photos of real dolls with quotes from owners of these creatures. Poignant and sad. Another gallery had around a hundred teensy little decorated cakes to complement these hazy gorgeous paintings of teacups and teapots. There was an artist who copied old portraits and then superimposed appropriate text messages to complement the feeling of the painting or the expression on the subject's face. OMG and all that. GLORIOUS.
We then took the shuttle up to the Miami Convention Center to take in Art Basel and Design Miami. It was a kid in the candy shop with Alex. He looooooved it all. No one was sleeping. Lots of picture taking and inquisitiveness. We were beyond delighted with his joy of learning and discovey during this short time we have together. High points were: the woven leather furniture model led on historic forms at Fendi,all sets of cool uses of laser cutting, more sequins and glitter, weird and scary uses of hair, lots of collage, lots of type, machine sewing, portraits sewn on a sewing machines. Surprisingly, the big work, the museum level masters were not in abundance this year. Newer, fresher work and also more affordable work packed the halls. Not a lot of political work-- mainly pretty stuff.
Perrier had Shepard Fairey create an image to promote their water that they splashed on water coolers and pillows they placed in resting spots for the tired show goers who gulped down cold Perrier to their delight. Miami opened a mural gallery to showcase muralists, graffiti artists and branded superstars like Fairey. Plus there were openings, video showings and live music everywhere. Alex and I stopped by the Dior boutique where they were promoting a new collection of handbags with neon stitching-- so they were promoting the color, a pattern like a camo with trays of champagne, free neon manicures, a 44 monitor show, and ambient music with a beautiful DJ. They had a food truck covered in the camo style pattern handing out teensie little croissants and coffee. It was really fun.