This past week Miami played host to the very artsy fartsy Art Basel. It is a contemporary art exhibition, which has been referred to as the Olympics of the art world. Although I am not a fan of the pretentious crowd that makes its way into my city, I absolutely love all the talent that starts flooding in as well. There was an overwhelming amount of galleries, exhibits, installations and events going on throughout South Beach, Downtown and the Design District and at times, was enough to make your head spin. Thankfully, I decided to take it easy this time around by picking and choosing those that seemed really up my alley without overdoing it. Which ones made the cut? Metric’s free show on the beach, Toyota Antics at Grand Central featuring Phantogram (too bad they didn’t play until after we left), Rainbow City and Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary Small Gift party.
Both the hubs and I decided to make the last two stops more of a date day, by heading to the Design District to enjoy them in a romantic setting. How? We took a stroll through Friendwithyou’s Rainbow City while hand-in-hand, momentarily taking the time to lay in the grass and take in the amazing surroundings. The 40-piece environmental installation addressed the potency of interaction, ritual and play. It was made up of large inflatable toy-like structures that begged for attention by making repetitive sounds, bowing down in the wind to give visitors a quick kiss or nuzzle or housing fun bounce houses. I loved everything about it. Plus, we couldn’t have asked for better weather – mild, 70’s, bright blue skies. It almost felt like a something out of a dream: a wacky, colorful and endearing dream. I don’t know about you, but I’d buy property in this city.
Then we decided to live it up like New Yorkers and hoof it to our next destination. It added to the experience since we were able to stroll through open galleries, not to mention all the art that was just splattered all over the walls , sidewalks and buildings leading up to Small Gift Miami, a Sanrio pop-up store in the Wynwood District to celebrate its 50th anniversary. I was really excited about this one, always having been a big Sanrio fan growing up (big up to Pekkle!) and I definitely was not disappointed. The installation included modern takes on the classic character, an in-house tattoo parlor offering free Sanrio tattoos and an epic gift store with lots of rare goodies. In short, it was Kawaii heaven and I definitely did not want to come back down from that cloud.
Although I had a great time this year at Basel, I’m happy to see it come to a close. The endless traffic, influx of tourists and general mayhem was wearing out its welcome. Back to status quo!
Did any of you check out Art Basel? If so, what were your favorite moments and/or events?
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