Janelle Monáe, Dwyane Wade, Alix Earle and More Party at Art Basel Miami Beach
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Usually this close to the weekend during Art Basel Miami Beach week, when the city’s events become more open to the public and most of the serious art consuming has come and gone, there have been enough famous faces to rival fashion week. Yet this year the big story on the celebrity front is the lack thereof. Fashion brands and galleries have thrown their bashes and yet the celebrities appear to be elsewhere.
Wednesday night was the busiest of the week, with the commute from Miami Beach to the Design District clocking in at over an hour already in the early evening. While the midweek Basel traffic was anticipated, it was still a logistical hurdle for party hoppers forced to make a decision: commit to the Design District for the night, or try and make it back to the beach in time to catch Janelle Monáe’s performance at The Edition?
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If an in-store cocktail was their speed then the Design District on Wednesday was their paradise. There were plenty of parties to choose from: Christian Louboutin was hosting a cocktail celebrating its collaboration with YoungArts and Laurie Simmons’ new exhibition, PatBo was toasting the grand opening of its boutique, and over at the Golden Goose store, artist Gregory Siff was in the process of customizing a pile of fresh sneakers. “I think a little bit of splash would be nice,” said Siff, before proceeding to flick his paint marker onto the shoe in hand.
“It’s a great way to make contact and connection with someone during Art Basel,” said Siff, briefly stepping away from his customization duties. The artist had connected with Golden Goose several weeks earlier for the brand’s “Sketch Yourself” studio visit video series.
“I started uncovering more and more about the community that is Golden Goose and it’s all dreamers and creatives. I’m the kid that, I’m just keeping the child alive. I’m the kid that didn’t grow up because he found something that wouldn’t allow him to.”
Siff was looking forward to walking around the art fairs the next morning, and he was already planning on turning the experience into a sketch. “I never want to be done, because then you lose the paint on your hands,” he added. “Then you’re just waiting for things to happen — I like making things happen.”
While sneakers were the canvas at Golden Goose, over at the Dior boutique it was the Lady Art Bag. The brand was celebrating the eighth edition of their Lady Dior art collaboration project with the likes of Jeffrey Gibson — who also has a triptych painting on view at the UBS Lounge at Art Basel; Jean-Michel Othoniel; Sidney Toledano, and Lady Dior artists Ludovic Nkoth and Hilary Pecis.
“Give me one second, I’m going to sign this [bag] for the lady,” said Nkoth, who had a Sharpie in hand and was getting ready to add his signature to the inside of his bag design, at the request of its new owner. “I never thought I was going to be signing a Dior bag, with my name attached to it as well. That is just fabulous to me,” he added.
“From the beginning, receiving the email about the project, it was a dream come true every step along the way,” said Pecis, outside on the store’s third-floor terrace. “The child in me, and the adult and maybe the old lady also, I wanted all those versions of myself to be able to enjoy this bag. I think they were able to do that.”
A few blocks over, Cartier was toasting its Time Unlimited exhibition. Guests including Dwyane Wade, Leon Bridges, Emma Chamberlain and Alix Earle donned their watches for the night, which took them through a multilevel exhibit complete with a photo op setup and a “relaxation room” for processing it all.
A short drive away in Wynwood, Ssense and Marni were welcoming friends to the Soho Pool House for what felt like you’d just crashed the house party of the coolest college kids. People lounged on couches and the floor upstairs in a loft area, glued to their phones while occasionally reaching for the bottle in an ice bucket beside them as Bad Bunny remixes rolled. Downstairs there was dancing, outside there was posing for photos, and somewhere in the mix were recognizable faces like Jordyn Woods, James Blake, Selah Marley, Miles Greenberg, Saint Jhn, Shameik Moore and Sophia Roe.
Over on Miami Beach, Mickalene Thomas was hosting a party at the Edition hotel, where Janelle Monáe gave a performance that ended with her in the pool. All in a day’s work.
Launch Gallery: Janelle Monae, Dwyane Wade, Alix Earle and More Party at Art Basel Miami Beach
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