Artisically Social

Amy Rosenberg Art Basel

Amy Rosenberg is an attorney and arts and environmental advocate who founded the Arsht Center’s young patrons group and is the co-founder of the environmental non-profit organization Dream in Green. Amy is a member of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and sits on the boards of LegalArt, the Funding Arts Network, New World Symphony’s executive committee and the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.

Whether you attended the Moncler dinner for Pharrell Williams at Casa Tua, the Visionaire Party at the Delano, Gang Gang Dance party at O.H.W.O.W. or found yourself carousing poolside at the W with a $20 martini, you were guaranteed an arty eyeful last week during Art Basel Miami Beach.

The week started off with a German accent at the Art of Progress: Audi’s fete for its new A8 luxury automobile. Audi erected a glowing forty-five-thousand square foot, five story temporary structure north of the Eden Roc Hotel and partnered with the Rubell Collection and Design Miami.

The German carmaker went all out. More than 1,000 smartly dressed guests (Mera Rubell was wearing a fright wig) listened to a discussion on design and cars led by (yawn) Lucy Liu (her shoes were fabulous, her delivery was anemic) in a grand auditorium before proceeding to an even grander space where guests were treated to a feast of David Bouley’s decadent small plates. The high notes: dry aged prime beef cheek goulash, black truffle gnocchi and concord grape sorbet.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the Bass Museum, The Wolfsonian and the Miami Art Museum drew local collectors and those from across the pond for their splashy, elegant parties. The Bass Museum had a strong showing and thousands of attendees at Where Do We Go From Here? from the Mexican Jumex Collection. The fantastic Director of the Bass, Sylvia Karman Cubina, presided over a successful evening of great art and mingling.

On the mainland, the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami joined with Vanity Fair International for the opening of the timely, The Reach of Realism, an exhibition exploring the artistic traditions of Realism in this digital age. A chicer than chic crowd in couture frocks and dangerously high heels braved the humidity for this stellar kick-off to Art Basel.

The star piece in the Convention Center was Kehinde Wiley’s enormous portrait of Michael Jackson. Wiley, known for painting contemporary urban black men in the style of the Old Masters, must have been pleased with the lines forming to see his work in the Deitch Projects booth.

Two highlights from Art Basel week took place outside of the fairs in the unique spaces owned and operated by local collectors. Rosa de la Cruz unveiled the spectacular De la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space featuring the works of Naomi Fisher and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. The artistry behind the structure (what light!) is enough of a reason for a visit.

The Rubell Collection unveiled Beg Borrow and Steal featuring 79 artists, Mera Rubell in yet another fright wig and a freestanding wall of 1,521 donuts (there was coffee, too). The calorically ruinous installation entitled, Old-Fashioned, was created by Jennifer Rubell to question the meaning of “old-fashioned” in the contemporary art world.

This year’s Art Basel had some surprise attendees (Fab Five Freddy anyone?). A few of us learned that actor Sylvestor Stallone is an artiste. He showed at the Gmurzynska Gallery at Basel and his abstractions fetched in the fifty thousand dollar range. No telling if he was present when the Feds seized four paintings from the Gallery to satisfy a default judgment before the Basel opening. Might he have gone Rambo?