Events On The Periphery Of Miami Art Week

“Did you see Jin Han Lee’s work at Art Basel?” asked renowned collector Laurie Ziegler as we discussed the highlights of Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week. “She’s this great artist I found in the Positions sector, which is one of the corners for younger galleries. She was at a gallery called Union Pacific. Beautiful paintings. I think she has a wonderful career ahead of her.”

“No, I didn’t get to Positions when I finally made it to Art Basel,” I responded. “I also missed seeing Alex Anderson at UNTITLED Miami Beach.” I was curious about the ceramicist’s presentation, Toward a Oneness, which promised to reveal how the African-American and Japanese-American heritage artist merged his dual identities with his Eastern Buddhist and Medieval Western European spiritual thought to create his sculptures and installations.

All of this was par for the course as there were so many things going on during Miami Art Week, with my inbox full of no less than 300 invitations, and an unwillingness to burn myself out trying to see everything. As I told the publicists who sought my presence at several celebrity nightlife affairs, their invitations came 20 years too late.

The events beginning at a more Gen-X friendly time secured my attendance instead, as each cleverly capitalized on the influx of more than 75,000 art enthusiasts who pilgrimaged to the Magic City, using the week to announce new initiatives or promote existing ones. Positioned on the periphery of the week’s many art fairs, these companies used art’s intersection with culture and commerce to advance their marketing narratives.

Art and Real Estate: A Billionaire’s Playground

On Monday, December 2, I made it to The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, South Beach to witness Bank of America’s Artadia Award recipient, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, début her installation, As her hands move, her heart beats in the rhythm of monsoons. Thereafter, Michelin-starred chef José Andrés enchanted with a culinary experience introducing a dining concept for the Ritz Carlton Residences, South Beach, a new real estate development project from Flag Luxury Group and the focal point of the evening. Seizing on the pocketbook power in Miami this first week of December, Fredrik Eklund, celebrity broker and co-founder of EKLUND | GOMES, unveiled the vision for 30 ultra-luxe oceanfront beach houses set to rise on Miami’s exclusive Billionaire’s Beach.

Eklund spoke passionately about art and real estate’s ongoing convergence, citing the Schumacher project from a decade ago as a pivotal moment. The Manhattan building set a precedent for treating residential spaces as cultural hubs, with a curated art program reimagining shared spaces as living galleries. The project was even spotlighted in a New York Times feature aptly titled, “Is It Art or Is It Just Real Estate?”

Eklund also pointed to a rising trend underscoring the strategic decision to announce the new Ritz Carlton Residences, South Beach project this week. “There’s a new type of buyer emerging, one who treats real estate like art, collecting properties with the same passion and precision. They’re not just looking for a place to live; they’re looking for the best of the best. They might own a Warhol or a Basquiat, and now they want an oceanfront apartment in Miami, a penthouse in New York, or a villa in L.A. A collection of real estate isn’t complete without a Miami property. It’s become an essential part of the portfolio.”

The Creative Counselors of Miami Art Week

On Tuesday, December 3, I went to Jayaram Law Firm, where a conversation with Noah Ornstein, the firm’s CEO, helped me understand what I was doing at a law firm during Miami Art Week. The firm supports artists at every stage of their career, from legal to business advice, even providing a multidisciplinary creative space within their office for the whims of their clients, whose successes are also amplified on Jayaram’s social media profiles.

The dinner introduced DRIFT, the polymathic studio from Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, and their multisensory series, Coded Nature. Blending art and science, Coded Nature used AI-driven movement and biomimicry to explore the harmony between technology and the ever-changing natural world. As guests circled the room, the screen images adapted to the audience’s new configurations.

“Coded Nature immediately enthralled us,” said Vivek Jayaram, founder of Jayaram Law. “For the past few years, we have been immersing ourselves in the convergence of technology and nature, which rendered this collaboration effortlessly organic.”

Though I missed the panel discussion the next day on how creative disciplines reinterpret nature through technology, the dinner itself illustrated Jayaram’s unconventional support for its artists – its clients – with a perspective unusual for big law. As the firm sees it, “Jayaram is a place where lawyers, innovators, and brands can come as they are, and where the people guiding clients cultivate cultural authenticity.”

A Minaudiere Moment with Judith Leiber at Miami Art Week

On Wednesday, I found myself at Sexy Fish Miami, seated to the left of Jana Matheson, EVP and chief creative officer of Judith Leiber Couture. She announced the brand’s latest collaboration with Ashley Longshore, which also benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Rethink Baby.

“Art Basel was the perfect setting to launch our four-piece collaboration with Ashley Longshore and kick off the most festive time of the year, filled with glittering holiday celebrations,” Matheson noted. “Judith Leiber has long been the pioneer of the art-meets-minaudiere handbag, making this collaboration with Ashley at Art Basel a natural fit. It’s the ideal stage to share our story and introduce my new collection.”

I met Longshore the next day at Aqua Art Miami, where her unapologetic quest to be forever financially independent speaks to her fearlessness in her artistic interpretations. The decision to pair Longshore with the Judith Lieber brand is an ingenious celebration of women who are authentically themselves.

Climate Solutions with a Gender Lens

Also on Wednesday, and completely outside the realm of the consumerist undercurrents of the week, was the Women Leading Climate Action panel, hosted by LEBEC at The Wolfsonian-FIU campus. Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of The CLEO Institute; Thais Lopez Vogel, co-founder and trustee of VoLo Foundation; Stacey Boyd, founder and CEO of Olivela; and Estefania Rebellon, co-founder and CEO of Yes We Can World Foundation, joined a panel moderated by Alix Lebec, founder and CEO of LEBEC. Each speaker highlighted the pivotal role women play in addressing the complex challenges of climate change, emphasizing equity and collaboration as keys to building a sustainable future. The conversation culminated in a powerful call for systemic change, urging collective action to address the pressing climate and social crises of our time.

“As a mother of six, I’m driven by the urgency to secure a safe future for our children,” said Vogel. “When we invest in climate solutions, we invest in healthier communities, a stronger economy and a sustainable future. Every dollar directed to climate innovation multiplies its impact, solving environmental crises and improving health, education and social equity. It’s a triangle of opportunity we can’t afford to ignore.”

Miami’s acute vulnerability to climate change, with rising sea levels, increased flooding, and extreme heat, made the city a fitting backdrop for this discussion. By timing the panel at the height of Miami Art Week, LEBEC’s access to a global audience provided a high podium to spotlight the urgency of climate equity.

Immersed in Mist: Superblue’s Lightfall

Four shots of espresso, some delicious pastries and a personal introduction by Juliette Bibasse, co-director of Studio Lemercier, to their latest audiovisual artwork installation, Lightfall, at Superblue Miami was how I began my Thursday morning. Six years of experimentation inside their Brussels studio with water projection technology, et voila!, an installation balancing water particle size with laser precision. Lightfall’s custom-built water screen uses lasers to project vivid imagery onto a curtain of fine mist, blending light and water to create visuals that seemingly float in air. Soundscapes from Mexican-born musician Murcof interact with the visuals, creating a curious dialogue between light, water, and music​.

For Bibasse, the goal is for the audience to feel as if they’re “inside the elements,” embracing the sensory and immersive aspects of Lightfall, while projecting their own emotions and interpretations onto the abstract imagery​.

“It’s about escaping the regular screen and experiencing something intangible: this transparent, airy image floating mid-air,” Bibasse elaborated. “Through a series of tableaux, the installation allows you to explore the physicality of water and wind, as the rotating movements are created solely by the fine mist being blown into the space.”

After an unyielding week of events, Superblue’s approach to inserting itself into Miami Art Week was a welcome retreat from canvassing the various art fairs around town. With only one other installation present – a hall of mirrors with two interpretations – guests could simply focus on the sensory experience without feeling pressured to move on to the next display.

Ulta Beauty’s Joy Oasis at Miami Art Week

Saturday, I popped into Gallery ART House for the House of Joy pop-up event hosted by Ulta Beauty, who brought a glam squad to glamorize attendees with professional make-up artists and hair stylists. Everyone left with a gift bag filled with samples of their own choosing from several beauty brands.

When asked why Ulta decided to host this event during Miami Art Week, CMO of Ulta Beauty Michelle Crossan-Matos replied, “We know that Art Basel has become a destination for influential creators to come together to celebrate, connect, and share their meaningful moments with their engaged followers, especially Gen Z attendees. Our presence at Art Basel allowed us to deepen our connection to these young beauty enthusiasts, drive relevance and showcase our purpose to share joy through community and create meaningful moments for our guests beyond our stores.”

The event, developed with GMG, drew insights from Ulta’s Joy Study and Generation Joy Report, each commissioned as part of the brand’s “The Joy Project,” launched in 2023 to “help everyone find, embrace and experience joy – and make beauty a force of good for all.”

“We wanted to not only underscore what beauty enthusiasts love most about Ulta Beauty, but also redefine beauty as a place where creativity, self-expression, and community come to life,” continued Crossan-Matos. “Further, we wanted to bring joy to beauty lovers in a disruptive way that challenge the status quo and allows us to reach new guests.”

Leveraging the Periphery of Miami Art Week

“Did you go to the American Express and Delta Airlines Resy Lounge?” Ziegler asked. “That was one of only two brand partnerships I thought was special. The other was the Chiquita banana thing.”

“Was that the one at Untitled?” I wondered. “I’d planned to go to the other Amex and Delta event, Night Shift at Jon & Vinny’s, but my dining experience at Queen Omakase on Thursday night ran past midnight. Night Shift was an after-hours thing starting at 10 p.m.. After hours, I only wanted my bed. I couldn’t even make it to my Friday morning event.”

As Ziegler and I continued to compare notes on which events outside of the core art focus drew our attention, it’s clear Miami has firmly established itself on the global stage as where you want to be the first week of December if you want to engage potential new customers. The “you” in this case are brands leveraging the periphery of Miami Art Week fairs through experiential marketing strategy catering to the ever-evolving pursuit of luxury; where brands, artists, and audiences converge to explore new dimensions of meaning, beauty, and value.