Every December celebrities and artists flock to Miami Beach in the US for the beachside instalment of Art Basel.
This is the younger cousin to the original June version in Switzerland, and is a place to see (and buy) pieces from well-known names like Keith Haring and Cindy Sherman, as well as being exposed to some newer artists.
Art Basel Miami is often considered wilder and more experimental than the Basel event, and this year’s artworks didn’t disappoint…
A banana was taped to the wall… and then eaten
One of the most Instagrammable pieces of art from the event was a piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which involved a banana duct taped to the wall. Valued at $120,000 (£91,000), the piece was called ‘Comedian’.
Things took an even more bizarre turn when performance artist David Datuna took the banana off the wall and ate it. Datuna posted a video on Instagram with the caption: “I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It’s very delicious.”
Luckily, another banana was soon fixed to the wall in its place. However, it wasn’t back in action for long and the installation was soon taken down as it was drawing too big a crowd and needed security guards to protect it.
This isn’t the first time Cattelan’s work has been targeted – earlier this year his solid gold toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace.
A sofa was made out of Balenciaga off-cuts
Last year, artist Harry Nuriev had one of the most memorable installations of Art Basel Miami, putting together a Balenciaga office. He obviously knew he was onto a winner, because this year he yet again took inspiration from the fashion house – this time in the form of a sofa.
Nuriev stuffed a large couch with off-cuts of Balenciaga clothes that weren’t going to be sold, making for an incredibly chic sitting situation. Giving it extra fashion credentials, model Bella Hadid even visited the installation and posed on it.
Dior brought back a retro designer
Dior Men’s creative director Kim Jones decided to hold his pre-fall 2020 show in Miami to coincide with Art Basel. In doing so, he revived a name we haven’t heard in a long time: Shawn Stussy. That’s the man behind Stüssy, the skater brand which emerged in the 1980s and arguably set a precedent for fashion’s obsession with streetwear and athleisure.
While Stüssy is still actually going strong – even if it’s not quite at the height of its powers – Shawn Stussy himself hasn’t been in the game for a while, and came out of retirement to collaborate with Jones.
Madonna’s daughter was in a simulated ‘orgy’
Spanish fashion brand Desigual commissioned artist Carlota Guerrero to put together a performance piece called ‘Love Different’. Artists and models – including Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon – entered the room wearing Desigual, and then removed their clothes and started performing a simulated, fake orgy.
Desigual said the performance was: “A representation in which the catalan artist affects the most basic and universal act of love: the kiss.”
A traffic jam was made out of sand
When you’re relaxing on the beach, the last thing you want to think about is being stuck in traffic. However, Argentine artist Leandro Erlich created a traffic jam of 66 vehicles all made out of sand, sitting right next to the sea. The cars are either sinking into the sand or rising out of it, and the transient installation – called ‘Order of Importance’ – is designed to draw attention to the climate emergency.
