One stand in the Positions section of Art Basel Miami Beach is getting more attention than others. Llano gallery from Mexico City is making waves with its presentation of videos and photographs featuring two figures in raunchy rancher attire worn by men in Sinaloa, north-west Mexico. The two male dancers are caught on film grinding on a specially designed saddle, which is also available to buy.
These head-spinning works are the work of Diego Vega Solorza, a leading Mexican choreographer. Solorza draws on his upbringing in Sinaloa, describing how young men were expected to show off their masculinity by mastering horseback riding. So, what’s it like to be an Art Basel star? “I’ve no idea what the art world is like. This is a very new experience for me! But I’m glad people like the saddle and pictures,” he tells us.
Self-promotion: Patrick Lewis’s novel form of advertising at Art Basel Gareth Harris
The billboard blazer: trendsetter or tacky?
Among the fashonistas (and would-be fashonistas) at Art Basel Miami Beach yesterday was a dapper gent sporting a blazer emblazoned with “Looking for Picasso, Modigliani, Caravaggio. Talk to me.” Its wearer was Patrick Lewis, a co-founder of FPX Art, a private art exchange. “I was asked by an ultra-high net worth collector in Germany, who was tired of dealing with auction houses, to sell his works. FPX is the best way to do this,” Lewis says. As for the response to the jacket, “I’m getting so much attention!” he told us. “People can’t stop asking me why I’ve got ‘Picasso’ on my back.”
Comfort food: Carnation milk and Horlicks make a surprise fair appearance Gareth Harris
Fair’s Hong Kong café celebrates the best of British
The Hong Kong café at the heart of Art Basel Miami Beach is proving to be a popular pitstop for hungry fairgoers keen to devour treats such as pineapple buns and egg tarts. The Hong Kong Tourism Board has pulled out all the stops to provide a genuine HK experience, bringing to life the city’s classic eateries of the 1950s and “showcasing Hong Kong’s intrinsic East-meets-West culture”.
This Western influence is reflected in the displays of beloved British treats found around the café, including Heinz ketchup and Horlicks—harking back to the days when the city was a British colony. But, it would seem, not everyone gets it. We overheard one French collector asking his bemused colleagues: “Horlicks, qu’est-ce que c’est?”. For anyone similarly uninitiated, Horlicks is a 150-year-old British brand of malted milk powder.
If the cap fits… Robert Janitz’s bedazzled headgear at the Canada gallery party Gareth Harris
It’s murder on the dancefloor
Hard-working gallerists are letting their hair down around town after a busy Art Basel Miami Beach VIP preview. Canada gallery, a New York-based artist-run space, held a drinks party at the swanky Mila Lounge bar this week, where we caught up with Christiana Boyle, gallery partner and co-owner. She gave us her top tip for tired feet: Icy Hot spray. After a long day of pounding the stands in search of hot gossip, we’ll be sure to try this out. Artists in attendance at the bash included Reginald Sylvester II and Robert Janitz, who turned heads with his shimmering baseball hat emblazoned with sequins spelling out the word “Baby”.