Now that Art Basel has been put to bed, it's time for everyone to dissect this year's fair. Was it good? Was it bad? Has it jumped the shark? Is it now just full of poseurs or tourists in fanny packs as Fast Company mentioned?
The answer is probably yes. Even Andre Balazs thinks it was a bit overblown. In an interview with the NY Observer he said:
"Every year it's more and more of a circus and a phenomenon."
It's interesting that he would use the word circus considering that his own hotel The Raleigh was actually promoting a circus, SpiegelWorld, during Art Basel. (The show begins Dec. 20th and runs through Feb. 6.)
Still Andre was careful not to diss the art fair completely saying he had respect for the art and culture pushers who make Art Basel happen.
Once again we have our Miami Beach insider/party animal Gregg to thank for this inside scoop on the newly opened Florida Room inside The Delano Hotel. The lounge is the first official nightclub from musician Lenny Kravitz and was host to the Agent Provacateur Art Basel party last week. Enjoy.
I got to the side entrance of Delano Hotel (on 17th Street) at 10 pm and had to wait 15 minutes until they were ready to open and let people in. Security was real tight. But it was a pleasure waiting because Granville the doorman (imported from NYC) is super nice and polite. He will kill you with kindness no matter how rude you are to him.
The Florida Room is very 1950's Cuban-style lounge. Lenny Kravitz's design firm did a really nice job. The uniforms are old school. The bartenders wear green jackets and the cocktail waitress's wear a white blouse (showing cleavage) and a black high waisted skirt. They also had girls dressed in Agent Provocateur corsets with 1950's hairdos and make-up greeting you into The Florida Room's entrance.
Some more Delano, Morgans Hotel Group and Art Basel news all rolled in one....
Morgans Hotel Group has officially announced the first hotel lounge from budding designer Lenny Kravitz inside the Delano Hotel.
Called the Florida Room, the lounge is a modern speakeasy in the hotel's basement with smoked bronze mirrored ceilings, Swarovski crystal chandeliers, and a lucite grand piano by Schimmel, a replica of the piano in Lenny's own home. And here's how he describes the place:
"My aunt had a place in her house where everyone played, hung out, listened to music and where all the fun was had, called the Florida room," said Lenny Kravitz. "We decided to create a space with this theme in mind but that also had the feeling of the old piano lounges in the resorts back in the 50's in Florida, Cuba and New York City. I love the rich musical history of Miami Beach. The Beatles, James Brown and Frank Sinatra all spent time here. We see the Delano as having this same kind of rich history and also took cues from this to envision the place I always wanted at the beach, but hasn't existed here in a long time."
Good thing we got this backstory otherwise we would think The Florida Room was a gigantic conference room in a big box hotel somewhere.
The lounge has been opened all this week for Art Basel parties including its own opening party on Monday night and the Agent Provocateur party which was held there last night.
Kimora Lee Simmons hosted a launch party last night of her new line KLS which will be sold at the Scoop boutique inside The Shore Club.
We told you about this the other day but thanks to tipster Gregg we have this shot of her posing with some fans. Dayum, girl is tall. Interestingly, she didn't stay at the Shore Club. Instead she headed over to a suite at the Ritz-Carlton. And she told the Miami Herald that she liked the Setai spa. Whoops.
Got any Art Basel party dispatches and pictures you want us to see? Send 'em our way.
In our party round-up for these hotels we noted that Def Jam founder Russell Simmons would be hosting the RUSH Philanthropic with Shinique Smith at the Delano tonight at 9pm. (For more on RUSH, click here.)
But we just got an invite detailing a party for Kimora Lee Simmons (Russell's recent ex-wife) and her exclusive KLS Fashion line which will be sold at Scoop inside The Shore Club. That party happens to be tonight as well, although a tad earlier from 6 to 9pm. However, the invite advertises that the first 200 guests will receive a gift bag and VIP admission to club Mokai for the after-party.
We're guessing Kimora, now that she's paired up with beefcake Dijimon Hounsou, won't be heading to the Delano for Russell's shindig.
Morgans Hotel Group could use some good press these days so it's a good thing that its two Miami hotels---The Delano and The Shore Club are both official host sponsors of the Art Basel art fair taking place in Miami this week.
Both the Delano and The Shore Club are hosting several events throughout the week. Here's the breakdown:
DELANO · UBS Welcome reception, Wednesday, 7-11pm · RUSH Philanthropic hosted by Shinique Smith and Russell Simmons, Thursday, 9pm · Agent Provacateur, Thursday, 10pm · Visionaire Music Issue with Linda Evangelista and Paul Davies, Friday, 10pm · Art Basel Miami Beach's Art Loves Film VIP Dinner: Lou Reed's film Berlin, directed by Julian Schnabel and Erick de Bokay, Saturday, 10pm
SHORE CLUB · Lynn Goldsmith's Rock and Roll Book Party, Wednesday, 9:30pm · The MisShapes Party at SkyBar, Thursday, 10 pm · Vanity Fair/MoMA party at SkyBar, Friday, 9pm · Sam Keller, Director of Art Basel Miami Beach, Cocktail Reception, Sunday, 7pm followed by a Goodbye Party at SkyBar.
And just so you know, every party is invitation only so party crashing will not be happening here, although we certainly encourage you to try. Lastly, we hope everyone who visits the Shore Club is on the lookout for these.
Art Basel will kick into full-gear this week. Here is just some of the latest news about the art fair. As always, if you have a hotel room, or are throwing an art party at a hotel or wanna gossip about what happened at what party, then keep us informed.
· Hotels looove Art Basel and we mean the love that comes in the form of money. [Miami Herald] · The Raleigh Hotel is hosting several Art Basel parties, so many it should practically be Art Basel headquarters. One more party: The hotel is hosting the Paper Magazine party tonight poolside from 9pm to 12am.
· The Mandarin Oriental Miami sent out invitations for a dinner party that were "two sturdy slabs of shiny plastic" that unfold into fan. Somebody is totally getting smacked with one of those! [ArtInfo] · The Sagamore Hotel officially has unveiled its nude Spencer Tunick photo. [NBC6] · The Setai is hosting a private release party on Dec. 7th for the Octagon Book which should appeal to the Ultimate Fighter in all of us.
The New York Times Style magazine, T, will be down in Art Basel tomorrow night. T magazine is using the fair to celebrate the launch of its online component with a cocktail party at The Raleigh Hotel.
T editor Stefano Tonchi, features director/online director Horacio Silva and famed hotelier Andre Balazs will co-host a cocktail party Dec. 4th at The Raleigh hotel to celebrate the launch of T Magazine online.
T magazine will also be infiltrating all the parties in SoBe and live-blogging the scene. And we're jealous that Design Within Reach (we like to call it Design Totally Not Within Reach of Average Incomes) is designing a VIP lounge for T Magazine party at the hotel.
Whether you are there for art or fashion or just the alcohol, now you know where to find Andre.
Now that Art Basel has been put to bed, it's time for everyone to dissect this year's fair. Was it good? Was it bad? Has it jumped the shark? Is it now just full of poseurs or tourists in fanny packs as Fast Company mentioned?
Some more Delano, Morgans Hotel Group and Art Basel news all rolled in one....
