On Monday, December 2, one of the best places in Miami to admire art wasn’t at a fair preview or a gallery, but at the private waterfront estate of Kris and Mary Hinson. To celebrate Miami Art Week, the couple, trustees of the ICA Miami, hosted an intimate dinner with W and Au Départ to celebrate five artists—Lucy Bull, Ding Shilun, Marguerite Humeau, Keiichi Tanaami, and Rubem Valentim—who have special exhibitions at the museum. Artists, curators, gallerists, and writers chatted next to works by Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, and Richard Prince.
The evening was relaxed, with guests enjoying tuna tartar bites and dainty chocolates flecked with gold, courtesy of Thierry Isambert Culinary & Event Design. The three living artists being feted—Bull, Shilun, and Humeau—bathed in the glow of palm trees wrapped in holiday lights. After drinking Broken Shaker spicy margaritas outside, safely away from works of art, attendees reconvened inside the Hinsons’ living rooms to admire their cream Jean Royère Polar Bear couch and Jonas Wood tennis court painting.
The following night, December 3, W cohosted the ICA Miami’s opening reception. Guests patiently waited in gridlock traffic for an exclusive viewing of the five shows. (For each artist, it marks their first major U.S. museum exhibition.) The ground floor has Valentim’s geometric abstractions from the 1960s and Shilun’s violent pastel fantasies, while the floor above has Japanese pop artist Tanaami’s works. The third floor hosts Humeau’s climate anxiety-fueled sculptures and Bull’s psychedelic paintings—though, her 39-foot-tall canvas spans the museum’s entire stairwell.
Outside, in the museum’s courtyard, guests were treated to makeup touch-ups courtesy of a MAC Cosmetics station. After all, Art Basel Miami Beach is just as much about being seen as it is about seeing.
One of the great pleasures of the ICA’s opening night, and Miami Art Week in general, is that no one abides by a single dress code. A woman in Rick Owens Kiss Boots and leather stared intently at Bull’s bursting canvases, while a woman in an Adidas tracksuit looked at Shilun’s painting Smile Reveal. In it, a man’s skeleton escapes his body through his spine. Thonged sandals, stilettos, ballet flats, sneakers, and high-heeled boots clacked up and down the museum stairs all night long.