Phillips auction house and Cultured toasted artist Abraham Cruzvillegas’s work at The Bass Museum of Art last week during Art Basel Miami Beach with an evening of cocktails, a seated dinner and hours of festivities at Mr. Chow. Drinks flowed as well as conversations between the who’s who of the art world: curators, collectors and artists themselves. In addition to recognizing the work of a beloved art talent, the fête was a welcome celebration of the spectacular programming of one of the most prominent local Miami contemporary art institutions.
Currently on long-term view at the Bass, group exhibition “The Willfulness of Objects” features a variety of artists' works from the museum’s permanent collection, some newly acquired and all of which were created from everyday objects. The show explores “facets of human nature, history and the surrounding environment” through reutilization and transformation of objects and its title was inspired by Cruzvillegas’s essay about the life cycle of objects, which are ever-transforming and “alive,” as he sees it. His work in the show was recently acquired by the Bass. In addition to Cruzvillegas, the other featured artists include Allora & Calzadilla, Jose Bédia, Cerith Wyn Evans, Lara Favaretto, Urs Fischer, Mark Handforth, Gabriel Kuri, Tracey Moffatt, Paola Pivi, Pedro Reyes, Karen Rifas, Mika Rottenberg, Jamilah Sabur, Xaviera Simmons, Tavares Strachan, Eli Sudbrack, Naama Tsabar, Adrian Villar Rojas, Danh Vō and Haegue Yang.
The event celebrating Cruzvillegas was nothing short of vibrant. An hour of cocktails was followed by a delectable dinner of Mr. Chow specialties such as the Cantonese duck and the house’s namesake noodles. After, guests enjoyed one another’s company through the late hours of the night. Attendees of the occasion hailed from Europe, Asia and Latin America and included Anita and Tiffany Zabludovicz, Vivian Pfeiffer, Silvia Cubina, Cathay Vedovi, Esthella Provas, Stavros Merjos, Erica Roberts, Monica Kalpakian, Vanessa Ugobono, Waqas Wajahat, Daphna Bentata, Tania Lapciuc, Clara Naman and Cruzvillegas himself.
