At Art Basel Miami Beach, even the cocktails—and the cups that hold them—are works of art.
As the fair’s Official Agave Spirits Partner for the fourth year running, Casa Dragones teamed up with artist Petrit Halilaj on an Artist Edition of the tequila producer's signature bottle. The collaboration will be presented in the Collector’s Lounge alongside those of previous artistic collaborators, including Gabriel Orozco, Danh Vo, and Pedro Reyes. Gloria Cortina's "Quiote Bar" installation provides a dramatic backdrop, drawing inspiration from the agave plant's elegant bloom.
Also available is a limited-edition Collector's Cup inspired by Petrit Halilaj's Casa Dragones artist edition bottle, that comes with a signature cocktail. The Kosovar artist, who created a sprawling sculptural installation on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this summer, reimagined the Casa Dragones logo and design, in part by transforming the traditional eagle motif into a chicken, a recurring character in Halilaj's practice.
That’s not the only art-fair intervention facilitated by the small-batch tequila producer. On the floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center, Casa Dragones will introduce its “Art-Tender” series, which invites artists to serve as mixologists. A rotating lineup of visionary figures including Tavares Strachan, Mario García Torres, Leilah Babirye, and Wilfredo Prieto will craft cocktails inspired by their practices. The creative libations are served beneath a 350-bottle chandelier designed by the Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao.
Following the fair, proceeds from the sale of Halilaj’s exclusive Collector's Cup will benefit the Hajde Foundation, which supports art and culture in the artist’s hometown. The cup also nods to Halilaj’s chicken leitmotif, which he lovingly refers to as the “bourgeois hen.” For his breakthrough work at the Berlin Biennale in 2010, he let live chickens loose inside an installation designed to resemble his parents’ dream home.
The imagery also harkens back to the artist’s childhood during the Serbian-Kosovar war, when he was encouraged to draw chickens and other birds at a refugee camp in Albania. "It has a lot to do with what my life is about," the artist says of his new work. "This sense of trying to be who we are, but a continuous desire to understand and connect to other things."
