Art Basel, Cheetos Art, $1K Cup Of Coffee, Cryptocurrency: Miami Art Week

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Thousands of art lovers, dealers, collectors and artists are descending upon South Florida for Miami Art Week.

The annual event centers on Art Basel, which kicks off Thursday in Miami Beach and runs through Saturday, an international art fair.

Art Basel is also staged in Switzerland and Hong Kong at other times of the year, in addition to the Miami Beach Convention Center. For those serious about being part of the art world, it’s a must-attend cultural event.

In Miami Beach, the fair features more than 250 galleries from 36 countries and thousands of artists from across the globe. It’s the largest event of its kind in North America, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Surrounding galleries and venues get in on the action by hosting their own satellite events outside the convention center in what’s come to be known as Miami Art Week, which kicked off Monday and runs through Sunday this year.

With so much going on for art lovers in South Florida this week, here are some of the more unique exhibits and events you’ll want to check out.

Cheetos will host an exhibit of artwork made of cheese dust.

Cheetos — yes, the snack brand — has partnered with Rock the Bells founded by rapper LL Cool J and street artist Lefty Out There to host a hip-hop inspired event featuring works using orange cheese dust, which actually has a formal name: Cheetle.

This free event will take place Saturday afternoon, 1 to 6 p.m., on Seafair, a 220-foot, four-story mega yacht docked at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.

In addition to the Art of the Cheetle, the event includes music from Just Blaze, DJ Millie and more, six bars, and Cheetos-inspired activations.

An artist is selling a $1,000 cup of coffee.

Artist Danny Casale — who appropriately also goes by Coolman Coffeedan — is partnering with The Art Plug and Marcel Katz Art to bring what is probably the world’s most expensive cup of coffee to The Bagel Club in Wynwood this week.

Calling the show “Ur Special Coffee,” the Los Angeles-based artists is selling a cup of joe for $1,000, according to a news release. Each cup is brewed using a new, rare Superlost Coffee roast called Sidra, a mutation of the bourbon heirloom variety originally discovered in Ecuador.

Casale said he’s long dreamed of open a coffee shop, ever since he was a college student in New York City.

"Coffeeshop culture has a special place in my NYC heart," he said. "It's an atmosphere that's influenced culture in beautiful ways. It's where I've had my most creative moments as a young artist trying to figure it all out. While being a college kid, alone in a big city, I always thought how cool it would be to open a coffee shop of my own. Now I'm finally doing it thanks to the help of Superlost Coffee and The Art Plug. I couldn't be more stoked."

Mint your own NFT.

This year at Art Basel Miami Beach, visitors can learn about the emerging world of cryptoart and create their own NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

German artist Mario Klingemann, who is known as Quasimondo, will create AI portraits of those attending the fair. Fairgoers can then use Tezo, an open source blockchain, to mint NFTs of their digital works.

The interactive experience surrounding one of the uses of cryptocurrency in the art world is appropriate at the art fair as South Florida — particularly Miami — has embraced the digital currency.

Cube Art Fair showcases NFT works.

With cryptocurrency all the rage in the art world these days, it’s no surprise that art organizers have found a way to display NFT works.

The digital art will be displayed on more than 50 billboards throughout Miami as part of the Cube Art Fair, according to NBC Miami.

The goal is to make the art available and accessible to the public, organizers said. Each piece will have an accompanying QR code so people can purchase the works.

Check out bubbly-inspired worm art.

British artist David Shrigley visited Ruinart champagne’s facilities in France in 2020 to learn about the entire process of creating a bottle of bubbly. The result was playful works of art inspired by the champagne industry, according to Wallpaper.

Now, Shrigley and Ruinart are teaming up for Miami Art Week, presenting several activations inspired by his “Unconventional Bubbles” project. You don’t want to miss the larger-than-life augmented-reality worms inspired by Shrigley’s painting “Worms Work Harder Than Us” at the Bass Museum. The worms are brought to life using the Acute Art app.

Use your smartphone to enhance a Snapchat-inspired exhibit.

Also at the Bass Museum, check out “Alex Israel v. Snapchat.” The artist, Israel, teamed up with the social media app to create a series of artwork that can be enhanced with augmented reality using your smartphone, according to W Magazine.

“Working with Snap’s AR team gave me the permission to explore a lot of what-ifs with regards to my paintings,” Israel said. “‘What if the pelican flew out of my head, and then a fish jumped out of its mouth, but they were animated in completely different styles?’ ‘What if there was this happy avocado in high heels who back- flipped into the gallery and invited you to join them in a dance-off?’”