At Art Basel Miami Beach, self-expression is, well, an art form

Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual contemporary art fair that just wrapped up Sunday, packed a sensory punch, and not just on the walls. Officially, art is the main event, with some works bound for museum collections and fetching millions of dollars. (According to Artsy, the most expensive sale was Philip Guston’s 1979 “Painter at Night,” for $20 million.)

But music and fashion are very much interwoven into the fabric of the festival. Star-studded fetes at nightclubs, posh pools and elsewhere are a draw for jet-setters who descend from near and far for surprise performances and invitation-only concerts and screenings. And when it comes to spectacle, the people-watching is unparalleled. We caught up with visitors and locals at just a few of the many, many parties.

The “Sweet Retreat” bash on Thursday, co-hosted by curator Ché Morales and his magazine, the OG, celebrated artist Derrick Adams’s merchandise line supporting nonprofit endeavors in his hometown of Baltimore.

“Since 2005, I have been to almost every Art Basel,” said Adams, who is based in Brooklyn. “I’ve maybe missed a couple, but I’ve been here a lot.”

Erin LeAnn Mitchell, a textile artist and educator from Birmingham, Ala., works with various fibers and fabrics, and draws inspiration from quilts. Mitchell, who attended Adams’s party at the Bath Club, displayed her work at Untitled Art — and also on her head. “I like the colors available in yarn, and it became a thing that became a part of my style,” said Mitchell, whose hairstyle was a fantasia of blue yarn. “I always do my own hair.”

Curator Allison Glenn managed to sneak in a few hours of beach time despite a full lineup of hot-ticket parties earlier in the week, including the Mickalene Thomas party with a performance by Janelle Monáe. “This year was more low-key than others, but the perfect amount of fun,” Glenn said.

At the Center for Creative Flow event hosted by Swizz Beatz at the W South Beach on Friday, Rich Medina played a mix of funk, soul and Afrobeats from the DJ booth. Guests, including professional soccer player Jon Bell, built flower bouquets with Lego blocks.

Bell, donning an Adidas by Wales Bonner long-sleeve polo, said he “wanted to dress so you could still see the football side of me but also the fashion side.” The athlete was at Art Basel for the first time. “This was a great opportunity to go out and explore,” Bell said.

Also on Friday, the Wolfsonian hosted a “takeover” by Dutch designer and artist Bas van Beek, who had “clad, skinned, papered and bedecked” the museum’s first floor. New York visual artist Jenny Marketou had dropped by and said that she enjoyed being back at the fair — her first since the pandemic — but added that she missed “the public art on the beach, in the containers.”

Not mincing words was French artist and fashion designer Isagus, who resides in Tanzania: “I have come every year since the beginning,” she said. “I will come every year until I die.”

Leon Bridges played a solo set Saturday at a brunch event held at the Soho Beach House Tent. There, Chicago-based artist Jacqueline Surdell said her look was inspired by “the idea of [a] cowboy alien, like ‘Matrix,’ on Earth.” Surdell was exhibiting at Art Basel for the first time, at the Untitled Art fair.

On the beach, Brittany Leighton, a South Florida native who now lives in London, caught some rays and asked the eternal question: “Aren’t we all artists?”

If you missed Art Basel Miami Beach, you can check out its online viewing rooms through Dec. 17.