Miami Art Week infused creative energy into the Magic City that remains long gone after the exhibitions have left.

The sinuous Out of Line collection by Bieke Casteleyn took over a room at the Selina Gold Dust hotel during Alcova Miami. PHOTO BY PIERGIORGIO SORGETTI

LO-FI IN MIAMI

The first time I went to Alcova in Milan (alcova.xyz), it took my breath away. Located about 30 minutes outside the city center, modern art, furniture and lighting concepts brought to life a feeble military hospital that felt otherwise abandoned and overgrown with vegetation. The contrast of old and new didn’t feel like a contrast at all but rather that these artful creations had always been there, waiting for the right time to bloom. So when Alcova announced it would birth a Miami iteration to coincide with Art Basel, I couldn’t wait to see what was in store. And it did not disappoint. Artists and designers from around the world took over the retro Selina Gold Dust hotel in the MiMo District and transformed each room into a bespoke showpiece. From the bioplastic installation of sugarcane starch and mineral pigments by Crafting Plastics Studio in Slovakia and Berlin to objects made of ground shells from mussels, clams and oysters by RISD graduate students Felicia Neuhof and Samuel Aguirre, Alcova Miami offered an experimental and experiential exploration of materials and innovation. A designer friend described it as “very cool and lo-fi for Miami,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Bea Pernia’s installation The Beat during Design Miami/ PHOTO COURTESY OF BEA PERNIA

TUNED IN

Design Miami/ (designmiami.com) was once again brimming with creative ingenuity. Lara Bohinc’s playful pastel pieces made of cork set the tone at the entrance to the fair and offered a prelude to the show along with 900 birdhouses and several other installations throughout the Miami Design District as this year’s winner of their annual Design Commission. Ateliers Courbet presented a moody and biomorphic installation of organic shapes and materials featuring Veronica Mar’s Ginkgo chandeliers and works by eight other artists. And Alban Roger curated a monochromatic maze of works by Atelier George, Atelier d’Offard, Chloe Bensahel, Gala Espel and Dimitry Hlinka on behalf of Villa Albertine and Mobilier National, cultural services of the French Embassy. Adding a local lean, Miami-based designer Bea Pernia showcased limited edition collectible design creations from her new collection, The Beat. Reflective, backlit and undulating surfaces glamourized a lounge scene where the headliner was a mixing soundboard encased within a marble DJ booth. Speaking to her love of both nature and music, the collection uses sustainably sourced Birdseye wood, marble, oak wood, fair trade faux fur, pineapple and mushroom leather, and metal.

Lara Bohinc’s organic Utopia forms in the Miami Design District PHOTO BY KRIS TAMBURELLO

HAUTE COUTURE

Since their first collaboration was such a success, B&B Italia (bebitalia.com) and Stella McCartney have teamed up again to reimagine a Mario Bellini classic. The timeless Camaleonda sofa now comes in a dusty taupe or pink fabric adorned in Stella McCartney’s S-Wave monogram. Highlighting both brands’ commitment to next-generation sustainability, the textile is crafted using biodegradable, non-harmful and Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold OceanSafe naNea yarn. “The S-Wave is a symbol of our Stella commitments to circularity and conscious luxury, which are perfectly embodied by B&B Italia’s Camaleonda sofa, constructed from pioneering materials kinder to Mother Earth,” McCartney says.

Stella McCartney’s monogrammed sustainable collaboration with B&B Italia. PHOTO BY EMILIO COLLAVINO

Launched in the United States during Miami Art Week, the sofa’s debut marked the expansion of B&B Italia’s flagship showroom in the Miami Design District—a 21,000-square-foot space designed by Lissoni & Partners. Spanning two floors of collections from B&B Italia and partner brands Maxalto, Azucena, Arclinea, Flos and Louis Poulsen, the showroom boasts indoor and outdoor collections, kitchens and lighting, as well as the B&B Italia Design Studio. Thanks to the Camaleonda sofa and other iconic pieces by Gaetano Pesce, Piero Lissoni, Antonio Citterio, Barber Osgerby and Patricia Urquiola, there’s no shortage of inspiration.

Doya in Wynwood welcomes diners with open arms DOYA PHOTO COURTESY OF RESTAURANT

MEDITERRANEAN MAGIC

Every morning at 5 a.m., a cook arrives at Doya in Wynwood and starts preparing individual Manti beef dumplings by hand. By the time dinner is served, they’re plated, dressed with a generous dollop of garlic yogurt and swimming in a pool of burnt butter. Using fresh, seasonal ingredients, Doya (doyarestaurant.com) is a modern Mediterranean restaurant that brings together layered yet simple flavors from Greece and Turkey; but sitting down at a table here feels more like attending a dinner party at the home of your best friend. That’s because co-owners Jerry Bock, chef Erhan Kostepen and Rob van den Blink have embraced a meze-style menu—that is, meals meant to be shared at every course, from the mouthwatering baked feta to the sweet serving of kadaifi, white chocolate yogurt mousse, citrus salad, cassis foam and thyme ice cream. Housed in the former art studio of Romero Britto and featuring an exterior mural in true Wynwood fashion, Doya’s interiors begin with a living room-style waiting area and collection of colorful ceramic wares that recall a faraway souk. Floral damask-patterned chairs and oversize woven pendants soften an industrial backdrop while the indoor-outdoor atmosphere invites you to sit back, relax and make yourself comfortable.

APPETITE FOR WHIMSY

When you dine with Michou Mahtani and husband-designer Thomas Fuchs (thomasfuchscreative.com), your world becomes infinitely more colorful, elegant and fantastical. For their Thomas Fuchs Tavolo Fine Art Dinner Series, they typically transform their dining room to reflect the work of a selected artist and then design a curated Art de la Table collection around it while Fuchs cooks a meal inspired by the artist’s art and culture. On the occasion of Art Basel, the dinner was hosted in the Coral Gables home and studio of Morocco-born artist Aidan Marak, whose abstract collages and portraits reference her upbringing, fusing Berber, Arab, African, Mediterranean and Jewish influences. “Marak’s Moroccan culture is built on entertaining at home over restaurant dining, where conversation breaks barriers and inspiration is flowing and unguarded,” Mahtani says. “We featured Marak in our dinner series because of her focus on women’s global causes. Her work raises the real question of how we look at ourselves; her portraits suggest an alternate universe of introspection, perspective and self-analysis.” The immersive tablescape featured Fuchs’ 24-karat-gold hand-blown Murano drinking glasses conjuring the gilded details of design and architecture in Morocco along with the pinks, purples and grays found at sunrise and sunset. The guest list included artists Mahi Binebine, Idries Karnachi and Hicham Benohoud, whose works were on view during Miami Art Week at The Betsy Hotel in Morocco to Miami, an exhibition celebrating Moroccan art, fashion and culture in collaboration with Audace Initiative Morocco, founded by Youness Bouchida.

Artist Aidan Marak was the featured artist during the Thomas Fuchs Tavolo Fine Art Dinner Series hosted in December. PORTRAIT BY MARY BETH KOETH

THE DNA OF ART

At first glance, Giorgio Tentolini’s portraits appear as line drawings that superimpose one figure over another. But a closer look reveals an amalgamation of wire mesh so entangled that you can’t tell where one wire ends and the next begins. On view during Miami Art Week at the boutique hotel Arlo Wynwood (arlohotels.com), Tentolini’s exhibit No One embodied Arlo’s commitment to celebrating art. Next in the hotel’s revolving rotation of exhibitions, Afro-Caribbean artist Kandy G Lopez brings her stained glass portraits and drawings to Arlo’s Living Room Gallery space with Our Shadow Remains, on view through March, and a live artist talk and entertainment on Feb. 21, the opening night.

Arlo Wynwood features exterior murals like this one by Hoxxoh DOYA PHOTO COURTESY OF RESTAURANT

Kandy G Lopez’s stained glass portraiture on view at the Arlo through March as part of the creative-minded hotel’s revolving art exhibitions. ART PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS

Art is in Arlo’s DNA, evidenced by the multitude of murals inside and out by Ari Robinson, Hoxxoh and the Milagros Collective, including Robinson’s Plexiglass installation on the yoga deck. Designed by Meyer Davis, the hotel offers an urban oasis, encompassing 217 inviting rooms, a heated rooftop pool with cabanas, and the lounge-y courtyard Higher Ground. Chef Brad Kilgore’s American brasserie MaryGold’s offers a more intimate dining experience in a persimmons palette. An open kitchen sets the tone for a casually dramatic scene where verdant greenery and sinuous banquettes create an indoor paradise where guests can enjoy local ingredients and handcrafted cocktails. Try the burrata (cut by hand tableside), brioche with orange blossom honey butter in a crystal cloche and shaped like a honeycomb, and the agnolotti appetizer—pasta filled with sweet corn, double brown butter, sumac and Aleppo chili.

Giorgio Tentolini’s wire mesh artwork made an appearance at Arlo Wynwood during Miami Art Week thanks to Galleria Ca’ d’Oro HOTEL PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARLO WYNWOOD

The Strawberries and Cream dessert at MaryGold’s by Brad Kilgore at Arlo Wynwood FOOD PHOTO COURTESY OF MARYGOLD’S BY BRAD KILGORE