A Guide to the Best Booths at Art Basel Miami Beach

At once haunting and wistful, this painting of a vintage Balenciaga dress by Polish-born artist Łukasz Stokłosa takes a couture gown and separates its idealized shape and high-key craftsmanship from any human who wants to wear it. (And, for the record, we very much want to wear it.) Can a dress mean even more when it stands in for the woman who once twirled around in it? Stare at it and see.

“When I visited Fendi’s headquarters in Rome, I’d never seen anything on that scale before—it was massive,” said London-based artist Lewis Kemmenoe, who has collaborated with the brand on a series of wood-and-stone inlaid furniture at Design Miami. (Think Roman marble, mixed with fairytale cabin cabinets.) “It’s the first time I’ve seen that level of creativity and that level of industrial organization in the same place,” explained the 29-year-old, who is one of Fendi’s youngest-ever fine art collaborators. “I really fell in love with Fendi’s way of balancing its productivity and focus with a really true creative spirit…of course, now I’m like, wait, what if I tried to make pants?” For now, Kemmenoe has made wall panels using Roman pine and aluminum, cut into the shape of Fendi’s leather jackets. There’s also a rare Peekaboo bag (pictured here) made with leather and wood.

“From the Outside In” is a series of six portraits by Bre Andy; all picture Black women in various states of getting dressed. The images are skillful, luminous, and intimate, and meant to interrogate the slashes between public and private life that these women carefully navigate. (They’re also a friendly reminder that Sandy Liang’s ballet flats are amazing.)

Rachel Feinstein has collaborated with Marc Jacobs, Gucci, and the jewelry brand Ippolita. At Art Basel Miami Beach, the artist (pictured here with her 2018 work, “Ballerina”) returns to her hometown with a 30-year retrospective including sculptures, paintings, and film, along with a new (and massive) mirror wall installation called “Panorama of Miami” that combines Feinstein’s signature churn of Art Deco, Americana, and Saturday morning cartoons.

Front row seat? No need. The German photographer Andreas Gursky interrogates fashion’s ladders of power through reserved, removed angles that reframe the thrill of a catwalk show as a precise, almost mathematical pulse. This image, now on display at Art Basel Miami Beach, comes from Viktor & Rolf’s 2009 runway in Paris.

Remember when Jacob Elordi, Michelle Yeoh, and Kylie Jenner plopped down in giant animal chairs at Bottega Veneta’s Milan Fashion Week show? The chairs themselves are now a museum-worthy menagerie called The Ark, currently on display at Design Miami. Creative director Matthieu Blazy calls their allure “the power of wow.” You could also call it “the power of sitting in A$AP Rocky’s chair, which happens to look like a very cool bunny.”

Haendel’s illustrations combine the nerdy heritage of Darwin-era science journals with the flashy status of luxury watches, designer handbags, and wait-in-line-or-lose-out streetwear. After all, shoppers know it’s a jungle out there, whether you’re on the prowl for limited-edition Louis Vuitton x Timberland boots, or searching for an equally elusive roar.

There are 4,000 adorable fruit and vegetable toys waiting to be scooped up at “Blessed Be the Fruit,” the new felt “grocery store” by the British fabric artist Lucy Sparrow. Part Muppet Show skit, part fight against pre-processed food, this exhibit has pieces on sale from $30 to $50 each, and the occasional pop culture cameo. (Record producer and musician Fatboy Slim was reportedly the guy behind the cash register.)