Each December, mixed media connoisseurs and the art curious venture to Miami Beach for Art Basel, the three-day international art fair that’s equal parts partying and perusing of galleries and exhibitions.
This year, I was among a select number of guests invited to board a private charter with Delta that included a one-of-a-kind in-flight experience to Miami for this year’s event held December 8-10. The festivities began on the ground at JFK airport with a pre-flight mixer inside the Delta SkyClub on the morning of December 6. Actress and comedian Yvonne Orj, as well as actress and director Tasha Smith were a welcome sight among the small group of journalists, influencers, and creatives taking part in the experience.
The exploration of art began not long after we took off from the runway where inside the main cabin of the plane, the overhead bins were transformed into canvases displaying the work of six Miami-based artists. Images created by Olivia Pedigo, Emmett Moore, Jillian Mayer, Elliot and Erick Jiménez, and Derek Abella, who traveled on the charter with us, were projected above our heads at 30,000 feet in the air, providing an in-flight entertainment experience more unique than any film or TV show.
The Bombay Sapphire Sparkling Skies specialty cocktail we were served on board was also a welcome taste of the artistry of mixology as we dined on a menu of shrimp cocktail, spring rolls, and chicken wraps, works of art swirling all around us as Arthur Lewis, creative director of UTA Fine Arts, relayed the ethos of the various illustrators, animators, and designers via the PA system.
Once we touched down in Miami, we had the opportunity to experience Art Basel like the rich and famous before the crowds swarmed the fair throughout the weekend. It was at Wednesday evening’s VIP Preview that Serena Williams was spotted and singer Shakira was seen eyeing a $500,000 piece titled “High Priestess” created by visual artist Mickalene Thomas at the Levy Gorvy Dayan Gallery. Vernissage, held Thursday afternoon, offered an equally exclusive first-look experience where you could more intimately take in the works of the artists on display.
Though this was my second time at Art Basel, it was the first that I was able to witness the full breath of offerings, from Feminist’s panel on, of course, feminism, as well as art and activism hosted by ESSENCE alum Aisha Becker-Burrowes, to the Girls’ Club annual Curator Brunch whose current exhibition, “Home Sweet Home,” features the work of visual artist and photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier, among others. I even discovered Fringe Projects’ guided art tour “Southern Histories,” which is a walking exploration of public art projects that explore Miami’s Caribbean and Southern American roots.
On Saturday evening, Delta held its immersive open-air gallery where pieces of a decommissioned plane were turned into works of art by the Miami artists we were first introduced to on our flight. It was there that photographers Elliot and Erick deputed “Los Portales (the portals)” using the windows of an airplane as a picture frame displaying the hidden figures often seen in their pieces.
“Our work is based around an Afro-Cuban religion we were raised in called Lucumí,” Erick explains. “We’re Cuban and our Afro-Cuban grandmother raised us, so a lot of the idea is taking you to this other world and this other realm.”
Detailing how Art Basel’s inclusion of local artists and artists of color has been “gradual” over the years, the theme that characterizes the work of the Jiménez brothers, who’ve shot for ESSENCE, TIME, and VOGUE Thailand among other magazines, is also indicative of their journey as artists now afforded a larger platform for their creativity to be seen out in the open.
“Our work is a lot around duality. It’s something that’s always kind of followed us being twins, being first generation Cuban Americans, speaking two languages, coming from both a Cuban and Afro-Cuban family, that’s a very important component in our life and in our work,” Erick shares. “When the Spanish colonized Cuba, they brought over many enslaved West Africans, in particular the Yoruba people, and they had their own practice, the Ifa tradition, and when the Spanish forced them to convert to Catholicism, they hid their deities within the Catholic saints, so over the centuries it sort of enmeshed itself in the culture.”
He adds, “Because the Yoruba were not allowed to practice their religion in public, they concealed it, so the idea for us in creating these shadow figures is a representation of that because we never had a physical representation of what they would look like. We always thought that they were these very sort of hidden beings and the fact that they’re hidden brings you back to that notion that they’re present, they’re there, but they’re hiding.”
Returning home on my regular Delta flight Sunday morning reminded me of the magnitude of what the airline pulled off during Miami Art Week, as there was no step and repeat backdrop for a photo op at the gate or hot pink carpet to stroll across as I prepared to board my flight. Landing in LA, there was no parade of gate agents with signs and balloons welcoming me home like we experienced in Miami—a true testament to the brand and its employees’ commitment to customer service. Instead, there were memories of what an incredibly unique opportunity it was to be a part of an activation that not only stretched the realm of creative possibilities but also provided greater visibility for other artists in the process. And that’s exactly what Art Basel is about.