The Art Basel Miami Gazette rounds up small news, gossip, and sightings from Art Basel in Miami Beach 2016.

SJP Reads
There was a line out the door at Miami Beach’s Casa Faena on November 29 for the opening night of L’Eden by Perrier-Jouët, a three-day affair run by nightlife impresario and theatrical director Simon Hammerstein, of the notorious New York burlesque venue the Box. This Miami incarnation was a bit less hedonistic than its New York progenitor, as befitting the French champagne brand, which was celebrating its fifth year of collaborating with Design Miami, although the drinks flowed freely.

A hushed silence fell over the crowd as actress Sarah Jessica Parker suddenly appeared, clad in a long pink sequined dress by Dolce & Gabbana, flowers in her hair. (The outfit marked a costume change for Parker, who was spotted earlier in the night at the 3-D photo booth run by Vanity Fair in a belted blue floral number from Rosella Jardini.) She stepped onto a low stage in the middle of the room, and, without further fanfare, began reading a love poem by W.H. Auden.

“At last the secret is out as it always must come in the end,” Parker began, turning to face the room. “The delicious story is ripe to tell the intimate friend.”

Finishing the reading/performance to a round of applause, Parker borrowed a champagne flute from an audience member, and, beaming, raised her glass to the crowd.

Performers at the L’Eden By Perrier-Jouet opening night in partnership with Vanity Fair at Casa Claridge’s on November 29, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Perrier-Jouet)

Following the toast, Parker posed for a quick photo for one lucky fan before ducking out of sight. According to a post-event release, there were actually “hidden sensory rooms” throughout the venue, although artnet News missed them amid the spectacle that followed: a ballerina danced precariously on pointe perched on a row of Perrier-Jouët bottles, and did aerials from a rope hanging from the ceiling. It was, as they say, only in Miami.

“Desire” Unleashed
At the Deitch/Gagosian “Desire” show at the Moore Space, Hans Ulrch Obrist held court with a gaggle of friends in his trademark blue suit and low-meets-high “Cos x Serpentine” canvas tote bag, standing before an array of black-and-white ink-board works by R. Crumb in his notorious series “Psychopathia Sexualis” (1985). The likes of Salon 94’s Jeanne Greenberg-Rohatyn were also in attendance. The much-anticipated Diana Widmaier Picasso-curated show brought out is heavy on soft porn imagery, from Tom of Finland to John Currin, Cecily Brown to Tschabalala Self. Along with highlights like provocative Polaroids of teenage girls from Balthus, master of the creepy, and a subtler canvas by Barkley Hendricks, there was also a dash of pure spectacle—live naked women—of the sort that probably no one but Deitch can pull off.

Nikki Haas at the Miami Beach EDITION, with Mr. Skinny. Image courtesy BFA.

Mr. Skinny Meets “50 Shades of Pink”
In honor of Miami Beach EDITION‘s two-year anniversary, Los Angeles-based artists and designers the Haas Brothers transformed the Basement of the nightlife hot spot into a playful pink funhouse. There were balloons everywhere, including an eight-foot long-pink balloon sculpture at the entrance dubbed “Mr. Skinny.” The dress code? “50 Shades of Pink.” Guests who arrived early scored serious swag in the form of Haas Brothers branded hats and hoodies. Attendees, who included Mickalene Thomas, Chelsea Leyland, Lucien Smith, JiaJia Fei, and a squad of drag queens decked out in pink, danced until the wee hours of the morning to tunes spun by THUGFUCKER.

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Mana Uncommon
Well-heeled guests converged at the newly opened MANA Wynwood in Miami’s design district for a special performance featuring famed violinist Julian Rachlin playing Mozart’s 5th symphony together with star dancer Jesus Pastor, formerly of the American Ballet Theatre, against the backdrop of Bill Viola’s video artwork.

Le Parc’s Moving Museum Show
Julio Le Parc’s gallerists Nara Roesler and Emmanuel Perrotin were on hand for the kinetic art pioneer’s debut at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Roesler’s son Daniel, for one, was a fan, telling artnet News: “Anyone can understand and enjoy [Le Parc’s work].”

Guests were treated to a tour of the captivating exhibition by museum chief curator Tobias Ostrander and guest curator Estrellita B. Brodsky. As visitors stood before one of Le Parc’s “Continuel-mobile” works, a shimmering curtain of rotating mirrored squares, Ostrander praised the artist’s career-long effort to “really have direct contact with the viewer as a participant.” The 1963 piece offered an enticing preview for the dizzying array of work on view.

In seeming celebration of Le Parc’s oeuvre, collector-turned-patron Ella Fontanals-Cisneros wore a set of earrings that were a cascade of small square mirrors that could have easily been a small-scale model of a work by Le Parc.

Members of the Tate Modern’s Latin American Acquisitions Committee were there, as well as Michael Wellen, the Tate Modern’s new curator of international art, who said he was angling to head to Versailles, the famed restaurant that Cuban exiles have made their unofficial town square, to take in some informal political debates by locals.