Last evening in Miami, atop the Herzog & de Meuron-designed 1111 Lincoln Road—a striking brutalist structure in the heart of South Beach—an intimate crowd of art-world figures gathered to celebrate Artnet and Maestro Dobel Tequila’s yearlong art collaboration.
The dinner party was held to commemorate the results of the partnership: a new collection of works by UK-based sculptor Julian Mayor, who worked alongside Artnet and Maestro Dobel’s creative teams to conceive and build a nearly eight-foot-long freestanding bar, handbuilt by Mayor over the course of several months. Mayor, who constructed the bar from mirrored steel, also created cocktail vessels from the same material, as well as hand-blown tequila-tasting glasses made in conjunction with Vissio, a Mexican glass studio that Mayor discovered during a recent trip to Mexico City. That same trip inspired the making of the collection of vessels, which is comprised of 70 editions available for purchase individually and exclusively on Artnet.
Mayor’s work, informed by traditional craftsmanship and innovative thinking, aligned perfectly with Maestro Dobel’s company ethos. The geometry of the agave plant—from which tequila is sourced—also served as Mayor’s primary inspiration for the bar.
When guests arrived, they were treated to a choice of cocktails crafted by Maestro Dobel’s mixologists: the Flor del Desierto (or “Desert Rose”), a delicious, citrus-based drink made with Maestro Dobel Diamante tequila, grapefruit bitters, and hibiscus tea syrup; and Dobel’s signature Black Diamond Margarita, which pairs the Diamante tequila with agave syrup, fresh lime, and black salt.
Both cocktails highlighted the taste and finish of Maestro Dobel Diamante, the world’s first-ever cristalino tequila. Made collectively by 11th-generation tequila master Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta, the spirit company’s signature blend is distilled from 100-percent blue agave, harvested on an estate in Jalisco, Mexico.
Shortly before dinner, which was catered by chef Michael Schwartz, Artnet’s editor-in-chief, Andrew Goldstein, addressed the crowd and congratulated Mayor on his achievement, raising a tequila toast in Mayor’s handmade glass. Afterwards, guests dined on a beet tartare appetizer, prepared with creme fraiche, tequila-pickled beet, horseradish, dill, and rye crisps, which was followed by a main course of slow-roasted short ribs with whipped butternut squash and pumpkin-seed mole verde. For dessert, there was dulce-de-leche flan with soft cream and corn-nut cajeta brittle.
As the evening came to a close, guests enjoyed the last of their tequila cocktails before making their way out for the night—but not without first receiving a tote bag with Mayor’s limited-edition steel cocktail vessel and a hand-molded glass.
Below, see photos from Artnet and Maestro Dobel’s beautiful Miami celebration.