By Diana McClure: New York ’s coldest days and first snow of the season ushered in my departure to Miami’s South Beach for Art Basel 2007.

Art Basel is widely known as one of the most important art shows in the United States. As the sister event to Switzerland’s Art Basel, the two have arguably become some of the most prestigious art shows worldwide for the past 38 years.

From the moment I stepped off the plane and into the dewy warmth of Miami my heart said, yeeahh babbyy. It’s only been 36 hours and I feel like I’ve been here for a week. To be honest the number of art, food and entertainment options is overwhelming, so my travel partners (fellow artists Toofly and Alice Mizrachi) and I have decided to go with the flow, touch base with friends, who are also down here, and see what happens. Art Basel’s continued identity as a trendy stop on the well heeled art market chase is definitely in full effect, but as always, where there is art there are always artists, and where there are artists there’s always fun…

Kehinde Wiley Beach Towels

The first piece of art I encountered were beach towels draped poolside across lounge chairs at the Raleigh Hotel. The towels were designed by Kehinde Wiley as part of the Works on Whatever series. Wiley, a major player in the art world, creates portraits that place modern day male city dwellers from 125th Street in Harlem and South Central LA in poses from the paintings of Renaissance Masters, with a dash of French rococo flavor in the details.

Street Art at Art Basel

Although I did get an invitation to have drinks at the Versace House, I haven’t made it yet. Street Art and graffiti have been on the menu so far. My travel partners have been pointing out stickers and such on signs, sidewalks and in elevators, from street artists like Ellis G. and others. One unexpected graf stop on our art trail turned out to be the new David Barton Gym on Collins Avenue where a Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture exhibition of Portfolio Edition Prints was on view. Henry Chalfant’s print, Lee, Futura and Dondi, 2004, of 3 full train burners (1 by each artist) stood out like a Diego Rivera mural in homage to public art. Later in the night, we hung out with three generations of mentors and mentees from the TC5 and COD graf crews who had just touched down in Miami after working on walls in Panama City, Panama.

[Information about Art Basel from around the web]

Elle on Art Basel 2007

Salon on Art Basel Miami