The Best of Art Basel Miami 2023

Art Basel Miami has finally come to a close, and surprisingly there’s no viral art like that banana being taped to a wall or a MSCHF ATM machine telling you how rich Diplo is. Regardless, there was still some great art inside and outside the Miami Beach Convention Center this weekend. Aside from traditional Miami Art Basel exhibitions, there were so many great brands, creatives, and designers who held their own unique events in Miami this week. 

Whether you’re a fan of artists like Philip Guston or streetwear-adjacent OGs like Futura, there was something for everyone to take away from Art Basel Miami this year. While many of us weren’t likely spending millions of dollars on paintings, we certainly had a good time in Miami this year. Nike had its own exhibit featuring art inspired by Nike Air Force 1s. Dozens of graffiti artists spotted an empty building in Miami and covered it with unsanctioned graffiti from top to bottom. There were events that tapped into Miami’s local skateboarding community such as a standout exhibition on Atiba Jefferson’s photography. And of course, there were huge clothing reveals from brands like HUGO and Gallery Dept. 

Check out our best of Art Basel Miami 2023 roundup below.

This year, Nike collaborated with Virgil Abloh Securities and his Architecture creative studio to host the second annual Virgil Abloh Skate Invitational. Like last year’s, the event brought two days of skateboard-themed community programming to Miami’s Lot 11 Skatepark. There were freeriding sessions, a best trick competition, public skate sessions, and more. Additionally, the invitational also hosted workshops, clinics, tutorials, training sessions, and moderated panels with leaders from the world of global design, art, and skateboarding. “It’s a light that he shined for culture all the way across the board and brings a bunch of people from different worlds together,” said Ishod Wair, a Nike SB athlete, in a press statement. “The skateboarding community in full circle bringing it all together is just a beautiful thing.” 

If any skate photographer was worthy of a solo exhibition, it is Atiba Jefferson. Outside the main booths at Art Basel, Vans OTW, Architecture, and Virgil Abloh Securities organized an expansive retrospective that covered 25 years of Jefferson’s work within skating. The exhibit was organized chronologically and traced Jefferson’s path to becoming one of the most recognized skateboard photographers of all time. It starts with 35 mm film photos he took in the mid-‘90s of SoCal skate competitions featuring Tony Hawk and Kareem Campbell. It eventually goes up to digital photos he’s captured as Thrasher Magazine’s staff photographer—like that iconic “Skater of the Year'' cover photo of Tyshawn Jones doing a kickflip over the 145th Street subway tracks. The exhibit highlights photography techniques that Jefferson pioneered, such as the use of dramatic lighting in skate photography or being one of the first to popularize the use of a fisheye lens. “The moments that Atiba captures are all part of the larger movement of skateboarding, which we at OTW by Vans love,” said Ian Ginoza, the vice president of creative direction for Pinnacle at Vans in a statement to Complex. “We are happy to celebrate, support and partner with the one and only Atiba Jefferson on this milestone exhibition.”

Art Basel is known for having so many brand activations that it’s hard to find the diamonds in the rough. But it’s undeniable that one of the best ones that occurred this weekend was an art show curated by Chicago’s own Easy Otabor and Nike. Since launching Chicago’s Anthony Gallery in 2019, Otabor has developed a reputation for bringing some of the  best young art talent to the Midwest. He brought that same tasteful curation to Miami this weekend with “Sole Perspectives,” an exhibition that featured work by artists like Shaun Crawford, Aya Brown, Gunner Stahl, Eri Wakiyama, and others connected by the common thread of Air Force 1s. The exhibition emphasized how one of Nike’s most iconic silhouettes naturally transcends different cultures and artistic mediums. 

Josué Thomas’ label Gallery Dept. has been fresh on everyone’s minds ever since it dropped a pair of extremely limited Asics at ComplexCon earlier this year. This weekend, Thomas came down to Miami to unveil “RETOUCHÉ,” a new exhibition that follows his creative vein of unpacking and challenging the definition of what’s considered to be fine art and modern luxury. The exhibition was almost like a showroom for what could likely be considered Gallery Dept.’s most elevated cut and sew offerings yet. Standout garments included embossed leather vests and upcycled dresses. The most notable piece within the exhibition was a Gallery Dept. piece made in collaboration with Ugg, hinting at yet another hyped Gallery Dept. footwear drop on the horizon. 

Those who were lucky enough to be in town on Friday got a rare opportunity to preview HUGO’s new GO-2 sneaker, thanks to Bloody Osiris. The HUGO GO-2 is inspired by sleek running silhouettes, boasts deconstructed details, and bears a hiking-inspired tread on the sole. The stylish influencer known for his Instagram fit pics designed a special version of the shoes for the event that was gifted to friends and family. Bloody’s take on the shoe boasted red accents and came with a collectable hang tag and box.  

Clarks surprisingly released one of the coolest footwear collaborations to drop at Miami Art Basel. For the first time ever, Clarks invited guests to collaborate with artists to customize their own unique pairs of Clarks Wallabees. Lucky guests had the opportunity to tap into Vandy the Pink, Jacopo De Carli, and Shaun Crawford’s talents to make a pair of Wallabees that would even make Ghostface Killah jealous.