This week, the W South Beach played host to a series of lavish events hosted by the likes of Aby Rosen and Diddy in celebration of the art world's annual exodus down south for Art Basel Miami Beach.
Last night, Andy Valmorbida, artist Raphael Mazzucco and Executive Editors Jimmy Iovine and Sean "Diddy" Combs, in collaboration with VistaJet, presented a selection of works from the newly-launched, Culo by Mazzucco, with a celebratory dinner at Mr. Chow at the W South Beach. Seen scurrying about were Andy Valmorbida, VistaJet Founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr, Raphael Mazzucco, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Will Smith, Damien Hirst, Adrien Brody, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Brett Ratner, Nicky Hilton, Paris Hilton, Waris Ahluwalia, Allison Sarofim, Mr. Brainwash, Hannah Bronfman, Stavros Niarchos Jr., Anne Pasternak, Lauren Remington Platt, Alexandra Richards, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, Keith & Inga Rubenstein, Bob and Eva Shaye, George Simon, Aurel Schmidt, and Aaron Young.
The evening brought the career of artist Raphael Mazzucco full circle, as he reunited with art dealer Andy Valmorbida to celebrate the launch of his book with a presentation of large scale works during Art Basel Miami Beach. Raphael Mazzucco was the first artist ever exhibited by Andy Valmorbida, just as Valmorbida was the first gallerist to give a show to Raphael Mazzucco.
Revered for his ability to capture diverse beauty and bring it to the forefront of mainstream popular culture, photographer Mazzucco was commissioned to travel the world, shooting stunning, sought after women. The result is a 248-page portfolio of phenomenal color photographs and art pieces tastefully assembled, to be displayed on every coffee table, providing a guaranteed topic of conversation.
"Raphael is a true artist," says Diddy. "He relies on instinct -- capturing a raw, natural sense of beauty through his lens in CULO by Mazzucco that celebrates the female form. His work is passionate and powerful."
"I wrestled for weeks with ideas about how to tackle this concept," says Mazzucco. "I have relished every brush stroke, every hypnotic flash in which I reach deep down into my gut and pull out a glimpse of the world as only I see it."
The night before, Alex Dellal, Stavros Niarchos, and Vito Schnabel hosted, in collaboration with Dom Pérignon, an after party at Wall following Aby Rosen & Samantha Boardman's dinner at The Dutch. The boys annual party (with one of the tightest doors ever seen in South Beach) was attended by Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta Jones, Sean Penn, Klaus Biesenbach, Jeffrey Deitch, Todd Eberle, HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan, Yvonne Force & Leo Villareal, Larry Gagosian, Lisa Perry, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, Thaddaeus Ropac, Sir Norman Rosenthal, Allison Sarofim, Olympia Scarry, Tony Shafrazi, Vito Schnabel, Elisabeth Von Thurn Und Taxis, Dasha Zhukova, Owen Wilson, Waris Ahluwalia, Maria Baibakova, Anna Beatriz Barros, and Hannah Bronfman.
Toss in Dasha's Soho Beach House soirée on Wednesday night and you've got a line up enough to exhaust even the most seasoned denizens of ABMB.
