Art Basel Miami Beach festivities kick off this week, bringing plenty of art fairs, champagne toasts, socialites, B-list celebs and free caviar to the city’s glitzed-out, sandy shores. And also, more unconventionally, the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot.
Kathy Grayson of New York gallery The Hole confirmed the Page Six rumor to artnet News, affirming that the group will participate in a rare “political happening” at some point during Art Basel that will consist of a performance and a talk. Like most of the week’s most sought-after events, it’s an exclusive one ― invitation-only, to be exact ― and capped at 500 people.
For those who may feel a bit uncomfortable about participating in a week-long bacchanal of art world decadence so shortly after a devastating presidential election, Pussy Riot offers an opportunity for liberal political activism in a most unusual venue.
The band, most well-known for spending nearly two years in a Russian prison after criticizing President Vladimir Putin in 2012, recently released three songs criticizing Donald Trump before the election, including the incredibly catchy girl-power anthem “Straight Outta Vagina.” Following Trump’s election, Pussy Riot encouraged fans not to lose hope on Twitter.
Of course, there is something strikingly un-punk about performing at a wildly exorbitant art fair known for star-studded stunts ― for example, that time Usher charged his cell phone in a naked woman’s vagina. But we hope that, despite the exclusive nature of the happening, Pussy Riot can radically shake up the art world elite.
For the rest of us normies who will not be in attendance, we can always pray for an Inauguration Day surprise.
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