MIAMI— A week in Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach is a lesson in contradictions: on the one hand, there are thousands of people milling about the streets and aisles of the fairs, and yet there is still the possibility for connecting with new and interesting individuals at every turn. I found two such occasions on Friday:

Miami Beach artist Mira Lehr held an Art Basel brunch at her home on Indian Creek yesterday morning, where the guest list included noted designer Holly Hunt; Betsy Miller, owner of Robert Miller Gallery; designer Constantin Gorges; New York artist Ellen Lanyon; and Lin Arison and Harry Hersh of Arison Arts Foundation.

Warm crepes were served, a guitarist strummed, and the lush surroundings of the waterfront location, designed by the late visionary landscape architect Dan Kiley, created a serene and relaxing backdrop to the meal.

It was a brief but welcome escape from the hubbub of the fairs, yet alas, we had to get back to the crowds…

---------------

Last night, Casa Decor Miami, a European show house that debuted in the United States in November, was abuzz with activity. A partner in the venture, Esther Jackson, who also founded Florida International Magazine, invited guests to celebrate her local lifestyle publication. Of course, the talk was less about the magazine, though, and more about the deluge of activity that has dominated Miami during the past week.

Lee Ortega, the director of marketing and public relations for the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, said, “I’ve never seen such an explosion of people; it has never been so crowded in the past.”

Luis R. Rigual, managing editor of Florida International, lamented that he was unable to participate in all of the events he’d wanted to attend. “I think it’s time the organizers of Art Basel and the other events extend everything to more than five days,” he remarked. “There’s no way to attend all of the social events and have an opportunity to really see the art.”

Michael Wolk, a Miami-based designer and artist with space in Casa Decor called Casa Cosmopolita, was able to get a glimpse at some of the art, however, at the Design Miami vernissage, which he said made him feel as if he were walking around in Europe. “It was actually very surreal: I knew I was in Miami, but it suddenly felt very European,” he explained. And the main Art Basel Miami fair also sparked another emotion in him: “I was walking through the fair yesterday and looking at the works by the artists who were popular when I was just coming out of school—Hans Hofmann, for instance—and I thought about how they seemed so groundbreaking at the time. Now, the art of these trailblazers seems downright tame compared to what has come after.”