Patti Smith at a private concert in Miami last week, photos courtesy of Abdil Muñoz.
Away from the bright lights and hustle of South Beach, the Robert Miller Gallery hosted an intimate evening at a discreet warehouse in the Wynwood District. There the small crowd of less than 50 people, including Calvin Klein, Bruce Weber and Kai Kuhne, was invited to enjoy a private performance by Patti Smith. It was an “homage” to her many personal heroes expressed through poetry, story, and of course, song.
At Art Basel Miami Beach 2009 Robert Miller Gallery, which has represented Smith since 1978, collaborated with her to present a thematic exhibition of both her works and those of her friends, lovers, and creative heroes such as Diane Arbus, Constantin Brâncuşi, Victor Hugo, Lee Krasner, Robert Mapplethorpe, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock, and Cy Twombly.
Smith’s warm, captivating personality enchanted the audience. She began her performance by asking everyone to move closer and concluded by inviting the crowd to sing along with her to a powerful a cappella rendition of “Because the Night.” Smith humbly, and perhaps a bit nervously, shared excerpts from her latest book scheduled to be released in January 2010, Just Kids, which offers a never-before-seen glimpse into her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the epic times spent in New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties.
Smith later explained how lunar alignment signifies a special coming year and then went on to sing “My Blakean Years,” a segment of her performance dedicated to William Blake whose struggle for recognition seemed to deeply resonate with the audience of artists, dealers, gallery owners and fashion designers. Smith then turned storyteller, regaling the audience who listened on with rapt to a series of tales from her life lived among artistic greats. One story involved Alan Ginsberg who, thinking Patti was an effete boy he might be able to pick up, paid an extra 10 cents for her lettuce and cheese sandwich. It turned out to be their first date.
Smith also spoke about her love for Picasso and the possibilities of his eternal life, if only Henry Geldzahler had never broken the news of his passing to her. She went on to share her special relationship with Picasso’s Guernica. She returned to this work many times throughout her life, beginning with visits to the Museum of Modern Art as a young girl from South Jersey and continuing to this day with a recent trip to the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, the painting’s current home. She explained that the painting has a special way of saying “hello” that is, well, “complicated,” to say the least.
For one very special hour, Patti Smith did what she does best: she offered her audience access to a unique presence who is at once artist, shaman, and rock star, giving a few patrons of Art Basel Miami Beach escape into her world and a breath of fresh air in a very humid city.
