Cathy Vedovi is truly a citizen of the global art world. French by birth, educated at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, married to a Belgian art dealer and a longtime board member of the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, she is both an adventurous designer and a passionate patron. In fact, next month she will be fêted as such when she is honoured at the Bass’s annual fundraising gala.
As a collector and designer, her tastes span Modern and contemporary. Her own collection includes works by Amy Sillman, Mike Kelley and Richard Pettibone. A dazzling interior-decoration project she completed for a client in Paris in 2021 (with the architect Benoit Dupuis) includes works by Takashi Murakami, Hans Hartung, Pamela Rosenkranz, Damien Hirst, Alex Hubbard, Nathalie Djurberg and Georges Rouault.
Ahead of Miami Art Week, she shared her dream acquisitions and favourite places to unwind in Miami Beach.
The Art Newspaper: What was the first work you ever bought?
Cathy Vedovi: One of Mike Kelley’s shaped canvases, from Metro Pictures in 2004.
What was the most recent work you bought?
I recently bought two Richard Pettibones from my husband’s gallery, Vedovi Gallery—a silver Marilyn and a Campbell’s Soup Can.
What do you regret not buying when you had the chance?
A first edition of Louise Bourgeois’s wall-mounted Spider.
If you could have any work from any museum in the world, what would it be?
Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis, the 1963 version from Ferus Gallery. I have always been obsessed with how this hypnotic work doubles with movement.
Where do you like to eat and drink in Miami?
I know it’s the answer everyone has, but Casa Tua in Miami Beach is my favourite.
What is your least favourite thing about art fairs?
All the other art events that say they’re art when they’re not. They pop up in the city during art fairs and try to capitalise on the attention, and you have all these “fake galleries” that have nothing to do with the fair—it’s easy to get brain fog from all the satellite pseudo-art pop-ups and public art.
What tip would you give to someone visiting Miami for the first time?
The beach is not overrated; it is really beautiful, and I recommend taking long strolls on the boardwalk. Use a bicycle as much as you can! On South Pointe Drive, the park down there has a beautiful lighthouse that offers the perfect perspective on Miami.
This year is also the 100th anniversary of Art Deco, and the Bass Museum of Art is a perfect place to go to enjoy that. The Art Deco District, including Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive, is great for taking in the history of Art Deco in Miami.
Which Miami celebrity are you hoping to run into during Miami Art Week?
I was going to say Brad Pitt, but he’s not a Miami celebrity! He goes to Art Basel in Basel, and I’m hoping he comes to the Miami edition this year.
