Raffi & Al’s
You may have seen Raffi & Al’s in some of the world’s most iconic art spaces. From intimate salons to major international fairs, their debut at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 set the tone for a series of unforgettable interventions—part bar, part gallery, fully legendary.
Vielmetter, Los Angeles – Raffi & Al's Legendary Garden Party, February 27 – April 20, 2024
Kronenhalle Lids, Los Angeles, CA – Raffi & Al’s, February 16 – March 26, 2024
Interactive Art Bar, Laguna Beach, CA – March 2023
Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris, France – Eighteen with a Bullet, 2023
Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Art Basel Miami Beach – Raffi & Al’s debut, 2023
Villa Aurora, Pacific Palisades, CA – Collaboration with Joram Schön
Raffi and Al's Debuts at Art Basel Miami 2023: A Trojan Horse of Art and Good Times.
For the 2023 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, Los Angeles–based artists Raffi Kalenderian and Alberto Cuadros teamed up on the first of many artist bar collaborations, titled Raffi and Al's. The art fair iteration of the bar, in the Swiss Galerie Peter Kilmann (booth B61), took the form of a mini bar disguised as an art shipping crate, made entirely out of painting surfaces, Belgian linen and all. The outer structure of the crate/mini bar was built solely of wooden stretcher bars to reinforce the precious cargo within. Generous offerings included nice champagne, good red wine, a selection of tequila, whiskey, cognac, and, of course, White Claws.
All of the alcohol was cleverly smuggled into the fair inside the fake crate, under the noses of the staunch Basel art fair authorities, with the direct intention of loosening up prospective collectors and providing levity for fellow artists and gallery workers, stunned by the overwhelming sprawl of the convention center, harsh lighting, and general ennui of art week overload. The mini bar served as a Trojan horse for good times—not easily or usually found at art fairs, where most people have way more fun at the many wild parties outside of the fair: in dives, hotels, mega clubs, and mansions of South Beach and mainland Miami.
Along with the booze, the Raffi and Al's drink caddy also held a mini art show within its body and on shelves made from wooden artist panels. The mini bar was comprised of 18 blank linen canvases and panels, and displayed a dozen smaller completed paintings by Alberto Cuadros, as well as two bonus sculptures by the legendary Miami-based artist Justin Long, who also helped fabricate the bar with childhood fellow Miami legend Giles Neale just days before the fair opened.
In addition to the mini bar, a selection of paintings by Raffi Kalenderian were hung salon-style behind the bar to “vibe it out” and signal to patrons that the bar was a safe space for contemplation and discussion around art and life, not just another space of commerce like the rest of the 60,000 sq. ft. convention center, tightly filled with 277 gallery booths from 33 countries exhibiting up to 20 artists’ works on rotation daily throughout the weeklong art smorgasbord. Drinks were always free at Raffi and Al's, and the comfy bar stools provided respite to stunned art fair combers looking to take a break, sometimes with water or orange juice—it didn’t really matter.
When the fair ended, the bar was folded back into crate form, sealed with its contents and memories of the great fun times had by all at Raffi and Al's. Despite the banality everyone agrees to deal with at art fairs, we managed to have a genuinely good time with friends. Notable patrons who have visited the bar include Salma Hayek, Larry David, Dasha, and art dealer Mathew Brown. The next version of Raffi and Al's will take place at the end of February 2024 during Los Angeles Frieze, in the garden of Susan Vielmetter Gallery in the Arts District. And just as it appeared, it was gone again.