The art world descended on Miami December 2 for seven days of fairs, exhibitions, parties and dinners around Miami Art Week, and Playboy was in the thick of the action. Creators, dealers, collectors, curators, writers and art lovers traveled to the sunshine state to partake in what is often described as “the art world’s spring break” and, officially at least, to buy and sell at perhaps the world’s most glamorous trade show.

At Art Basel Miami Beach, a banana duct taped to the wall by artist Maurizio Cattelan (who has a PLAYBOY shoot queued up for 2020) irrefutably stole the show. Aptly titled Comedian, the work was exhibited by French dealer Emmanuel Perrotin and sold for $120,000 (yes, really). In addition to requiring its own guard and causing a frenzy at the fair, the Instagram moment spawned countless parodies (and multiple New York Post covers). Across town, Miami locals Don and Mera Rubell unveiled a new private museum to showcase their renowned art collection. Celebrity guests including Grammy Award–winning producer Swizz Beatz partied on the beach alongside art industry insiders and other revelers.

On Thursday Playboy sponsored an intimate talk and dinner at Soho Beach House, hosted by PLAYBOY contributor and Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Jerry Saltz along with legendary feminist artist (and 2019 PLAYBOY Artist Feature subject) Marilyn Minter. The event marked the next chapter in the brand’s decades-long history of cutting-edge arts coverage, stretching back to collaborations with the likes of artists Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, photographers Helmut Newton and Ellen von Unwerth, as well as PLAYBOY’s Winter 2020 Equality Issue subjects Hank Willis Thomas and JR.

In addition to 2019 Playmate of the Year Jordan Emanuel and Grammy-nominated Swedish pop star Tove Lo, artists Shepard Fairey and Shantell Martin rubbed shoulders with fine art dealer Jack Shainman and collectors Carole Server and Oliver Frankel. Guests gathered living-room style around the hosts for a spirited conversation about sexual freedom, free expression and censorship in 2019. In the jovial and relaxed atmosphere the audience sparred with Saltz and Minter, debated, cracked jokes and discussed the passion for art and journalism that united the diverse group. The chemistry between Saltz and Minter was evident; as well as being longtime friends, the two participated in a panel about art and sexuality at Playboy’s Playhouse pop-up event in New York earlier this year.

Minter poignantly recalled being ostracized as a young artist in the 1980s for using hardcore pornographic images in her work, including her 1990 painting The Supremes, which depicts three women gathered around an ejaculating penis, as if singing into a microphone.

“In 1989 I thought, What subject matter have women never worked with?” she said. “What subject matter can a woman work with that would change its meaning? And I thought, What about porn?” As a self-described “pro-sex feminist,” Minter says the establishment berated her for her work’s perceived vulgarity, while her fellow feminists rebuked her for turning porn into art. “I was accused of being a traitor to feminism!”

Saltz, meanwhile, drew a comparison between the “creeping puritanism in today’s art world” and Minter’s experience 30 years ago: “People are always telling each other, ‘No, you’re wrong. I’m righter than you are, and she’s righter than he is.’” He added, “The art world is very demonizing and unforgiving right now.” To make his point, he invited audience members to raise their hands if they’d ever been called names or been censored on social media for something they’d posted. Hands shot up around the room. Lo told the audience she’d once had an image removed because moderators thought a shark’s-mouth tattoo on her arm resembled a vagina, violating the platform’s terms of use. Artist Tali Lennox said a platform had censored an image of one of her artworks by taking it down.

In response to the audience’s lamentations, Minter emphasized PLAYBOY’s track record as a bastion of culture and free speech, as well as the important role it played in her youth in Louisiana. “It was anti-Vietnam; it was pro-reproduction rights,” she said of the magazine. “I had a PLAYBOY that had interviews with Hemingway, James Baldwin and Picasso in one issue.” Following the discussion, guests made their way to an intimate dinner where the wine and conversation flowed into the late hours.

The festivities didn’t stop there. On Friday, Playboy hosted a special Miami Beach edition of the Los Angeles–based underground dancehall-influenced party SHABBAAAAA at the Arlo Beach Club. Produced by Blind Barber, the event was a celebration of Playboy’s Respect Your Partner(S) Condoms Initiative, a campaign that aims to reverse the rising number of STIs in America. Guests included rapper Travis Scott—who directed a cover shoot and pictorial starring Kylie Jennerfor PLAYBOY’s Fall 2019 Pleasure Issue—and Kylie’s sister Kendall Jenner. Other revelers included fashion scion Ally Hilfiger and rapper Yung Taco. (In addition to Bunny ears, guests were sent home with Playboy Condoms, now available at retailers across the country, including Walmart.)

Partygoers danced to reggae-infused beats at the open-air venue, located in a beachside tent. A number of interactive installations, including swings suspended from the ceiling, were a popular attraction with guests, who posed for photos throughout the evening.

Amid the cluster of exhibitions, parties and dinners, the Playboy program stood out for its unique convergence of art-world clout and carefree fun. And its Miami Beach fete was a fitting celebration of the magazine’s long tradition of promoting art, culture and free expression.