''I paint people that I think are interesting,'' he said simply.

We're not sure what crowd he runs with, but some pieces were tough to look at -- like The Man Who Eats His Fingers, ghostly, mouth bloodied, showing off his missing digits. Others were more tongue in cheek, such as Ready or Not Tot, a creepy baby with werewolf-like lower teeth. Three recent paintings of a blue-eyed mystery woman, ''Isani,'' put the Evan Rachel Wood reconciliation rumors to rest.

''That's my special lady friend,'' said the man who took his stage name from icons Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Then, rambling a bit: ''I really don't want to start the next chapter of my life by . . . burdening someone with being the solution to my problems -- or the source of my problems.'' Trismegistus is the name of Manson's 2004 painting of a three-headed Jesus, done on an antique embalming table. ''That one was during a period in my life where I was feeling a bit hopeless. For me it signifies a resurrection and believing in myself,'' he said. ``It's important to me but technically probably not the best art.''

-- MADELEINE MARR

Finally, the champagne flowed at a recession-era Basel party. A giant fountain featuring giant flutes bubbled over with bubbly, and waiters cased the sandy ''oasis'' behind the Raleigh with chilled bottles of Krug that seemed in ample supply.

The occasion was the unveiling of Visionaire's 55 Surprise, the art publication's newest collectible edition, which showcases 12 pop-up artworks by artists and designers such as Yayoi Kusama, Mario Testino, Guido Mocafico and Steven Meisel.

''I've been to so many parties already that everything hurts,'' said Joanna Schwartz, an art consultant from Chicago. ``I guess maybe some events are scaled back. But my dance card is as full as ever, and I've been fighting a hangover since Monday. So it's still a party, and Miami is still sexy, and art is still the point.''

-- LYDIA MARTIN

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