Cuban artist dies after car accident on closing night of Art Basel

L to R: Juan Salas Salazar, Elizabeth Sutton, Pedro Valerino

MIAMI – Cuban artist and assistant at Elizabeth Sutton Collection, Juan Salas Salazar, 28, has died from injuries sustained in a car accident on the final night of Art Basel Miami.

Last weekend, Elizabeth Sutton hosted the first Hustle Chic pop-up party in celebration of her birthday and Miami Art Week. After closing the shop in the early hours of Sunday, December 10, Sutton was notified that Salazar and another of Sutton’s assistants, his close friend Pedro Valerino, were involved in a fatal car accident on I-95 in Miami. Salazar was thrown from the vehicle upon rear impact. He remained unconscious in critical condition until he passed away on Tuesday morning. Valerino remains in critical care in Miami.

In the lower left section of the photo, L to R: Juan Salas Salazar, Elizabeth Sutton, Pedro Valerino. Salazar is also shown at upper right.

Sutton had planned on Thursday evening, December 14, to open the doors to Hustle Chic, a holiday pop-up shop and art gallery hybrid located at 236 West 10th Street in New York’s Greenwich Village. The event will now serve to honor the memory of Salazar, who leaves behind a wife and three-year-old daughter, and to raise money both for Salazar’s family and for Valerino’s medical expenses.

“The ESC Team is grateful to the community, including Vanilla Sky, Bitz of Glitz, Retail Therapy Jewelry, and Noah Phillips, for coming together in this time of need to donate food, wine, and raffle items,” said Natasha Roberts, spokesperson for Elizabeth Sutton Collection.

Sutton launched a GoFundMe campaign yesterday. Within hours, it had raised more than $5,000 in donations, all of which will go to the Salazar and Valerino families.

For more information on how to support or make private donations, email Natasha@tkbn.co. Follow Elizabeth Sutton’s GoFundMe campaign at https://www.gofundme.com/juan-and-pedro-emergency-fund.

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