Miami Art Week 2018: Must-See Museum Exhibits and Programming
As international fairs settle into the city, local institutions deserve just as much attention
With all eyes on Miami for its annual art bacchanalia, much attention gets paid to the dozen or so concurrent fairs that set up camp in various tents or at the convention center. To visit Miami and ignore its own art institutions, however, is a travesty. From a roster of superb galleries—Nina Johnson, Locust Projects and David Castillo to start—and world-class museums set across many different neighborhoods, there’s a plethora of easy-to-access cultural organizations embedded in the coastal city. The programming and curation compete on a global level—and the shows right now are not to be missed.
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
Time and again we return to PAMM for the way it incorporates art both inside and out of its Herzog and de Meuron-designed edifice. On display now, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s A Documentary Exhibition revisits the iconic duo’s large-scale outdoor “Surrounded Islands” installation from Biscayne Bay in 1980-83. Ebony G Patterson’s “…while the dew is still on the roses…” truly steals the show, however. Work drawn from five years of the artist’s career hang in a night garden-like installation. Beauty defines the experience—and the highlights are many.
Faena Festival: This Is Not America
It was always hotelier and real estate developer Alan Faena’s mission to have the arts be a driving force behind his Miami Beach hotel—or, really, hotel district. Last year, Faena Arts presented work open to the public on the beach. This year, they’ve unveiled This Is Not America—a riveting multi-venue festival that’s free (but requires booking in advance). The programming is not light. Curator Zoe Lukov drew inspiration from Alfredo Jaar’s video art piece “A Logo for America” (1987), which plays on a screen just offshore. This source material drives several works across multiple venues that tackle identity in America, from site-specific dance pieces by Cecilia Bengolea at the Faena Forum to the an exquisite performance by boychild, “Love Is a Rebellious Bird.” Faena Arts’ inaugural festival is ambitious—and successful.
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