Art Basel Miami Beach 2023: Local Shows to See
Here are five of the most exciting local shows to see during Art Basel Miami Beach, as well as several honorable mentions.
Making Miami in Design District
The exhibition 'Making Miami' aims to challenge the outsider narrative about Miami's art history. Curated by Katerina Llanes and produced by Vivek Jayaram, the exhibition focuses on the period between 1996 and 2012 and features the work of 50 Miami-based artists. It highlights the contributions of local artists and artist-run spaces that helped shape the city's arts community.
The exhibition is divided into five parts and takes place in a 20,000-square-foot lot in Miami's Design District. It includes outdoor sculptures by artists such as Jen Stark and Friends With You, as well as curated shows by each gallery representing a specific era of Miami art. The accompanying book features conversations with artists, curators, and others who were active during that period.
The exhibition runs from December 6 to December 26 at 75 NE 39th St, Miami.
Bridge Deconstruction Site at The Wolfsonian–FIU
Loni Johnson's performance, '5:31 Sundown Procession,' is part of the ongoing series 'Bridge Deconstruction Site' organized by Department of Reflection, a Miami artist collective. The performance honors a century of Black service workers who were only allowed in Miami Beach to work during the Jim Crow era. The procession started at the beach and ended at The Wolfsonian–FIU's Bridge Tender House building.
The performance is part of a larger exhibition that explores self-realization and dialogue honoring Black women and ancestors through rituals, silence, beauty, and song. It will be on view through February 4, 2024, at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach.
Reginald O'Neal: And I Think to Myself at Spinello Projects
Reginald O'Neal's solo show at Spinello Projects explores incarceration's impact on families and the overpolicing of Black communities. O'Neal, who grew up in Miami's historically African American neighborhood of Overtown, uses unique textures and fading effects in his paintings to convey emotion and vulnerability.
The exhibition, titled 'And I Think to Myself,' examines modern and past struggles faced by the Black community. It includes video stills, ceramic figurines, and visual textures that reflect O'Neal's experiences, culture, and history. The exhibition will be on view from December 4, 2023, to January 13, 2024, at 2930 NW 7th Ave, Miami.
A.I.M Biennial
The A.I.M Biennial, founded by william cordova and organized this year with Gean Moreno, Marie Vickles, and Amy Rosenblum-Martin, features 56 site-specific installations by artists such as Charles Humes Jr, Onakide Shabaka, Najja Moon, and Sonia-Baez Hernandez. The biennial focuses on underground art and explores themes of displacement, home, identity, and resilience.
In Florida, highlights include VantaBlack's 'To What Lengths' activation at the outdoor plaza of Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA), and the exhibition 'Our Future's Heritage' curated by Voices of the River of Grass in the Everglades. The biennial is on view through January 14, 2014, at various venues throughout Miami and elsewhere.
Cornelius Tulloch: Poetics of Place at Locust Projects
Cornelius Tulloch's exhibition 'Poetics of Place' explores the fading architectural feature of the front porch in Miami and across the US. Tulloch uses projection, video, photography, collage, performance, and architectural interventions to transform the gallery's project room into the porch of a left-standing Miami home.
Through his work, Tulloch addresses themes of space, presence, absence, and the history of vacant spaces in Miami. He also examines the impact of continuous development and gentrification on architectural language, Black and Caribbean aesthetics, and color palettes. The exhibition runs from December 5, 2023, to February 10, 2024, at 297 NE 67th St, Miami.
