Miami Art Week is almost here, with its fusillade of art fairs, big and small. For many art-lovers, however, the whirl of art commerce is only the excuse to head down to Miami. The bevy of ancillary events and openings that the city brings forth for the occasion from its many museums and major art collectors is just as much or more of an attraction, and certainly soaks up a major part of the evenings and nights.
Here are 11 attractions to look out for during Miami Art Week 2018, outside of Art Basel and the other fairs.
1. “afriCOBRA: Messages to the People” at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
Gerald Williams’s Portrait Y (1990). Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Chicago-based art collective afriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). The group’s distinct combination of text, bright Kool-Aid colors, and an overall jubilant graphic celebration of black life continues to impact contemporary artists.
November 27, 2018–April 7, 2019; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami is located at 770 NE 125th Street.
2.”Pop Minimalism/Minimalism Pop” at the Moore Building
Peter Halley, Adrift (2018). Photo: Matthew Grub. Courtesy the Greenberg Gallery/William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis, and Greene Naftali, New York.
Gagosian Gallery and Jeffrey Deitch are teaming up for a pop-tastic display of works in their fourth collaboration at the city’s Moore Building. The group exhibition will explore the conversation between artists of the Minimalist and Pop art movements in America.
Opening reception: Tuesday, December 4, 5–8pm, exhibition opens December 5–9, 2018; The Moore Building is located at 191 NE 40th Street.
3. “Purvis Young & New Acquisitions” at the Rubell Family Collection Contemporary Arts Foundation
Purvis Young, Talking to the System (circa 1975). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Artwork: © Estate of Purvis Young. Photo: Gamma One Conversions.
The Rubell Family collection is known for scoping out young talent, but this year during ABMB the institution is showing more than 100 paintings by Purvis Young (1943–2010). The late artist spent the bulk of his career working in Miami, and the show will take over the entire first floor of the foundation.
December 3, 2018–June 29, 2019; The Rubell Collection is located at 95 NW 29 Street.
4. “Judy Chicago: A Reckoning” at ICA Miami
Judy Chicago, Earth Birth (1983). Courtesy the artist and Salon 94, New York.
The mother of feminist art is coming to Miami for a tour de force exhibition at the ICA just in time for Miami Art Week. Although she’s best known for The Dinner Party, Chicago has a wide-reaching oeuvre that expands far, far beyond that important work, and much of it will be highlighted at ICA. A discussion between Jeffrey Deitch and Judy Chicago will take place at Art Basel Miami Beach’s Conversations program.
December 4, 2018–April 21, 2019; ICA Miami is located at 61 NE 41st Street.
5. “Enter the Design Age” at the Wolfsonian Art Museum
H5’s “Enter the Design Age” on the facade of the Wolfsonian Art Museum, courtesy of the Wolfsonian at Florida International University.
Florida International University’s Wolfsonian Art Museum invited the super-creative forces behind the Paris design group H5 to create an installation rethinking museum’s extensive holdings. The firm is known for its innovative use of typography, and they’ve outdone themselves with an eye-catching display on the museum’s facade that only gets more impressive up close.
December 4, 2018–May 31, 2019; The Wolfsonian at FIU is located at 1001 Washington Avenue.
6. Hans Ulrich Obrist at the de la Cruz Collection
Hans Ulrich Obrist. Image courtesy de la Cruz Collection.
The de la Cruz collection is always a favorite stop for art lovers in Miami. This year, the collection is touting a lecture with globe-trotting super-curator Hans Ulrich Obrist on Monday, December 3.
December 3, 2018,at 8:15 pm; The de la cruz Collection is located at 23 NE 41st Street.
7. “The Haas Brothers: Ferngully” at the Bass
The Haas Brothers, Uma Worm-an. Courtesy of the artists and the Bass.
For their first solo museum exhibition, the twin Haas Brothers have drawn inspiration from the 1992 animated film Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, a fantastical (and at times, super scary) environmental parable. The show riffs on the cartoon’s concepts of renewal and rebirth, and uses cinematic elements to create an immersive show starring Haas-designed humanoid-design objects.
December 5, 2018–April 21, 2019; The Bass is located at 2100 Collins Avenue.
8. “The Art of Banksy” at Magic City Innovation Studios
Screenshot from “Art of Banksy” exhibition website. Courtesy of “The Art of Banksy.”
Banksy may be anonymous, but he’s everywhere, including Miami’s Magic City Innovation Studios for a show timed to coincide with Basel. The 20,000-square-foot venue will house scores of Banksy artworks, and photographs taken by organizer Steve Lazarides, the street artist’s former dealer.
Opening December 4, 2018; Magic City Studios is located at 6301 NE 4th Avenue.
9. “José Carlos Martinat: American Echo Chamber” at the Pérez Art Museum Miami
José Carlos Martinat, American Echo Chamber (2018). © José Carlos Martinat. Courtesy the artist and Revolver Galería.
The Peruvian artist José Carlos Martinat has taken the notion of a political echo chamber and brought it into physical reality with his new large-scale work. The installation is made of several mechanical light sculptures that play on themes of political cartoons, social media, violence, and migration.
10. “William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions” at the NSU Art Museum
William J. Glackens, The Soda Fountain (1935). Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
The show explores how the artwork of famed French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) inspired and informed the work of American painter Ashcan School painter William Glackens (1870–1938), whose early introduction to the French Impressionist set him on a course for his career.
Through May 19, 2019; One East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale.
11. “New Collection” at the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse
Installation view of Imi Knoebel Anima Mundi (2014-16). Courtesy of the Warehouse.
One of Miami’s best collections of contemporary art, the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, will be a highlight for art enthusiasts. The new selection of works from Margulies’s holdings includes artists Gilles Barbier, Peter Buggenhout, Cate Giordano, and Imi Knoebel.
Exhibition ongoing; The Warehouse is located at 591 NW 27th St, Miami.