Un-Convention-al

Miami is a convention town, the junket heaven of the Southeast. Essentially identity-less, we’ll put on whatever mask your industry requires. Porn? No problem. Electronic music? Easy. Boating? Challenge us, please. We’ve also somehow become the art fair capital of the world, with more little tent shows congregating beneath the...

By P. Scott Cunningham

May 14, 2009

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Miami is a convention town, the junket heaven of the Southeast. Essentially identity-less, we’ll put on whatever mask your industry requires. Porn? No problem. Electronic music? Easy. Boating? Challenge us, please. We’ve also somehow become the art fair capital of the world, with more little tent shows congregating beneath the dragon’s wing of Art Basel Miami Beach than either New York’s Armory Show or Switzerland’s original Basel. So now that MoCA assistant curator Ruba Katrib has put together a four-month exhibition examining the culture of conventions, it seems so obvious. Why didn’t we think of that? (In our defense, we were probably distracted by all the electronic music we were listening to while sailing to our porn shoot.)

This Wednesday is your first chance to experience Katrib’s vision, and though we don’t want to spoil too much, let’s just say it involves an open dance floor, high jinks by artists Bert Rodriguez and Dave McKenzie, and a Coral Gables couple’s living room relocated courtesy of artist Fritz Heag.

The Opening reception for “Convention” begins at 7 p.m. at MoCA.
Wed., May 20, 7 p.m., 2009

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