Inside Pérez Art Museum Miami's Largest-Ever Photography Show

There are times when Miami's largest art museum likes to remind us all why "Pérez" is the first word in its name. 

In May, the Pérez Art Museum Miami opened the biggest show of photography in its history, comprising more than 100 works spread across its largest gallery spaces. And the vast majority are drawn directly from the collection of its eponymous billionaire benefactor. "Language and Image: Conceptual and Performance-based Photography from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection" is an ambitious survey of the medium, utilizing the museum's grandest galleries and showcasing its breadth and variability. It's a show that, for museum director Franklin Sirmans, aims to examine the medium in an era where the digital revolution has inundated the world with images, some more authentic than others.

"It was a way to also think about, well, how do we grow in our relationship to this very important medium in this period of time?" he says. "I think a lot of the artists in here are dealing with this idea of us being bombarded by images on a daily basis. But it's funny that a lot of them were saying that when it was just television, or when it was just prior to having the internet...And now that's on steroids, so to speak. So it felt like a good time to think about the medium specifically."

Sirmans and co-curator Fabiana Sotillo split the show into six different themes, some of which attempt to shake up our interpretation of common photographic themes. Others deal with the medium's supposed role as a force of objectivity, showing the world as it is, a reputation that has taken a hit post-Photoshop and post-AI. "Character Witness" spotlights artists who examine and judge society, such as Nan Goldin, famous for her P.A.I.N. anti-opioid protests targeting the Sackler family as much as for her photographs. The opening section, "Photography as Truth Teller," features historical documentary photographers such as Gordon Parks and Barkley L. Hendricks alongside conceptual artists such as Thomas Struth, whose photo of museum-goers admiring Michelangelo's David in Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia opens the show.
The show features more than 50 artists, with big names cohabitating alongside smaller ones. Art world stars such as Cindy Sherman and Olafur Eliasson share gallery space with more politically-minded artists like Alfredo Jaar. A section on "Landscape and Nature" features bucolic images by Wolfgang Tillmans and Olafur Eliasson alongside more probing photos by Thomas Struth and Isaac Julien. There is an abiding interest in states of geopolitical in-between-ness, which feels appropriate given Miami's cosmopolitanism and history as a destination for political and economic refugees. A photo by Walead Beshty shows the ruined Iraqi Embassy in East Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall, technically still the territory of Iraq but existing in a now-vanished country and claimed by neither. The film, accidentally red-shifted by airport X-ray scanners, was further damaged by the photographer with a hole punch, a definitive and jarring alteration contrasted with an accidental and beguiling one, the artist's will overriding the fateful discoloration and our own potential pleasure as viewers.

Architecture is a theme in one room. A duo of photos by Carlos Garaicoa titled Declaration examines two similar towers, the iconic Flatiron Building in Manhattan and a less famous counterpart in Havana. Text between the two poetically compares the two places: "We live on an island. We are surrounded by people who wander around as if they were lost, wishing the world would change." Such meditations on Cuban identity recur in the show; in a section on "Performing for the Camera," there's photo documentation of a Tania Bruguera performance where the artist eats dirt, referencing indigenous Cuban practices of collective resistance in an effort to link the country's national identity to colonialism.

"Language and Image" is a serious, worldly show full of works that examine the ways in which the artists use the photographic image to question their world and society. Yet the Pérez association looms over the show in ways that undercut its potential effect.

To his credit, the real estate mogul is, by all evidence, quite serious about his art collection, which numbers some 7,000 artworks and growing according to staff from El Espacio 23, his privately-owned exhibition space in Allapattah. PAMM clearly finds the relationship fruitful — this is the museum's third exhibition dedicated to the Pérez collection, and the co-curator of the show, curatorial assistant Fabiana Sotillo, is a former employee of El Espacio 23. "Our mission and vision align with theirs," she said of the Pérez family during the show's VIP preview in May. And of course, Pérez has pledged to donate nearly his entire collection — about 90 percent, according to Sirmans — to the PAMM, with certain works given to other institutions.
When we look at these images, it could be said we're looking at the future of the city's art heritage. Yet the process of their acquisition, chosen privately by Pérez and his associates, means we must question why these works are here and the context in which they hang. Is a collector's wealth enough qualification to determine which works are of value to the community they inhabit?

While the acquisition process is not unique to this institution, the thought should give us pause, especially considering Pérez is far from the only billionaire whose influence has touched the PAMM recently. Last year, the museum accepted a $10 million donation from Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel. Griffin donated to both the current and former presidents’ inaugural funds. Griffin donated ten times his gift to the museum to conservatives in 2024.

When asked about the gift to PAMM, Sirmans declined to comment. Still, no matter how great exhibitions like "Language and Image" are, as one walks through the galleries, it's hard to ignore the irony that the very same people funding the impactful images on display often rub shoulders with figures who are actively defunding the arts in Miami, the state, and the country at large.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to Ken Griffin as “a mega-donor to Donald Trump.” While Mr. Griffin donated to the president’s inauguration fund, he also donated to former President Joe Biden’s inauguration fund. Griffin also donated $100 million to conservatives in 2024, per ArtNews.

"Language and Image: Conceptual and Performance-based Photography from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection." Through January 11, 2026, at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org. Tickets cost $18 for adults; $14 for students with ID, seniors age 62 and over, and youth ages seven to 18; free for active U.S. military and veterans with ID, healthcare professionals and first responders with ID, children 6 and under, Florida educators with ID, and disabled visitors and their caregivers.