It's a shame to lose such a space and see its art, including excellent work from influential Cuban-American artists, potentially leave the city altogether. It also raises concerns about the efficacy of the collector-museum model on which Miami has staked its reputation. For instance, when the Rubells are gone, what happens to their namesake museum? Will it remain, or will all those important, valuable artworks also go to the auction block? Many works amassed by private collectors are never seen by the public again.
For now, let's be thankful for what we have. Two more private art collections have excellent shows up now, and both are well worth seeing.
In Wynwood, the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse is showing some really extraordinary stuff. There's a triple-artist show juxtaposing stark abstract paintings from Frank Stella and Robert Motherwell with the mournful sculpture of George Segal. A stately arrangement of work from Italian artist Mimmo Paladino is even more impressive. It features weathered, recently made statues of human and equine figures that look timeless and ancient, along with rich canvases featuring nondescript head shapes and golden circles against boldly colored backdrops.
Photography fans will be excited by a show featuring Helen Levitt's gritty shots of mid-20th century New York. There's also a whole room of photos by Danny Lyon, including shots from his series "The Bikeriders" that's been adapted into a film of the same name, which will be released this summer. Meanwhile, the museum's primary attraction, a group of monumental installations by Anselm Kiefer, remains on display, along with works by Isamu Noguchi, Olafur Eliasson, and Richard Serra. Several of these shows are closing on April 27, so check them out before it's too late.
Nearby in Allapattah, El Espacio 23 is still showing its excellent exhibition, "To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection," which I named one of the best of 2023. Textile art was long overlooked due to sexist and racist attitudes associating the medium with feminine domesticity and outdated, infantilizing views toward indigenous communities. Now it's becoming big news, with major shows in New York, at the Met and MoMA PS1, and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., this spring.
"To Weave the Sky" competes with these shows due to its ambitious conceptual framework. Showing canvas paintings and even light sculptures alongside woven and fiber art, the show asks us to stretch our definitions of what might be considered fabric art — canvas is woven, too, after all. Across five sections, the show explores various ways of making abstract art through textiles. "Chromatic Structures" looks at color with Frank Stella's stripey geometric canvases and a Nick Cave Soundsuit. "Spiritual Constellations" shows interpretations of indigenous religion through fabric, from a knotted painting that recalls Andean quipu by Jorge Eielson to geometric canvases based on woven patterns from various cultures.
Perhaps the most thrilling part of the show is that we're also watching the city's art collection being built. According to museum staff, everything at El Espacio will eventually be donated to the Pérez Art Museum Miami. That hopefully includes Iva (1973), a massive Joan Mitchell triptych that forms the blockbuster centerpiece of the show. "To Weave the Sky" is on display through late 2024.
Here are even more art shows you should check out in Miami this month.
Unless otherwise noted, all listed events are free to attend and open to the public.
Miami Art Exhibits Now Open in April 2024
Installation view of Stephanie Mercedes' "I Bite the Brass Between My Teeth" at Broward College's Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery
Broward College photo
Stephanie Mercedes at Broward College
Closing very soon, Mercedes' show "I Bite the Brass Between My Teeth" is worth checking out for its interesting approach to metalwork. The artist has crafted various sculptures out of melted-down brass bullets in order to explore "queer vulnerability." The dramatic forms and their material origins invite other interpretations as well. The show opened in February. On view through Wednesday, April 10, at Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, Broward College Central Campus, 3501 Davie Rd., Davie; 954-201-6984; broward.edu.
Larry Poons at Ross+Kramer
If you enjoyed Larry Poons' gloppy, three-dimensional abstract canvases in NSU Art Museum's excellent show "Glory of the World" last year (the show is still on view, by the way), you're in luck: The 86-year-old artist is showing a crop of paintings at Ross+Kramer in Miami Beach. These are much more delicate and lightly colored, fusing the cluttered compositions of Jackson Pollock's action paintings and the thick lines and floral obsessions of Vincent van Gogh. The show opened on March 14. On view through Saturday, April 20, at Ross + Kramer Gallery, 1910 Alton Rd., Miami Beach; 917-675-7293; rkgallery.com.
"Dissolve" at Tunnel Projects and "No Soy Eterno" at Tactile
Two small, artist-run spaces in Miami opened group shows last month. Tunnel in Little Havana showed off works focused on religion, bodies, dolls, and other themes in its subterranean space; the show opened on March 16. It will host an open studio and zine release party on Saturday, April 20. Meanwhile, Tactile in Little Haiti put on its own varied presentation, featuring paintings by Thomas Bils and Rachel Lee, fabric art by Christine Cortes and Gabriela Fernandez, and photography by Mariano Cayo and Rodrigo Cayo. The show opened last Friday, March 29. Tunnel Projects, 300 SW 12th Ave., Miami; tunnelprojects.com; and Tactile, 7260 N. Miami Ave., Miami; instagram.com/tactiletactiletactile.
Joan Jimenez at Supermarket Gallery
Centered around the concept of jarana (revelry), portraits and scenes of Black and brown joy from Afro-Peruvian painter Jimenez make up this show at Supermarket Gallery, a new worker-owned art space sharing space with Fly Studio in the Upper Eastside. It had its grand opening on March 30. Supermarket Gallery, 7231 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-604-8508; supermarketgallery.com.
Milo Matthieu at Jupiter Contemporary
Cubist influences abound in Haitian-American artist Milo Matthieu's paintings of family scenes and other figures. Bright colors abound throughout the artist's canvases, yet in his smiley faces and blended compositions, one detects a certain darkness reminiscent of George Condo or Tesfaye Urgessa. Jupiter's recent run of Black and African diaspora artists continues to impress. On view through Saturday, May 11, at Jupiter Contemporary, 1217 71st St., Miami Beach; 786-238-7299; jupitercontemporary.com.Upcoming Miami Art Exhibits Opening in April 2024
Three New Shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Though the fallout from ICA Miami's censorship of its recent Charles Gaines show continues to reverberate, the three shows opening at the institution in April are of note. First up on Friday, April 5, are shows from Miami-based photographer Rose Marie Cromwell and late Barbados-born painter Denzil Hurley. Cromwell's "A Geological Survey," featuring photos of herself and her family on a journey through the American West, is her first museum show, while Hurley's paintings in "In Praise of Use" come from his "Glyphs" series, one of the last he completed before he died in 2021. On Saturday, April 20, the museum will open a survey of Cuban exile painter Zilia Sánchez, famed for geometric abstract paintings with a feminist bent. Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, 61 NE 41st St., Miami; 305-901-5272; icamiami.org.
Mad Arts Grand Opening
Housed in the former Graves Museum of Natural History in Dania Beach (known for its iconic wall-mounted T. rex skeleton), Mad Arts is a brand-new museum focusing on technology-based art and immersive installations. Having paid host to a variety of events in the last year, from conferences on NFTs and an erotic art show to the comparatively tame Small Press Fair, it's officially opening to the public on Saturday, April 6, and looks set to supercharge the art scene in the suburban community full of old Florida charm. There are plenty of interesting events on tap, including an immersive art installation by Thomas Garnier, an interactive talk by artist and Noir Age founder Richard Vergez at 6 p.m., and the premiere of a retrospective of Def Jam Records creative director Cey Adams. Opens at noon Saturday, April 6, at Mad Arts, 481 S. Federal Hwy., Dania Beach; 754-239-0707; yeswearemadarts.com. Admission to the first floor is free. Second-floor tickets cost $19.99 to $24.99 via simpletix.com.
"Haunted I" at Voloshyn Gallery
Gean Moreno of ICA Miami and [NAME] Publications is co-curating this group show alongside Untitled director Omar López-Chahoud, featuring work by Minia Biabiany, Christian Lagata, Harold Mendez, and Jonathan Sanchez Noa. A press release describes their work as "permeated by strong traces of histories that have often been repressed by the mainstream." Voloshyn's infusion of artistic ideas from Ukraine and Eastern Europe into Miami's art lexicon has been interesting to see; teaming up with two strong local curatorial voices in Moreno and López-Chahoud is a smart move for them, and the results are bound to be interesting. Opening 6 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Voloshyn Gallery, 802 NW 22nd St., Miami; 786-461-5800; voloshyngallery.art.
Sergio Suárez at KDR
Following up its popular Joel Gaitan show from last month, KDR in Allapattah is switching up tonally from the Nicaraguan-American's delightfully garish ceramics in favor of something darker from Mexico City-born Sergio Suárez. Visually reminiscent of Belkis Ayón's Afro-Cuban mythological prints and the artwork from Machinedrum's album Vapor City, Suárez's show "Cosmic Procession" features work from several mediums, with mysterious images that combine European compositions with surreal and mystical imagery. Opening 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at KDR, 790 NW 22nd St., Miami; 305-392-0416; kdr305.com.
Serge Toussaint's mural can be found all throughout the city, especially in Little Haiti.
Photo by Alvaro Ilizarbe
