The Best Museum Shows to See During Miami Art Week

Miami's art museums always bring out the best and boldest exhibitions during Miami Art Week, and this year is no exception. From comprehensive retrospectives on important international artists to moving presentations from locals, from splashy group shows to provocative displays at new institutions, there's plenty to see. We've narrowed down the very best. Check out these museum shows during Miami Art Week.

"Invisible Luggage" at Historic Hampton House

In Brownsville, isolated from the epicenters of Art Week activity, the Hampton House suddenly launched itself into the conversation last year with a very impressive show called "Gimme Shelter." Spearheaded by Palm Beach collector Beth Rubin DeWoody, local galleries such as Mindy Solomon and Spinello Projects contributed work, with artists such as Reginald O'Neal and Jared McGriff featured next to Charles Gaines, Terry Adkins, Rashid Johnson, and Howardena Pindell in a show that skewed heavily toward the best of Black diasporic art — appropriate for a former Green Book hotel that sheltered the likes of Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. This year, the museum is back for round two. It announced a follow-up show, "Invisible Luggage," just one week ahead of Art Week. Curated in conversation with the historically preserved rooms, the show features work by some art world heavy hitters: Marina Abramović, Frank Bowling, Firelei Báez, Cecilia Vicuña, Vanessa German, and Alexandre Diop. Locals such as Joel Gaitan and Tomm El-Saieh will also participate. Tuesday, December 3, through Saturday, February 12, at Historic Hampton House, 4240 NW Seventh Ave., Miami; 305-638-5800; historichamptonhouse.org. Tickets cost $25.

Hajime Sorayama at the Museum of Sex

I'm completely serious when I say this show of sexy robots fucking and sucking humans and each other is one of the most fascinating art exhibits I've seen all year. The devil is in the details when it comes to Sorayama's imaginatively perverse androids, with references to Hokusai and L'Origine du monde outdone by even more bizarre and original imagery. The Museum of Sex came out swinging with this debut show; let's hope it can keep the pace up as its Miami branch settles into its new digs in Allapattah. Museum of Sex, 2200 NW 24th Ave., Miami; 786-206-9210; museumofsex.com. Tickets cost $29 to $36.

José Parlá at the Pérez Art Museum Miami

Local boy made good José Parlá, still recovering from a horrific fight with COVID that nearly killed him, returns to painting with forceful purpose in "Homecoming" at PAMM, his first solo show in Miami after many years spent living in New York City. The graffiti writer-turned-calligraphic abstract painter drew out his own memories of boyhood on a much rougher Miami Beach, even incorporating scraps of advertising posters he found into his canvases to generate breathtaking canvases that dwell on his Cuban heritage and his persistence through personal struggle. Parlá has also sought to bring his art closer to the public by hosting live paintings in a makeshift studio in PAMM's galleries. On view through July 6, 2025, Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org. Tickets cost $14 to $18; free admission for children 6 and under.

Keiichi Tanaami at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami

It's a shame Tanaami died earlier this year before he could see this incredible retrospective of his cacophonous, bracing pop art career. An illustrator who took heavy influence from Warhol and once served as art director for Playboy Japan, "Memory Collage," Tanaami's presentation at the ICA Miami, shows the full spread of his career, from wild collages and countercultural films to hallucinatory paintings full of references to art history from the West and East. You'll probably want to make a second trip; there's no way to take it all in one go. On view through March 30, 2025, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, 61 NE 41st St., Miami; 305-901-5272; icamiami.org. Admission is free.

"Mirror of the Mind" at El Espacio 23

Figuration is the main theme in El Espacio 23's new show, but it's merely a jumping-off point into deeper explorations of selfhood, identity, and the body. Artists including Shirin Neshat, Carrie Mae Weems, Marta Minujin, Richard Prince, Rober Colescott, and Reginald O'Neal are featured in the massive show, which features 150 works across six different themes, all with a different perspective on how the human figure, one of the oldest themes in art, can be remixed and reinterpreted. El Espacio 23, 2270 NW 23rd St., Miami; elespacio23.org. Admission is free.

Collection Highlights at the Rubell Museum

You can tell the Rubells made some last-minute curatorial decisions — after November 5, perhaps — because their collection reshuffle is dark from the start. Rashid Johnson's powerful, loaded works examining black identity and Diamond Stingily's installation of doors referencing systemic violence in poor communities; pieces by Cattelan and Andra Ursuta that seemingly reference Klan robes; Keith Haring's disturbing cartoon series The Story of Jason — there's a lot of troubling stuff here, a smart curatorial choice for a museum that can sometimes feel a bit too glib. Not that it's all fuss and fury. New acquisitions and lighter fare from artist-in-residence Vanessa Raw add some necessary relief. Rubell Museum, 1100 NW 23rd St., Miami; 305-573-6090; rubellmuseum.org. Tickets are $10 to $25.

Alexandre Arrechea and Alba Triana at Locust Projects

One of Miami's most beloved nonprofit artist-run spaces will show two exciting, immersive installations during Art Week. In the main gallery, Cuban-born Alexandre Arrechea, formerly of Los Carpinteros, will examine the ripple effects of individual actions in Bare Tool, a work incorporating video projections and suspended sculptures. Even more creative might be Alba Triana's project room installation, "Dialogue with the Primordial Sea," which uses magnetic fields to generate sound patterns. High tech! On view through January 18, 2025, at Locust Projects, 297 NE 67th St., Miami; 305-576-8570; locustprojects.org. Admission is free.

Joel Meyerowitz at NSU Art Museum

Up in Fort Lauderdale, NSU's marquee art show is a retrospective of legendary photographer Joel Meyerowitz, who changed the medium forever by insisting on color photography, once considered gauche due to its commercial use, as a substantial means of artistic expression. The artist himself will be at the museum on Sunday, December 1, to give a talk, but if you miss that, there's still plenty to see, including a joint exhibition by Rose B. Simpson and Vanessa German and an excellent debut show for local artist Cici McMonigle. On view through March 16, 2025, at NSU Art Museum, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 954-525-5500; nsuartmuseum.org. Tickets cost $5 to $16; free admission for children 12 and under.