"Walk the Night" Puts Nightlife on Display for Miami Art Week

When Studio 54's popularity and notoriety were at its zenith, a man aiming to sneak in ostensibly put on black-tie attire, broke into the club's AC panel, and soon suffocated to death somewhere above the dance floor. It may be impossible to separate the facts from the folklore of legendary clubs like Studio 54, but oral history and pictures remain from those places.

Chicago's esteemed DJ/producer Ron Trent is taking to Miami Art Week this weekend with his new exhibit, "Walk the Night: Nightlife and Club Culture 1977-1990," co-curated with Adrian Loving, HWV8, and Rob McKay, bringing with it a collection of photos, panel discussions, and parties to honor the footprint left by Studio 54 (New York City), Paradise Garage (New York City), the Music Box (Chicago), and the Warehouse (Chicago) at the Arlo Hotel in Wynwood.

"This project was a labor of love and also a project based on unity and for the people to celebrate our culture," Trent, the curator and executive producer of "Walk the Night," tells New Times from his home in Chicago. The event pivots around the work of photographers Robert Williams, Bill Bernstein, and Tina Paul, who were all knee-deep in the dance floor muck to photograph the scene's genesis.

Trent will moderate a panel featuring Bernstein, Williams, and Paul at Higher Ground at Arlo Wynwood on Friday, December 8. There will be additional discussions with DJs Arthur Baker and Louie Vega. On Saturday, December 9, the Arlo will host the all-day public showing and the "Construction Party" closing event featuring Victor Rosado, Danny Krivit, and Trent. There are also events leading up to the opening at Gramps on Wednesday, December 6, and at Soundlux Audio on Thursday, December 7. Merchandise will be sold at the events.
"I wanted to show the interconnectivity between New York, Chicago, and other places. That's the story," Trent says. "Frankie [Knuckles] and Robert Williams being from New York City, and [eventually] opening the Warehouse and then it continuing to the Power Plant and the Music Box and training people for what is now house music."

Trent quickly points out that the Magic City also contributed to transforming electronic music. "Miami played a role in all of it. And this is what it's about — putting a light on club culture and nightlife as it happened. Tina Paul has a few photos from Miami that will also be in the exhibit."

Trent describes the show's nightlife tableau as a "glimpse inside" of those ethereal nights. The dance floor is packed with carefree, denim-clad creatures of the night looking past anyone's race, creed, or sexual orientation and, instead, sacrificing themselves to the rhythm under the disco ball and speakers. Tina Paul caught a snap of Paradise Garage's revered resident, the late Larry Levan, and Grace Jones lighting up their cigarettes together.

"There's Tina Paul, who did photos from the Garage all the way in the '90s, and then Bill Bernstein did Studio 54 and all those illustrious clubs that were opening up in the '70s and '80s. Some of the photos by Williams are the first to be seen," Trent explains.

Trent brought the show to Miami instead of New York or Chicago to merge Miami Art Week's seemingly exclusive art focus and the excess partying that happens alongside it. "I wanted an immersive situation where people could be immersed in the culture — and this culture is coming from a fine-art culture," he says. "Photography is a fine art, and I wanted to inform people. There seems to be some interest in electronic music right now, and there are a lot of people who don't know about it."
Trent aims to take "Walk the Night" internationally following the Miami show.

The exhibit will act as a hallmark for those late-great nights and also a memorial to Trent's late friend and former intern Virgil Abloh, who passed away two years ago after a private battle with cancer.

"We're going to have Virgil Abloh's pieces in the exhibit. He was my intern for two or three years, and he did these pieces that looked like speakers, and then I realized they were these modular boxes," he adds. "It's like he did them as an ode for his affinity to music but also just him being Virgil."

Trent, who's entering the fourth decade in his career, began DJing for friends's parties before diving into the Chicago scene. His seminal 1990 track "Altered States" is a deep-house classic. Last year, he released What Do the Stars Say to You, a suave piece of work featuring collaborations with Azimuth and Khruangbin. He's working on a follow-up, Warm II, which will be out next year.

Whether one wants to call these clubs heaven, temples, or touchstones is up to them; however, the real impact was the unifying pulse that laid a foundation for DJs to sell out venues like Madison Square Garden.

"Electronic music is an interactive art form," Trent explains. "The dancers are part of the music — they're the orchestra — and that's how it should be. That creates this almost tribal synergy where we're all in it together. It's us against the world, and we're going on this journey. We're going over this mountain, and now we're climbing up, and now we're in the sky."

"Walk the Night" Welcome Night. 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday, December 9, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. Tickets cost $15 to $20 via ra.co.

The Sound of Klipsch: An Audiophile Showcase and Book Talk. 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, December 7, at Soundlux Audio, 20 NW 25th St., Loft 302, Miami; soundluxaudio.com. Admission is free with RSVP via walkthenight.net.

"Walk the Night" Panel Discussion. 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, December 8, at Higher Ground at Arlo Wynwood, 2217 NW Miami Ct., Miami; 786-522-6600; arlohotels.com. Admission is free with RSVP via walkthenight.net.

"Walk the Night: Nightlife and Club Culture 1977-1990." Noon to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, December 9, at Arlo Wynwood, 2217 NW Miami Ct., Miami; 786-522-6600; arlohotels.com. Tickets cost $20 via ra.co.