Unless you crawled under a large rock to escape the visual bombardment of Miami Art Week, chances are you're still reeling from the orgy of multi-media works that festooned our shores from South Beach to Biscayne Bay and far beyond during the recent Basel lunacy.
But there is a show up at Wynwood's Curator's Voice Art Projects that promises to restore your bedraggled senses using an interactive giant box designed to let audiences climb inside.
During this weekend's post-Basel edition of the Second Saturday culture crawl beginning at 6:00 p.m., you can enter "The Cube" by Ana I. Martinez, in which the artist seeks to open "up the doors of the spirit, and allow the observer to be immersed in the art experience".
You can also get an earlier start beginning at 1 p.m. in Downtown, with a free tour of the spanking new Perez Art Museum Miami, where visitors will be greeted with a drum roll. Or check out the mysteries of Haitian voodoo across the street at the Freedom Tower. Here are our top picks of what's on tap this Saturday.
Perez Art Museum Miami
They could have named PAMM the Chicho Pan de Gloria Cultural Emporium and not a soul would have uttered a peep, because Herzog & de Meuron's masterpiece on the bay is so beautiful. This Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., PAMM kicks off its free Second Saturdays with "First Beat," an original performance created for the museum and featuring 12 female drummers. Composed by Mindy Abovitz, founder and publisher of Tom Tom Magazine, the percussive work will unfurl throughout different galleries in the museum each hour as the clock strikes. If the pulsating throb of different drummers doesn't provoke your senses, make sure to catch "Ai Weiwei: According to What?", the first major international survey of the influential Chinese art star's career boasting work from the past two decades ranging from photography to the large-scale sculptures which have helped make him a household name.
Perez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Call 305-375-3000 or visit pamm.org.
Rituales en Haití
After departing PAMM, mosey on over to Miami Dade College's Museum of Art + Design at the Freedom Tower just across the boulevard, where the mysteries and enigmatic pageantry of one of the Caribbean's most secretive and misunderstood religions is the subject of Cristina Garcia Rodero's stunning solo show that lifts the veil on the occult rituals of Haitian voodoo. The sprawling show features a series of 160 works by the Spanish artist, which first debuted at the 2001 Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy. To capture her haunting pictures, García Rodero traveled to Haiti on several occasions over a period of four years, documenting voodoo rituals during her visits. The engaging pictures convey both the complexities of the human subconscious and the enduring influence of faith on humanity.
Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Exhibit is free to the public and Saturday hours are Noon to 5 p.m. Call 305-237-7722 or visit mdcmoad.org.
The Cube
Martinez's multi-media opus, the size of an average living room, integrates visual, audio and tactile elements to create a transcendental impact on visitors. "The Cube conveys the fusion of high LED technology and art through delirious images and sound for the viewer to experiment in an enclosed chamber presented at the gallery," explains Milagros Bello, curator. Martinez and her collaborative team call their interactive structure "a portal into a soul-divine connection introducing the nature and power of the divine," adding that once inside their funhouse for the spirit, visitors will discover "nine different artistic expressions to choose from, each one depicting a particular human and philosophical quality".
Curator's Voice Art Projects, 299 NW 25th Street, Miami. Call 786-357-0568 or visit curatorsvoice.com.
Shen Chao-Liang: Stage
The Dina Mitrani Gallery, one of Wynwood's top photo emporiums, weighs in with a peeper-searing exhibit focused on the mobile stage trucks used in Taiwanese cabaret. On view you'll discover the ubiquitous garish, neon, flashing stages, stripped bare of the audience and performers and given pride of place on urban and rural streets where the artist renders them the subject of haunting, colorful compositions and the narrative rises from the imagination of the beholder.
Dina Mitrani Gallery, 2620 NW Second Avenue, Miami. Call 786-486-7248 or visit dinamitranigallery.com.
Looking at Process
If you've ever looked at an artwork, scratched your noggin and wondered 'Hey, how did all that corn get in there?' then this survey into artists who focus on patterns and laying bare the method of their madness is the ticket to enlightenment. Boasting close to 40 top-shelf talents including Hernan Bas, Martin Creed, Thomas Houseago, Rashid Johnson, Ana Mendieta, Christopher Wool and others, each of the artists on display experiment with process to redefine culture.
De La Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, 23 NE 41st Street, Miami. Call 305-576-6112 or visit delacruzcollection.com.
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