<p>From the Rubell Museum to Locust Projects – via the newly-opened Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection – explore the rich tapestry of Miami's art scene</p>

Jesse Bratter

Discover Miami’s nonprofit spaces and private collections

<p><strong></strong><strong>Rubell Museum Miami</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong>Rubell Museum Miami presents artists-in-residence ‘Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift’ and Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, along with solo artist presentations by Sharif Farrag, Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., Savannah Claudia Levin, Patrick Martinez and more. ‘This year’s presentations represent a continuation of our mission to spotlight a diverse mix of contemporary artists while encouraging public dialogue,’ says Jason Rubell. ‘Works on view include significant pieces by artists our family has engaged with over decades, as well as exciting work by artists we have recently interacted with during studio visits, and from whom we have commissioned bodies of work.’</p>
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<p><strong>de la Cruz Collection</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz present ‘House in Motion’, a survey of works and installations by <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8552/Felix-Gonzalez-Torres" target="_blank">Felix Gonzalez-Torres</a>, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8498/Wade-Guyton" target="_blank">Wade Guyton</a>, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/41118/Vaughn-Spann" target="_blank">Vaughn Spann</a>, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/22503/Pepe-Mar" target="_blank">Pepe Mar</a>, Victoria Martinez, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6843/Adam-McEwen" target="_blank">Adam McEwen</a>, Murjoni Merriweather, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8473/Sarah-Morris" target="_blank">Sarah Morris</a>, and <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7393/Albert-Oehlen" target="_blank">Albert Oehlen</a>, to name just a few. With special hours from December 6–9, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., guests can have an intimate look at the personal collections of these formidable collectors. ‘“House in Motion” brings together paintings, sculptures, and site-specific installations from our private collection,’ the couple says. ‘Our annual exhibitions represent the collection’s history and revisit works within the context of the moment.’</p>

<p><strong></strong><strong>El Espacio 23</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>El Espacio 23, the contemporary art space founded by leading philanthropist, entrepreneur, and art collector Jorge M. Pérez, presents its latest exhibition, ‘To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection’. The exhibit follows several acquisitions that explore textiles, embroidery, and weaving as contemporary art rather than simple craft as they’ve been considered historically. Connecting the art of weaving’s traditional ties to abstraction and geometry, landscape, tactility, and ritual, textiles are given a new lens here. From color-blocking to contemporary weavings juxtaposed against paintings and spiritual influences drawn from Latin American or African ancestral roots, ‘To Weave the Sky’ sheds new light on ancient techniques.</p>
<p> ‘Our interest in textile-based works arose about 10 years ago when the Pérez Collection acquired works by Olga de Amaral, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6806/Robert-Motherwell" target="_blank">Robert Motherwell</a>, <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8353/Polly-Apfelbaum" target="_blank">Polly Apfelbaum</a>, Frances Trombly, and <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/23574/Ximena-Garrido-Lecca" target="_blank">Ximena Garrido Lecca</a>, all of whom are included in this exhibition,” says El Espacio 23 Art Director Patricia Hanna. ‘In previous exhibitions, we’ve homed in on a specific geographic region or overarching theme. With this year’s show, we wanted to honor the centuries-old tradition of textiles. When conceptualizing the exhibition, we allowed the textile-based contemporary works in the collection to be the catalyst and inspiration for the dialogues created among the artists.’</p>
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<p><strong></strong><strong>Locust Projects</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>Since Locust Projects is celebrating not only its 25th anniversary but also a move to a new home in Little River, they wanted their Miami Art Week exhibitions this year to be especially significant. So, they looked to the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, where Mexico City-based artist <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/13408/Tania-Candiani" target="_blank">Tania Candiani</a> created a massive sound and sculptural installation called <em>Waterbirds: Migratory Sound Flow</em>. The installation features a hanging river made with tree branches collected from a riverbank in Mexico; it has been reimagined for Miami to be site-specific and reference the waterways and migratory path of water birds that pass through South Florida.</p>
<p> ‘With South Florida, and the Everglades especially, serving as a major stopover on the Atlantic Flyway for migratory birds, the work provides a massive visual metaphor of the birds’ path as a “great blood system” of hundreds of bodies of water, and their interconnections and free movement essential to the survival of humans and animals alike,’ says Locust Projects Executive Director Lorie Mertes.</p>
<p> In the Project Room, an installation by Miami-based artist Cornelius Tulloch offers an interactive architectural installation called <em>Poetics of Place</em> that addresses climate gentrification and the dangers of rapid development. </p>


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<p><strong></strong><strong>Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>Embarking on a new chapter as it moves to a new space in the Miami Design District, ‘the Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection will present a highlight of its most influential pieces that recount the journey of the collection from its origins to what it has become,’ says JCMAC curator Ariel Jiménez. ‘“The Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection in Time/The Rigor of Geometric Forms” offers an open conversation with Mr. Juan Carlos through Latin American geometric masters, European and Russian Constructivism, Venezuelan Ye’kwana basketry, and the overall, denoting the transcultural and unbounded reach of geometric abstraction.’</p>
<p><strong>Margulies Collection at the Warehouse</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>From December 4–10, head to the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse on any given morning from 9 a.m. on for Coffee at the Margulies Collection. Stay for the ‘Motherwell, Segal, Stella’ exhibition of Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, and American Minimalism; a comprehensive retrospective of the late New York street photographer <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/16965/Helen-Levitt" target="_blank">Helen Levitt</a> exhibited alongside a showing of the 1948 film <em>In the Street</em>, produced by the artist along with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer James Agee and cinematographer Janice Loeb; and Italian artist <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/20315/Mimmo-Paladino" target="_blank">Mimmo Paladino</a>’s show of paintings and bronze sculptures that honor the cultural heritage of his homeland. ‘We see this solo exhibition by Paladino as a continuation of our decades-long interest in contemporary Italian art and are very pleased to present his work, including a 20-foot painting that we shipped in one piece from Italy,” says curator Katherine Hinds.</p>


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<p><strong></strong><strong>Marquez Art Projects </strong></p>
<p>José Delgado Zuñiga’s ‘Cusp’ offers commentary on the complexities of Chicano experiences using humor and Surrealism in bold paintings and drawings. Focusing on identity and freedom as center points, with culture, race, gender, and religion in the fold and tornadoes depicted across the canvases, this personal body of work explores the cycle of trauma, cleansing, and rejuvenation. Curated by Alex Gartenfeld, artistic director at ICA Miami, ‘Cusp’ is on view at the new nonprofit foundation Marquez Art Projects (MAP) in Allapattah alongside three other galleries showcasing works from the Marquez family collection. Established by Miami-based real estate developer, investor, restaurateur, and contemporary art collector John Marquez, MAP celebrates emerging visual artists.</p>
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<p>This article was originally published in the <em>Art Basel Miami Beach</em> magazine 2023.</p>
<p>Caption for full-bleed image: Basil Kincaid, <em>Courtship of Fireflies</em>, 2023. Courtesy of the Rubell Museum. A dark filter was applied over this image for readability.&nbsp;</p>
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From the Rubell Museum to Locust Projects – via the newly-opened Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection – explore the rich tapestry of Miami's art scene

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