Local galleries and artist-run spaces in Miami have put on a visual feast as the most recent iteration of Art Basel Miami Beach arrives in South Florida this week, staking their claim to the place as a stand-alone arts ecosystem and beacon. These exhibitions are exclusive to Miami and range from significant platforms for Black, Latinx, and Caribbean artists to displays addressing some of the city’s most urgent problems, including as the gentrification crisis and growing real estate costs. There will be less traffic because some of these hidden treasures are on the mainland, further away from Miami Beach
Here’s a quick look at five of the most intriguing local art exhibits in the city that are happening during Art Basel Miami Beach, along with a few honorable mentions.
Since Art Basel debuted in 2002, there has been an outsider narrative about Miami’s art history. The book “Making Miami,” written by Vivek Jayaram and curated by Katerina Llanes, is a part exhibition, part perpetual digital record, and an attempt to refute this narrative. The 1980s and 1990s saw the establishment of several of Miami’s longest-running nonprofit spaces, including Diaspora Vibe, Bass Fisher Invitational, Dimensions Variable, and Locust Projects, which have long featured the artists who have molded the city and its arts scene.Situated on a 20,000-square-foot property in the center of the Design District, the show features over fifty Miami-based artists and focuses on the years 1996 to 2012. It is divided into five distinct sections.
Four of these nonprofit or artist-run galleries have been completely restored by artists and are still operational today. Every gallery is going to select its own exhibitions of Miami painters from a particular era. Large-scale pieces by artists like Jen Stark, Friends With You, and Daniel Arsham’s Snarkitecture will be on display in an outdoor sculpture garden. About ninety of the interviews in the accompanying book are with people who were involved in the art world during that time, including collectors, gallery owners, curators, and artists.
