Featured Events in Miami in May 2025 (November Updated)

One Becomes Many explores the enduring legacies that transcend generations in the works of ten Black Brazilian artists. Through traditional motifs, geometric abstractions, and a deep reverence for Brazilian culture, these artists offer glimpses into a world where resilience is not merely a trait but a sacred inheritance. Central to the exhibition is candomblé—the Afro-Brazilian religion that draws on traditions of West African ethnic groups such as the Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu, as well as some aspects Roman Catholicism. Inspired by ritual practices, these artists pay homage to deities and ancestral spirits, exuding divine potency and wisdom in their works. The reimagined symbolic imagery from candomblé serves as a visual testament to the strength of a people who have endured, persisted, and thrived.

This exhibition is presented in three chapters, each showcasing a single video work by a different artist: Cao Fei, Cécile B. Evans, and Guerreiro do Divino Amor. Visitors are encouraged to return to experience the works individually. Each video takes viewers on a journey through alternate realities where the boundaries between the real, the virtual, and the imagined blur. Collectively, the works examine how constructed worlds—whether simulated, cultural, or mythological—shape our understanding of identity, space, and power.

Language and Image: Conceptual and Performance-based Photography from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection brings together more than 100 works by over 50 international artists. In line with our mission and vision—one that is shared by our patrons’ passion for collecting—the artists come from all over the planet but artists from Latin America and the African diaspora play a significant role. Celebrated artists who have made innovative works of art for decades, such as Marina Abramović, Thomas Ruff, Cindy Sherman, and Thomas Struth are featured alongside artists like Jonathas de Andrade, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ana Mendieta, and Vik Muniz, among others who have been presented at the museum frequently in the past.

Mark Dion blurs the lines between reality and fiction to examine human interventions in nature in this large-scale installation, originally commissioned by the Miami Art Museum (now PAMM) in 2006. The South Florida Wildlife Rescue Unit presents a mobile rescue operation—a fully equipped vehicle operated by a fictional team tasked with saving endangered species in the Everglades. Mannequins in uniform and a vitrine displaying conservation tools and artifacts create a staged yet eerily plausible scene that humorously critiques bureaucratic inefficiency while celebrating grassroots environmental activism. Dion’s work prompts reflection on the complex history of the Everglades—from early exploration and ecological exploitation to ongoing restoration efforts. Combining meticulous research with biting irony, Dion challenges how science, policy, and myth shape our perception of nature. This exhibition brings urgent environmental and social issues into focus, offering a thought-provoking look at Florida’s most fragile ecosystem.

Cecilia Vicuña is a poet and artist who grew up in the Chilean commune of La Florida, in the Maipo Valley. Born to a family of artists and intellectuals, Vicuña grew up hearing about the persecution and incarceration of individuals who struggled for social justice in the wake of increasingly conservative government agendas. While attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London on a British Council Award in 1972–73, a coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet, commander-in-chief of the Chilean army, ushered in a seventeen-year military dictatorship. This led Vicuña to remain in London on a self-imposed exile, where she exhibited her work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and published her first book, Saborami (1973). At the time, she was largely focused on political activism directed against fascism and human rights violations in Chile and other countries.

The Days That Build Us presents a selection of video works from PAMM’s collection, each offering a unique perspective on moments that shape our identities and define our paths. Through the lens of artists like Tania Candiani, Dara Friedman, Deborah Jack, Rivane Neuenschwander in collaboration with Cao Guimarães, and Miguel Ángel Rojas, the exhibition explores the complexities of the human experience that build us. Rojas’ exploration of Colombian society challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths, while Candiani’s multidisciplinary practice prompts critical contemplation of ideologies, resilience, and labor. Friedman’s intimate portrayal of couples kissing invites reflection on the nature of intimacy and public display, while Jack’s work offers a deep exploration of personal and cultural identity through vivid imagery. Neuenschwander’s playful yet profound narratives imbue the mundane with poetic significance. Together, these works invite viewers to reconsider their understanding of familiar concepts and reflect on daily moments that shape their own lives.

For its 2024 Contemporary Arts Program Exhibition, Vizcaya presents Pastiche, featuring site-specific work by Miami-based artist Lauren Shapiro. The exhibition explores the enduring legacy of Vizcaya’s artistic advisor, Paul Chalfin (1874 – 1959), whose 150th anniversary we celebrate this year. Interpreting Vizcaya’s architecture, history, and environment through this lens, Shapiro will debut a series of sculptures in response to three spaces decorated by Chalfin: the Breakfast Room, Enclosed Loggia, and Reception Room.

Born in Miami to Cuban parents, artist José Parlá (b. 1973, Miami; lives in New York) was raised between mainland United States and Puerto Rico. Influenced by his proximity to Caribbean and Latin American countries, he developed an interest in diverse cultural traits, including Cuban music, hip hop, reggae, calligraphy, dance, and urban architecture and its decay, all of which would become recurring themes in his work. Consistent with his blended culture, Parlá is interested in hybrid forms of abstraction. Through a unique mark-making process, grounded in movement and bodily gestures, Parlá produces a painterly stream of consciousness characterized by addition, erasure, and layering. His physical and textural artistic process challenges conventional visual culture. Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is honored to be hosting Parlá’s first solo museum exhibition in his hometown. Featuring a new series of never-before-seen works and a site-specific mural, José Parlá: Homecoming will ultimately mirror the artist’s studio. An elaborate, two-part exhibition will allow visitors to observe Parlá’s dance-like technique in real time as he paints a site-specific mural for the first iteration of the exhibition. The second iteration will see the museum gallery transformed and converted into Parlá’s studio—a room full of paint-covered tables, a lively Cuban-inspired record collection, and decades of Parla’s archival memorabilia. In 2021, Parlá contracted a life-threatening case of COVID-19—he was hospitalized and endured a four-month coma during which he suffered a stroke and significant brain bleeding. A radical departure from the traditional use of space in a museum, this presentation not only represents a homecoming to Miami, but also marks a return to himself and his practice after this experience. Celebrating the spirit of resilience and returning to one’s roots, José Parlá: Homecoming is a testament to the profound connections among personal history, art, and creative expression. In addition to the completed mural and studio re-creation, the exhibition will also feature a number of recent works Parlá created upon his return to painting. The result is a process-focused exhibition highlighting an expressionistic painter who conscientiously engages with issues relating to Cuban and broader diasporic identity.

Inspired by the murals of Carl Abrahams lining the departures lounge of Kingston Jamaica’s Norman Manley International Airport, Hurvin Anderson presents a new, sixteen-panel, monumental painting in his first solo show at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Mining the space between abstraction and representation in painting, Anderson creates art that is at once steeped in history but also acutely contemporary. Born in Birmingham, England to Jamaican parents of the Windrush Generation, a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, Anderson’s paintings are grounded in the universal spaces and visual archive of the landscape tradition so much a part of the history of modern western art. Yet, as is demonstrated here, he is also an explorer of what those histories mean in the African diaspora and, more specifically, within the cultural and social traditions of the Caribbean. In 2022, Anderson participated in the Kingston Biennial. While working on that project, he traveled to and from Jamaica through Miami; coming face-to-face with the two murals Abrahams painted on Jamaican history for the airport in 1985. During this time, Abrahams’s murals began resonating with Anderson in a different way. Reflecting on the importance of Jamaican history, and the rich history of the Caribbean as a whole, Anderson began working on ideas for this show while taking these trips. Thinking of what these historical murals mean for immigration, but also as a point of entry and departure for tourism, Anderson developed this new sixteen-panel painting.

Narratives in Focus is a photography exhibition featuring a diverse range of artists from the Caribbean, United States Latin America, and Africa. This presentation delves into nuanced expressions of individual and collective identities, prompting viewers to critically engage with themes of race, gender, and culture. The works exhibited emphasize the power of photography as a medium to investigate personal histories, cultural identities, and social dynamics. Through diverse visual languages, the artists highlight issues of memory, migration, and the interplay between tradition and modernity. Themes of survival, resistance, and empowerment are prevalent, reflecting the artists’ commitment to addressing and redefining notions of home, land, and community. By presenting a variety of perspectives and experiences, Narratives in Focus encourages viewers to reconsider their perceptions and biases. It not only underscores the importance of representation, but also invites contemplation on the intricate connections between the past and present, the personal and collective, and the local and global. Through powerful imagery and thought-provoking content, this exhibition challenges and deepens our understanding of identity in today’s world. Presented artists are Widline Cadet, Sarah Charlesworth, River Claure, Camila Falquez, Anna Bella Geiger, Njaimeh Njie, Athi-Patra Ruga, and Mary Sibande.