These upcoming art exhibitions in South Florida top our must-see list for this season

Jane Wooldridge
·9 min read

For the Miami art scene, the last 12 months have embodied change.

Maribel Perez Wadsworth replaced retired Knight Foundation CEO Alberto Ibarguen, whose love for the arts led to more than $200 million investment in the local arts ecosystem; Knight’s Victoria Rogers will soon retire as well. Marialaura Leslie took the helm of Miami-Dade County’s Cultural Affairs Division, following the retirement of the county’s premier cultural architect, Michael Spring. Long-time Frost Museum of Art director Jordana Pomeroy, stepped down from FIU to join the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire.

And sadly, in February, pioneering collector Rosa de la Cruz died. Her namesake collection space soon closed.

Change closes chapters, but it also brings opportunity. Arts lovers look forward to seeing the fresh approaches from new leaders at Knight, the county and Art Basel Miami Beach, where Bridget Finn takes over as director.

They can also look forward to these highlight exhibitions at local institutions.

TAKE ME HOME

The Pérez Art Museum Miami opens a solo show of recent works by Miami native José Parlá’s in fall 2024.
The Pérez Art Museum Miami opens a solo show of recent works by Miami native José Parlá’s in fall 2024.

Jose Parla may have moved to Brooklyn, but his Miami ties remain secure. Born in the Magic City to Cuban parents, Parla attended the New World School of the Arts and Miami Dade College before moving to New York, and Miami still influences his work. While solo exhibitions of his work have been staged in Hong Kong, Istanbul, Seoul, Atlanta and New York, his upcoming show at Perez Art Museum Miami marks his first major museum show in his hometown.

For those who live here, Parla’s multilayered work feels like driving down Calle Ocho then through downtown and on to the beach: a cacophony of tropical colors and purposeful scrawl with no discernible end. His exhibition at PAMM features a replica of his studio, filled with vinyl records and memorabilia. Included are several never-before-shown works, including a massive site-specific mural that he will create in the museum just prior to the show’s Nov. 14 opening.

The exhibition, “Homecoming,” refers not only to his physical birthplace but to his artistic practice. During the pandemic, Parla suffered a stroke and brain bleeding from a severe case of COVID-19 that left him in a coma for four months. It’s only fitting that he return to painting in the place that it all began.

“Jose Parla: Homecoming,” Nov. 14 - April 25, 2025, at Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org.

FREEDOM ISN’T FREE

“FDR and the U.N.,” is one of the works by William Johnson that will be shown in fall 2024 at the Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Art at Florida International University.
“FDR and the U.N.,” is one of the works by William Johnson that will be shown in fall 2024 at the Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Art at Florida International University.

This contentious election year serves as a painful reminder that independence comes at a cost. “Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” at the Frost Art Museum memorializes the courage of many who forged rocky paths to political and social freedom.

Johnson’s paintings are far more than portraits. Each of the 28 works tells a story of determination, fortitude, leadership. Abraham Lincoln stands in a cemetery filled with crosses and hanging bodies recalling lynchings. Franklin Delano Roosevelt stands among the seated heads of state that formed the United Nations.

Johnson’s own trajectory reflects a staunch spirit of resolve. Born in South Carolina to a poor African-American family in 1901, Johnson moved to New York at age 17 and worked to afford an arts education at the prestigious National Academy of Design. He later moved to Paris and then returned to the U.S. His mental health declined following his wife’s death, and he spent his final two decades in state mental hospital. By the time of his death in 1970, the once-lauded artist had slipped into obscurity. His legacy has been revived by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which is presenting this show.

Also at the Frost: Malawian-born Billie Zangewa’s hand-sewn silk collages depicting daily life in Africa, also in collaboration with the Smithsonian.

“Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice:” Oct. 12 - Jan. 5, 2025. “Billie Zangewa: Field of Dreams,” Nov. 23 - April 14, 2025. At Patricia & Philip Frost Museum of Art at Florida International University, 10975 SW 17th St., Miami; 305-348-2890; www.frost.fiu.edu.

MIAMI IN HER BONES

An installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus (avaf) that was commissioned by Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz has been gifted to TheBass on Miami Beach, where it will be installed this fall.
An installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus (avaf) that was commissioned by Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz has been gifted to TheBass on Miami Beach, where it will be installed this fall.

Anyone who lived in Miami in the 1980s recalls stark memories of crystalline seas, untrammeled beaches and a dark, drug-fueled grittiness that lay beneath. So it is with Rachel Feinstein. Though she has lived in New York since 1993, Miami’s duality has long informed her sculptures and multidisciplinary works. A rainbow forms the stairs of a canted fairytale house. Dolphins leap from a pink reef. A paint-splatted bikini-clad woman in stacked heels recalls South Beach’s drag-queen tea dances. Underscoring the unseen are flat-screen panels; so much then -- and now -- was a stage set.

This fall, TheBass presents Feinstein’s first major museum show in Miami. Its centerpiece is a new 30-foot mirrored landscape, “Panorama of Miami,” featuring the Magic City of yore. “Rachel Feinstein: The Miami Years” is sure to leave viewers wondering at the city’s transformation and its role in Feinstein’s practice.

Also at TheBass: Over the past two decades, Carlos de la Cruz and his late wife, Rosa, frequently opened their home to art lovers. Among the most memorable artworks was a bi-level installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus (avaf), an homage to the party years of the 1970s incorporating custom wallpapers, a curved staircase and disco ball. Originally designed as a performance space, it became static as programming became too time consuming, says Eli Sudbrack, one half of the duo that is avaf. Early last year, before Rosa’s death, the de la Cruzes gifted the installation to TheBass. Reconfigured for a specific space, the work goes on display Nov. 13.

“Rachel Feinstein: The Miami Years,” Sept. 25-Aug. 17, 2025, and “Assume Vivid Astro Focus – XI,” from Nov. 13, at TheBass, 2100 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7530; thebass.org.

NOW AND THEN

Abstract paintings by rising art star Lucy Bull will be featured in fall 2024 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami’s Design District.
Abstract paintings by rising art star Lucy Bull will be featured in fall 2024 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami’s Design District.

Is that an exploding universe? A microscopic view of a microbe? Or just the way your brain responds when faced with emotions that defy reason?

The abstract paintings of rising artist Lucy Bull strike viscerally, evoking curiosity, wonder, joy and even a touch of horror, as if your innards were suddenly exposed. Bull’s solo exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art - Miami, will be her first U.S. museum show. In its tenth anniversary season, ICA and artistic director, Alex Gartenfeld, continue their practice of bypassing of-the-moment artists in favor of those on the rise and those faded in memory. The common thread: All push boundaries of contemporary norms. This year’s program includes works by Japanese pop artist Keiichi Tanaami, the first U.S. museum exhibition of Chinese artist Ding Shilun, and two series of paintings by the late Afro-Brazilian artist Rubem Valentim.

“Lucy Bull: The Garden of Forking Paths,” Dec. 3 – March 30, 2025, at the Institute of Contemporary Art - Miami; 61 NE 41st St., Miami Design District.

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM

Works by Andrea Chung focus on the history and vulnerability of islands. They will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art - North Miami in fall 2024.
Works by Andrea Chung focus on the history and vulnerability of islands. They will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art - North Miami in fall 2024.

South Floridians think of “the islands” as our Bahamian and Caribbean neighbors, with their distinctive cultures and landscapes. Regardless of where they’re set, islands share an insurmountable vulnerability. Untethered from mainlands, they have long been too-easy prey for resource-strained nations and corporate forces. In her upcoming show at the Museum of Contemporary Art - North Miami, artist Andrea Chung explores the impacts of colonialism through 80 artworks encompassing collages, video and sculpture. A new featured commission includes sugar bottles recalling desperate mothers who killed their babies to avoid a future as slaves. Each bottle holds a note of apology that dissolves over time.

“Andrea Chung: Between Too Early and Too Late,” Nov. 6- April 6, 2025. Museum of Contemporary Art - North Miami, 770 NE 125 St., North Miami; 305-893-6211; mocanomi.org.

PHOTO FINISH

Joel Meyerowitz’s pool image shot in Florida in 1978 is part of the show, “Joel Meyerowitz: Temporal Aspect,” at NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale in fall 2024.
Joel Meyerowitz’s pool image shot in Florida in 1978 is part of the show, “Joel Meyerowitz: Temporal Aspect,” at NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale in fall 2024.



The popularity of photography has waned for the moment, pushed aside by AI, textiles, abstraction and long-overdue attention to indigenous artists. At a time when shiny new artists grab so much of the shine, NSU Art Museum’s “Joel Meyerowitz: Temporal Aspect” offers a welcome antidote. Best known as an early adopter of color photography, Meyerowitz captured singular moments of life on the streets of New York, Paris, Provincetown and South Florida. His still images remind us that life is more than a video on autoplay. The show’s images come from the museum’s recent acquisition of 1,800 works from the Meyerowitz archive.

“Joel Meyerowitz: Temporal Aspect,” Oct. 5 to March 16, 2025, at the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, 1 E Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 954-525-5500; nsuartmuseum.org.

From the Pueblo

“Kuh kahn, Recon Watchman,” by Virgil Ortiz will be part of an exhibition this fall at the Lowe Art Museum.
“Kuh kahn, Recon Watchman,” by Virgil Ortiz will be part of an exhibition this fall at the Lowe Art Museum.

New Mexican Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz’s show at the University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum is the result of a conversation that began five years ago, long before the emergence of indigenous futurism as a trend. After meeting Ortiz five years ago, Lowe director Jill Deupi was so impressed with the skill and complexity of his work that she offered him a solo show. Trained by his late grandmother and mother, both artists, Ortiz uses clay, pumice, and wild spinach leaves from his Pueblo homeland to create monumental painted pottery through traditional methods. A recurrent theme is the Pueblo revolt of 1680, when native peoples coalesced against the Spaniards. Entitled “Slipstream,” the exhibition memorializes the revolt through contemporary and futuristic figures, underscoring the fluid nature of time and history.

“Virgil Ortiz: Slipstream,” Oct 18-January 11, 2025, at the Lowe Art Museum - University of Miami, 1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables; 305-284-3535; lowe.miami.edu.

SINGULAR VISIONS

While the de la Cruz Collection is gone, Miami’s other private collections are going strong. Here’s what you can expect this season. Each reflects the personal passion of its namesake.

Shirin Neshat’s 2022 image, “The Fury,” is part of the show “Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection” at El Espacio 23 opening in fall 2024.
Shirin Neshat’s 2022 image, “The Fury,” is part of the show “Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection” at El Espacio 23 opening in fall 2024.

El Espacio 23, the Allapattah showcase for the private holdings of philanthropist (and chief PAMM supporter) Jorge M. Pérez, explores the complex relationship between our mental state and our physical bodies. “Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection” features works by more than 120 artists, including Carrie Mae Weems, Shirin Neshat, Anselm Kiefer and Miamian Jared McGriff. Together they offer a thought-provoking counterpoint to the world’s current obsession with artificial intelligence. From Nov. 14 at 2270 NW 23rd Street, Miami; elespacio23.org; 786-490-9090.

“Woman,” a 1947 work by Willem de Kooning, is part of the show of seminal 20th Century works at the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in fall 2024.
“Woman,” a 1947 work by Willem de Kooning, is part of the show of seminal 20th Century works at the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in fall 2024.

Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in Wynwood focuses on the decades from 1930-1970 as it presents an array of pivotal works by John Chamberlain, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Cy Twombly, Louise Nevelson, Jackson Pollock and other contemporary masters. From Dec. 2 at 591 NW 27th St., Miami; 305-576-1051; margulieswarehouse.com.

An artistic residency at Allapattah’s Rubell Museum has been an early step in many a stellar career. This year, visitors will find the sensual paintings of 2024 artist-in-residence Vanessa Raw, plus recent museum acquisitions including works by Omari Douglin. From Dec. 4 at 1100 NW 23rd St, Miami; 305-573-6090; rubellmuseum.org.