By: ERIN MICHELLE NEWBERG
From Palm Beach to Miami Beach, here are six reasons to get out and support South Florida’s top cultural institutions.
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART NORTH MIAMI
Hurry and visit MOCA for the “Michael Richards: Are You Down?” exhibition, which features works by the late Richards, who died on September 11, 2001, while working in his studio during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This Afro-Caribbean artist’s sculptural and drawing practice reflects on issues of racial inequity, anti-blackness, and diasporic identity. The exhibition will be open to the public until September 11, on the 20th anniversary of the tragic event. show worth seeing, this Parisian master is known for welded sculptures of seemingly incongruous cubes teetering on top of each other. Comprised of cubes with exposed voids, Novatt’s sculptures are as much about line and drawing in space as they are about occupying space with mass. The works are monumentally scaled, often outdoors, and are defined by their placement in the landscape as well as connection to the public. From October 14 through June 26, 2022.
ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER OF PERFORMING ARTS
Legendary Cuban pianist and composer Jesús “Chucho” Valdés presents “La Creación (The Creation),” his new work for big band, Afro-Cuban percussion, and vocals. Led by musical directors Hilario Durán and John Beasley and performed by the Yoruban Orchestra, presented in partnership with the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Big Band, the work explores the creation story according to the Afro-Cuban religion Santería. It represents a return to big-band sonorities, including elements of ritual music, African music, the blues, in what Valdés describes as, “very significant work… my masterpiece — so far.” November 15.
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, MIAMI
ICA offers South Florida a show of rarely seen works in an installation by pioneering artist Betye Saar. “Serious Moonlight” spans significant installations created from 1980 to 1998. Showcasing this lesser-known aspect of the artist’s practice, the survey provides new insights into Saar’s explorations of ritual, spirituality, and cosmologies, as well as themes of the African diaspora. From October 29 through April 17, 2022.
NSU ART MUSEUM FORT LAUDERDALE
“Photographing the Fantastic” will showcase key artworks that transform the mundane into fantastic scenes and include works by Berenice Abbott, Alexandre Arrechea, Edward Burtynsky, Vera Lutter, Maria Martinez-Canas, Zanele Muholi, Cindy Sherman, and others. Furthermore, a solo show by Jared McGriff and another titled “The Art of Assemblage” will coincide with the opening. From November 21 through spring 2022.
NORTON MUSEUM OF ART
“Special Guest: Beaching the Boat (Afternoon Light),” is a masterpiece by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, a relatively unfamiliar name to most American museum visitors. Yet, he was hailed as a “master of light” by no less an artist than Claude Monet. Open through 2023.