Being a good curator is all about spotting art that others might overlook. René Morales, who has been a curator in Miami for more than a decade, launched Global Positioning Systems, an ongoing programme at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (Pamm) that pairs key works from the museum’s permanent holdings with important loans from private collections. Morales organised Pamm’s current exhibition of site-specific sculptural work by the Los Angeles-born, Miami-based artist Nicolas Lobo (until 13 December). Next year, he will organise a show of work by the African-American artist Romare Bearden, as well as new projects with Sarah Oppenheimer and Susan Hiller. When we needed an expert eye to steer us through the thousands of works on show at Art Basel in Miami Beach, he was an obvious choice.
Robert Longo
Untitled (from the American Stories Cycle) (2015)
Metro Pictures (E1)
“Longo is at a real high point in his expansive production, in terms of both his level of technical achievement and the subtlety and sophistication with which he approaches his subject matter. This huge, new drawing is evocative and mysterious, relating indirectly to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. It forms part of Longo’s long-standing engagement with the dark undercurrents that run just beneath the surface of suburban American life.”
Rosalyn Drexler
The Dream (1963)
Garth Greenan (S9)
“Though under-acknowledged, the 89-year-old artist was working in the Pop mode more or less side by side with much more recognisable, male counterparts. In place of the coolness and detachment of artists like Warhol and Lichtenstein, Drexler’s work is charged with emotion and imbued with personal dimensions, presenting scenes of violence alongside scenes of love and passion.”
Nari Ward
Breathing Panel #2 (2015)
Lehmann Maupin (K16)
“This is from a recent project that Nari began after visiting one of the oldest existing African-American churches in the country, in Savannah, Georgia. There are holes in the floor of the church that date back to the era of the Underground Railroad; they permitted the escaped slaves hidden below the floorboards to breathe. At the same time, the holes related to patterned diagrams that are common to African religious traditions, particularly Congolese cosmograms and Afro-Caribbean abakuá imagery. Nari laid sheets of copper on the floor of his studio and danced on top of them to create the marks, using his body to reinforce the reference to the church floor.”
Trevor Paglen
NSA-Tapped Fiber Optic Cable Landing Site, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2015)
Metro Pictures (E1)
“It’s hard to think of an artist making work that is more important in terms of understanding the workings of our government. Trevor’s work should feel relevant for anyone concerned about freedom. To create this series, he pinpointed and photographed the exact locations of NSA-tapped communications cables just off the coast of Miami, enabling us to literally see what the erosion of our privacy looks like.”
Kerry James Marshall
Untitled (Policeman) (2015)
Jack Shainman Gallery (B21)
“This is a new work depicting an African-American man in a policeman’s uniform, at rest. It immediately recalls the issue of police violence against African-Americans, and the Black Lives Matter movement that has risen up over the past year or so. In this image, Marshall upends traditional associations of power and powerlessness.”
John Giorno
Filling what is empty, emptying what is full; SUICIDES ARE SONGS OF ASPIRATION (2015)
Elizabeth Dee (J15)
“John Giorno is another figure who has seen a remarkable resurgence in recent years. He has been working for decades to narrow the distances between experimental art, poetry and performance. His work delivers sharp, barbed statements that have a way of resonating and staying with you, of echoing in your brain. The bright, even garish colours in this recent set of works amplify the impact of his terse proclamations.”
Zilia Sánchez
Curvas (curves, 2005); El Silencio de Eros (the silence of Eros, around 1980)
Galerie Lelong (G1)
The 87-year-old Cuban-born, New York-based artist “is one of the most under-recognised producers working today. She is a pioneer of experiments involving the shaped canvas. Her work strikes an elegant balance between an analytical kind of formalism and sensuality.”
