With pastel Art Deco waterfront, perennial sunshine, salsa in the background and larger-than-life private art collections, Miami is my paradise winter destination. I have spent the last week examining the art on show. These totemic private collections exhibited in industrial warehouses and purpose-built constructions are hardly attainable for most. However, it gives us glimpses of the different styles and models that look at long term possibilities for art collecting. Enjoy the highlights!
De La Cruz Collection is located in the Miami Design District. The three-story building hosts Progressive Praxis, an exhibition focused on process and medium experimentation.
The Rubell Family Collection has a strong focus on supporting emerging and mid-career artists and is exhibiting High Anxiety, their latest acquisitions since 2014 alongside New Shamans/Novos Xamãs: Brazilian Artists inspired by the Rubells’ extensive research trips to Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
The Margulies Collection, in the middle of Wynwood Art District, is surrounded by street art in this industrial neighborhood. There are two current displays of colossal scale by Jannis Kounellis and Anselm Kiefer alongside permanent collection works.
“In the past, when I wanted to make a sculpture, it was also something an art dealer wanted. But it was still up to me weather or not to produce something. There aren’t any more sculptures standing around now. Instead I’m confronted with demands that I react to. It’s an interaction with the environment that determines how a work gets to the pedestal. It isn’t purely constructive. I don’t construct things from out of the void and place them into the world. I face the world and I respond to its demands the best I can. That’s the way I work – not constructive but responsive, as they say.”
The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation is in Downtown Miami. The building’s façade deserves a major mention and it is worth the visit on its own. The mini tiles wrap the building entirely, creating a jungle effect in the courtyard.
Pérez Art Museum Miami is technically not a private collection. It is a partnership between Metropolitan Dade County Government and a private corporation. It was named after Jorge M. Pérez in recognition of a generous gift. It houses a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions.
All images © Marina Ribera Iñigo
