Upon entering, visitors are met with "How We Remember," a meditative photography exhibition centered around the archival of memories and the contemporary desire to document impressive and ordinary moments.
Opened in early May, recognized artists from the museum's permanent collection, such as Joel Meyerowitz and Ruth Orkin, are displayed in tandem with local Miami artists Roscoè B. Thickè III and Christine Cortes. The former's photojournalism of exceptional events such as post-9/11 America and Tel Aviv during the formation of modern Israel are juxtaposed alongside the day-to-day of Thickè's family and friends in Liberty City and Cortes' sentimental visit to Colombia, creating the rich and varied exploration of street photography that chief curator Amy Galpin aimed for.
"Something we try to do at our museum is mix historic and contemporary art and break down hierarchies," Galpin says. "We feel that by bringing together all four [artists] around a conversation of human connections with place, street photography, and, of course, around the notion of memory, we're hoping for a meaningful exhibition."
"Allegories of Learning" emphasizes how a drawing’s appearance can reflect its geographical origin.
Photo by Isabel Rivera
On loan from the Georgia Museum of Art, "Allegories for Learning" brings a slice of 16th- through 18th-century Italy to modern-day Miami. It centers around the medium's newly acquired fame as an independent art form within that period and its ability to fingerprint a geographical region and artist.
Displayed on vibrant garnet walls in a manner reminiscent of the early period, the exhibition transports visitors to the Italian Rennaissance in both ambiance and information, bringing historical art to audiences that are hard-pressed to find in Miami's saturated contemporary scene. Moreover, the exhibition was selected for the summer 2023 program with college students in mind — a target audience the Frost consistently serves and keeps at the core of its mission.
"There were several students in the art and art history departments that studied abroad this summer in Italy and France, which is amazing, but not everyone can do that," Galpin notes. "We definitely like to offer our audiences something different."
This interactive wall space installed in "Draw: Point to Point" invites the average visitor to trace or sketch protest photography by referencing projected transparencies to spur community engagement.
Photo by Isabel Rivera
Curated by artists Tomas Vu and Brian Novatny to be a traveling series, the Miami iteration features permanent and local works from artists of various origins, recognition, and approaches to drawing, aiming to feature new ideas relating to the "ephemerality and urgency of the medium of drawing."
Lively, eclectic, and textured, the medium's immediacy is conveyed through every bit of wall space available, with works crawling up the walls or hung in unsuspecting corners.
Its most notable and admirable quality? The sense of community it's fostered since its opening in mid-June.
Interactive wall spaces encourage visitors to sketch, trace, and participate in the act of drawing. A monthly educational programming series will be provided alongside the exhibition making the space a fun, must-visit community hub to stop by this summer.
– Isabel Rivera, ArtburstMiami.com
"How We Remember," "Allegories of Learning," and "Draw: Point to Point." On view through September 17, at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, 10975 SW 17th St, Miami; 305-348-2890; frost.fiu.edu. Admission is free.
