Seven out of the ten nominees for the 2023 Florida prize are Miami-based: Cara Despain, Denise Treizman, Elliot & Erick Jiménez, Magnus Sodamin, Reginald O'Neal, Peggy Levison Nolan, and Amy Schissel. They'll participate in the museum's Florida Prize exhibition, running June 3-August 27, with one artist taking home the award and $20,000 in prize money.
Two artists who showed work in Miami museums last year could be considered frontrunners. Reginald O'Neal, the Overtown-raised painter whose gorgeously dark, cloudy paintings riff on Black history, life, and the legacy of racism in Miami, gave a solo presentation at the Rubell Museum from December 2021 to November 2022. Spinello Projects also featured O'Neal's work heavily at Art Basel Miami Beach year. Cara Despain, meanwhile, had one of the best museum shows in the city last year at the Bass. "Specter" featured Despain's haunting investigations into nuclear testing in her native Utah, with the artist creating a movie theater showing looping footage of bombs exploding.
While the Florida Prize remains prestigious, the OMA's other activities have caused it to lose credibility. The American Alliance of Museums placed the museum on probation after a scandal involving the institution's exhibition of Basquiat paintings that were later revealed to be forged. The FBI raided the museum in June of last year to recover the 25 artworks under investigation for nine years over claims of inauthenticity. The paintings were allegedly purchased from the artist, forgotten, and later "discovered" in a storage unit by their owner, a former TV writer who sold them before he died in 2018. The scandal led to the departure of several museum staffers, including director Aaron De Groft. The man behind the forgeries, a Los Angeles auctioneer, plead guilty to making false statements to the FBI earlier this year.
The Florida Prize winner will be announced later this year. Find the nominated artists below and check out their work on OMA's website.
- Yosnier Miranda
- Cara Despain
- Denise Treizman
- Elliot & Erick Jiménez
- Akiko Kotani
- MJ Torrecampo
- Magnus Sodamin
- Reginald O'Neal
- Peggy Levison Nolan
- Amy Schissel
