A NEW EXHIBITION at the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) presents “Luanda-Kinshasa,” a 2013 film installation (above) by Canadian artist Stan Douglas. Set in the renowned CBS 30th Street Studio, the six-hour experimentally sequenced film explores “the emergence of a globally minded black consciousness in the 1970s,” and its influence on the New York music scene. The Douglas installation was recently acquired by PAMM in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Another new acquisition, Romare Bearden‘s “Evening 9:10, 461 Lenox Ave.” was purchased with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez, the donor for whom the museum is named; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; and PAMM Ambassadors for African American Art. A large photostat projection adapted from a small collage, the work is featured in “Project Gallery: Romare Bearden,” an exhibition of 21 black-and white-works the artist produced in 1964, which is on view through June 26.
Six months after Franklin Sirmans took the helm of the Perez Art Museum Miami, the institution has announced a series of major acquisitions, including 100 works donated by Miami developer Craig Robins from his personal collection, as well as the Douglas and Bearden works, and several others by African American artists.
Spanning painting, sculpture, film, photography, prints, mixed media, and installation, the new additions to the permanent collection were acquired through a combination of purchases and generous gifts prompted by donor confidence in the new director’s leadership and vision.
Robins who donated 102 works to PAMM in 2013, told the Miami Herald that he and his wife Jackie Soffer wanted to make a second donation to celebrate the arrival of Sirmans. “I just think Franklin is an extraordinary person in the art world, and it’s a real coup that we were able to convince him to live and work in our community,” Robins told the Herald.
He added: “Great curators are people who can analyze what’s going on and what’s important to be recognized at the right time, and Franklin has had an amazing sense of just connecting with the art world and understanding what’s happening.”
“Great curators are people who can analyze what’s going on and what’s important to be recognized at the right time, and Franklin has had an amazing sense of just connecting with the art world and understanding what’s happening.” — Craig Robins, PAMM Donor
ROMARE BEARDEN, “Evening 9: 10 461 Lenox Avenue,” 1964 (Photostat mounted on fiberboard). | Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the PAMM Ambassadors for African American ArtArt © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
AFTER SERVING AS DEPARTMENT HEAD and curator of contemporary art at LACMA and artistic director of the 2014 Prospect New Orleans biennial exhibition, Sirmans joined the PAMM last October. His priorities include increasing the museum’s endowment, strengthening its education programs, and building its permanent collection.
PAMM is dedicated to modern and contemporary international art and emphasizes exhibitions that reflect Miami’s “diverse community and pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas.” The selection of acquisitions expands the museum’s holdings of Latin American and Caribbean art. In addition, works by several important African American artists have been acquired:
- Charles Gaines, “Numbers & Trees, Xeno #6,” (1986), is a gift of David Hoberman
- Theaster Gates, “Breathing,” 2010, is a gift of Deborah and Larry Hoffman in honor of the PAMM Fund for African American Art
- Lorraine O’Grady, “Art Is…,” (1983/2009), was purchased with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and PAMM Ambassadors for African American Art.
Works by John Akomfrah, Mark Bradford, Hew Locke, and Nari Ward, have also been brought into the collection.
Sirmans told the Miami Herald that he is honored and enthusiastic about the new additions to PAMM collection and that several make him excited about the possibilities for the future.
I inquired about which works in particular he was excited about. “With more than 100 pieces that’s not an easy question,” Sirmans said by email. “The character of the donation by Craig Robins and Jackie Soffer is contemporary!—most acquired within the last 15 years. And, that’s exciting to me.”
He added: “We’re working on a big acquisition now that comes from the opposite end of contemporary’s current poles, with works defined by developments prior to the 1970s. The collection from Craig and Jackie is deep with works by women artists including Aida Ruilova, Patty Chang, Sara van der Heide, and Rachel Lachowicz. More recent works include artists Jedediah Caesar, whose work we have also acquired recently through purchase by the Young Collectors Council. As far as film and video goes—one of the areas where we try to acquire with a special focus—Ruilova’s ‘I have to stop’ (2002) and Chang’s 2001 video ‘Untitled (eels)’ are important works in the genre. There are several Miami artists including Bhakti Baxter and Cesar Trasobares. And, I’m sure we will find many other points of departure in the future for these artworks.” CT
READ MORE about PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans on Culture Type
TOP IMAGE: STAN DOUGLAS, “Luanda-Kinshasa,” 2014 (single-channel video projection, color, sound; Running time 6 hours, 1 minute; Edition 2 of 4). | Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased jointly with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council and Viveca Paulin-Ferrell and Will Ferrell, Allison and Larry Berg, Jeanne Williams and Jason Greenman, Holly and Albert Baril, Katherine Ross and Michael Govan, Shannon and Peter Loughrey, Terri and Michael Smooke, Jennifer Hawks and Ramin Djawadi, and Phil Mercado and Todd Quinn through Contemporary Friends, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
BOOKSHELF
Further explore the work of Stan Douglas and Nari Ward in recently published volumes. “Nari Ward: Sun Splashed” complements the mid-career survey organized by the Perez Art Museum Miami. The largest survey of Ward’s work to date, the exhibition was on view at the museum earlier this year. “Stan Douglas: The Secret Agent” was published to coincide with the artist’s exhibition on view in London, New York, and currently in Austria. Published to accompany an earlier presentation of “Romare Bearden in Black-And-White: Photomontage Projections, 1964,” this volume includes contributions by Thelma Golden, Albert Murray, and previously unpublished poems by Romare Bearden.
NARI WARD, “Homeland Sweet Homeland,” 2012 (cloth, plastic, megaphones, razor wire, feathers, chains, and silver spoons), in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. | Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez, the John S. andJames L. Knight Foundation and the PAMM Ambassadors for African American Art. Photo by Elisabeth Bernstein, image courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong
JOHN AKOMFRAH, “Tropikos,” 2016 (single channel HD color video, 5.1 sound, Running time 36 minutes, 41 seconds; Edition 2 of 5 + 2 Aps). | Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, purchased with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council
