Opening March 21, 2024, The Dynamic Group Exhibition Explores the Interconnection Between Cultural Traditions and Urgent Ecological Concerns
(MIAMI, FL — February 26, 2024) — Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is pleased to present Spirit in the Land, opening March 21, 2024. Featuring over 63 works by 30 artists, this multi-dimensional exhibition examines contemporary (and urgent) ecological concerns from a cultural perspective, demonstrating how intricately personal identities and natural environments are intertwined. Spirit in the Land reflects on the restorative potential of our connection to nature and exemplifies how both biodiversity and cultural diversity are essential to our collective existence.
Spirit in the Land highlights the dynamic interplay between identities and the environment through multimedia artworks spanning paintings, drawings, textiles, sculptures, video works, and photography. Featuring works by Terry Adkins, Firelei Báez, Maia Cruz Palileo, Hew Locke, Carrie Mae Weems, and Peter Williams, among others, the exhibition investigates natural environments under stress and presents a belief in the possibility of transformation and regeneration. Through a collective effort between the artists Spirit in the Land strives to revive our relationship with nature as a source of healing and repository memory through relational connection.
“Spirit in the Land showcases artworks that not only celebrate the beauty of our world but also mourn its loss, emphasizing the importance of biodiversity and cultural diversity for our survival,” said PAMM Associate Curator Jennifer Inacio. “It’s a collective effort to act as environmental stewards, reclaiming and revitalizing our understanding of nature as a repository of cultural memory and a source of healing.”
Of note in the exhibition, Mosquito Hall (2013) is an acrylic work on chromogenic print by Hew Locke. Having grown up alongside a seawall in Georgetown, Guyana, Locke witnessed the immediate risk of rising sea levels to residential areas such as his own hometown. The image depicts a dilapidated wooden home and a glowing woman with her child floating above in acid green and yellow paint, conjuring the tropics reminiscent of Locke’s youth. As the physical land erodes from environmental and colonial factors, so do the pleasant memories of Locke’s upbringing. Maia Cruz Palileo’s The Way Back (2018) oil painting draws from pre-World War I photographs taken in the artist’s homeland in the Philippines where her grandparents were born. To reclaim the imagery of the nation, Palileo removes the colonial context under which the photos had been taken ‘to create a new vision of my ancestors, my family, and my culture.’ Also included in the exhibition is Burial Grounds (2000) by Monique Verdin, a black-and-white photo of the devastation imposed on Indigenous peoples residing in coastal Louisiana brought on by climate change. Verdin’s photographs document her extended family as they navigate the onslaught of environmental disasters affecting the land.
Participating artists in the exhibition include Terry Adkins, Firelei Báez, Radcliffe Bailey, Rina Banerjee, Christi Belcourt, María Berrío, Mel Chin, Andrea Chung, Sonya Clark, Maia Cruz Palileo, Annalee Davis, Tamika Galanis, Allison Janae Hamilton, Barkley L. Hendricks, Alexa Kleinbard, Hung Liu, Hew Locke, Meryl McMaster, Wangechi Mutu, Dario Robleto, Jim Roche, Kathleen Ryan, Sheldon Scott, Renée Stout, Monique Verdin, Stacy Lynn Waddell, Charmaine Watkiss, Marie Watt, Carrie Mae Weems, and Peter Williams.
Spirit in the Land is organized by Trevor Schoonmaker, Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. The Pérez Art Museum Miami presentation was organized by Jennifer Inacio, Associate Curator. Lead support for Spirit in the Land is provided by the Ford Foundation. Major support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), led by Director Franklin Sirmans, promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture, and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. The nearly 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013 in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.
