|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A new survey of acclaimed artist Charles Gaines opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) this November, tracing the evolution of the second half of his influential practice.
“Charles Gaines: 1992–2023” brings together for the first time more than 65 works from 1992 to the present day including two monumental works, one of which the artist is recreating for the first time in nearly two decades.
Curated by Gean Moreno, ICA Miami’s director of the Knight Foundation Art + Research Center, the exhibition is on view at ICA Miami from Nov. 16 to Mar. 17, 2024.
Recognized as a pioneer of conceptual art, Gaines has been at the forefront of introducing language and systems into artistic production for decades. He is widely known for his use of translating mechanisms to convert images and documents into numerical structures, musical notation, and other sign systems.
The ICA Miami exhibition highlights a pivotal shift in Gaines’s practice during the second half of his career, in which his work takes on even greater political and social dimension, incorporating materials abundant with preexisting cultural meaning. Among these are the Black Panthers’ manifesto as well as texts by Franz Kafka and Frantz Fanon, which have been channeled by the artist into complex formal and conceptual works.
This radical approach has allowed Gaines to address the issues of race and identity politics in innovative ways that extend beyond representation. Simultaneously, Gaines began to combine different media, including video and sound, into his works.
The ICA Miami exhibition brings together for the first time a number of monumental works and series that demonstrate the evolution of Gaines’ approach to combining an array of materials–electronics, wood, acrylic, photographs–and transforming them into a distinct visual language. Among these is a monumental piece that is being recreated by Gaines for the first time in nearly 20 years: Greenhouse (2003–2023) is a massive 12- by 16-foot sculptural enclosure wherein simulated atmospheric conditions identified with climate change are conflated with data visualizations of recorded temperature changes across the globe from the 15th Century to the present.
Another large-scale work, Falling Rock (2000–2023) is a sculpture in which a 65-pound chunk of granite drops in a randomized and sudden fashion, creating unexpected outcomes for the viewer each time. The artist is recreating these major works specifically for the ICA Miami exhibition.
“Charles Gaines is a pivotal figure in conceptual art, and this exhibition demonstrates his central role in global conversations about contemporary art,” said Alex Gartenfeld, ICA Miami artistic director. “This survey also builds upon our ongoing engagement with the artist, who inaugurated our new building in 2017 with a site-specific installation and has since presented a performance at the museum. We are thrilled to share his work once again with the Miami community in an even more expansive presentation.”
“This exhibition not only signifies the individual transformation of Gaines’ practice over the past several decades, but it also provides a throughline from the conceptual artists of the 1960s and 1970s to the conceptual artists of today,” Moreno said. “This rare examination of a three-decade long evolution offers a new perspective on an established artist and allows audiences a view into the complex relationship between innovation, social justice, and conceptualism that has characterized the second half of Gaines’ career.”
Exhibitions at ICA Miami are supported by the Knight Foundation. Major support is provided by the Nicoll Family Fund, and Kathy and Steven Guttman.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami is located at 61 NE 41 St., Miami, Florida 33137.
For more information, visit www.icamiami.org.
ABOUT US:
For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami’s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami’s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area.
This family-owned media company publishes more than a dozen neighborhood publications, magazines, special sections on their websites, newsletters, as well as distributing them in print throughout Miami Dade County from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead. Each online publication and print editions provide comprehensive coverage of local news, events, business updates, lifestyle features, and local initiatives within its respective community.
Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami’s culture. Whether you’re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts, Miami’s Community Newspapers has you covered. For more information, be sure to check out: https://communitynewspapers.com.
If you have any questions, feel free to email Michael@communitynewspapers.com or Grant@communitynewspapers.com.
