Ready for the Black and Basel 2023 Black art guide? It’s time to end the fourth quarter with a big sales push by over 20 international fairs and 1,000+ galleries and events. Navigating a region that is bursting at the seams with art from every corner is almost impossible, especially when it comes to Art Week Miami 2023. Every year, $400 to $500 million is pumped into Miami Dade as art businesses work overtime to sell artworks from all over the globe. The Week expands every year, with everyone trying to get a piece of the half-billion-dollar pie.
Art Week Miami began with the first Art Miami fair in 1990. However, Art Week took off in 2002, when Art Basel held the first iteration of its fair outside of Europe here in Miami Beach. After 2003, you could find art experiences at different fairs, exhibitions, and even condos for sale in the region.
The reason this Black art guide is called Black and Basel is because South Florida’s Black artists always participated in exhibitions during Miami Art Week; but primarily, they sat at the fringes of our local art ecosystem not only in the early days of this week but year-round as well. At the time, you could not find many Black artists in any of the major spaces, and if you were not familiar with the work, you wouldn’t know whether you were looking at the work of a Black artist or not. So, the name Black and Basel was my way of helping you find Black artists that you may not typically think you would see in spaces that didn’t always actively embrace a Black artist.
In the past, I have typically provided an exhaustive Black art guide listing every space dedicated to Black Art that you can find here in South Florida, and I took pride in that, because I wanted to be sure that I provided an equitable platform. You would think this would be easy, but it’s not: because so much is going on, it is nearly impossible to be sure that everyone is included. Not everyone has the proper support, or sometimes, people don’t necessarily even see the importance of being part of larger conversations and guides.
So this year, I’ve decided to make some changes to this Black art guide for Miami Art Week: I’m only recommending the places that I know I will visit. Back in 2021, I heard you loud and clear when you said, “Melissa, thank you so much for being an equitable platform, but there are certain artists and organizations that we trust, and we want to visit and buy from those of the same caliber.” I heard you loud and clear: recommend good work, a few surprises and some choices for the adventurous visitor.
This year, we can expect exceptional artists such as Jamea Richmond-Edwards at MOCA North Miami, Gary Simmons at Perez Art Museum and Charles Gaines at ICA. I even have some adventuresome destinations for those renting a car or just wanting to get out of the city center. Ten North Arts Foundation is putting together an extraordinary show with artists from the African continent and a Puerto Rican art pavilion. (I’m even willing to bring together a group of you that would be interested in going.) Prizm Art Fair is back and presenting a full art fair . I also highlight one local gallery that you should visit to see some of my favorite local gallery directors.
As always, if you’re in town, tag us on social media (X-@sugarcanemag, IG-@sugarcanemagazine, FB-/sugarcanemagazine TikTok-@sugarcanemagazine) and share your favorite location.’s And of course, let the venues know that Melissa’ Black art guide from Sugarcane sent you.
Ten North Group: Art of Transformation
Various locations
Art of Transformation: AFRICA GLOBAL presents the diversity of African diasporic communities and their varied experiences, taking place during Miami Art Week 2023. This annual program is designed to explore issues in African and African diaspora contemporary art and brings artists of African descent from around the world to Miami in a series of exhibitions, panel discussions, performances and film projections.
Ten North Group will present AFRICA GLOBAL in Opa-Locka, Fla., from Dec. 3-10, 2023. Here is a list of their various exhibitions:
Fragmented Worlds / Coherent Lives (on view Dec. 6-Feb. 28)
Curator: Tumelo Mosaka (South Africa)
Location: The Art & Recreation Center (ARC), 675 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka, Fla. 33054
Fragmented Worlds / Coherent Lives is an exhibition drawing on concepts informed by fragmentation, mobility and adaptation. Borrowing its title from Pnina Motzafi-Haller’s book by the same name, artists in this exhibition present multiple narratives drawing on memory, history and lived experience to express ways identities become fragmented and sometimes contradictory. Working between concrete and subconscious ideas, artists weave coherent narratives that challenge representations of Africa today.
Cartographies of Displacement / Cartografías del Desplazamiento (on view Dec. 6-10)
Curators: Helen Ceballos and Abdiel D. Segarra Ríos (Puerto Rico)
Location: The Pavilion, 650 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka, Fla. 33054
Cartographies of Displacement brings together the work of Puerto Rican artists who, through their respective practices, reflect on what is produced in the junctures that displacement provokes. The exhibition comments on the experiences that accumulate in the everyday—the ways in which we live and negotiate with the forces that displace us, the changes that undergo the landscape—politically and infrastructurally inside and outside the city—and the ways in which we conceive geography within the archipelago and in the diaspora, physically and temporally.
Alongside these observations on the setting, the curatorial work reflects on the production of subjectivities and the questioning of hegemonic identities—individual and collective—and on how these have repercussions on the articulation of historical narratives and the right to remember.
Garden of Humanity (on view Dec. 6-June 30)
Curator: James Brazil (Australia)
Location: The VFW Lot, 757 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka, Fla. 33054
The sculpture pavilion presents two new large-scale sculptural acquisitions by the Ten North Group in a lushly designed garden.
1. Yemaya
Ten North Group unveils the newest work by contemporary artist Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy “Diago” (Cuba), a six-foot bronze sculpture titled Yemaya, after the goddess of the living ocean, the mother of all. Yemaya will be exhibited in dialogue with the spirits that accompanied African peoples during the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Middle Passage.
2. The Cedar Men
Sculptor and performer Jems Robert Koko Bi (Côte d’Ivoire), whose work mixes Avant-Gardist influences and the artist’s African history, has created five six-foot-tall works, each sculpted from a single cedar trunk weighing a half-ton each. The Cedar Men tells the history of humanity through the earth’s first inhabitants in Africa as the works initiate a conversation with the forces of nature, the ancestors, the native land and the exile.
New Acquisitions: The Ségou Collection (I’ve Known Rivers) (on view Dec. 6-10)
Curator: Professor Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali)
Location: The Hurt Building, 490 Opa-locka Blvd., Opa-locka, Fla. 33054
Gimme Shelter at The Historic Hampton House
Museum of Culture & Art is launching its inaugural exhibition during Art Basel Miami Beach 2023. Renowned art collector Beth Rudin DeWoody and artist/curator Maynard Monrow curate a powerful exhibition entitled Gimme Shelter, echoing the spirit of the Historic Hampton House’s “rich history as being a safe house” for artists.
The exhibition is a collection of important works from greater Miami’s top gallerists and local artists as well as the international diaspora—all selected by DeWoody’s and Monrow’s veteran curatorial eyes. Additional works by master landscape painter Richard Mayhew will be featured. Acclaimed muralist Eduardo Kobra will preview select works from his upcoming Kobra Green Book project. Programming for the exciting week will include panel discussions and VIP dinners.
Location: 4240 Northwest 27th Ave., Miami, Fla. 33142
UBS/ARTNOIR
UBS Art Studio: UBS, in collaboration with ARTNOIR, a global creative collective and non-profit organization that catalyzes cultural equity across the arts and culture industries, will present “The Poetics of Dimensions”, a group presentation featuring artists Anthony Akinbola, Sonia Gomes, Melissa Joseph, Julianknxx, and Nari Ward across two locations both at the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) and Soundscape Park on 17th Street, Miami Beach, near New World Center.
The group presentation organized by ARTNOIR co-founder and curator Larry Ossei-Mensah features works by Anthony Akinbola, Sonia Gomes, Melissa Joseph, and Nari Ward, artists who each engage in practices that utilize accessible materials like durags, shoelaces, and other textiles to create visually arresting art that invites inquiry and discourse. at the Miami Beach Convention Center. By leveraging the familiar and recontextualizing its use, these artists instigate dialogues about history, memory, myth, ritual, and identity, resulting in a visually profound experience. The presentation, located near the Meridians sector at the MBCC, runs from December 6 to 10 and is free to Art Basel Miami Beach ticket holders.
The presentation continues beyond the MBCC, where UBS, in partnership with ARTNOIR and Art Basel, will host a video projection of artwork by Julianknxx. Julianknxx will be presenting his evocative video piece …encounter?flee (untitled) on the façade of Soundscape Park WALLCAST every evening from December 5 to 11, from 5:30pm to 11:00pm EST. ..encounter?flee (untitled) blurs the lines between poetry and film as his figures appear, disappear, and reappear in a constant loop. Located alongside the New World Symphony at 500 17th Street in Miami Beach, the presentation further amplifies the ideas being experienced in the group presentation, including explorations of history, memory, myth, and identity. The installation is free to the public.
Location: 500 17th Street in Miami Beach, 33139
To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection
Until August 2024
El Espacio 23 (EE23), the contemporary art space founded by leading philanthropist, entrepreneur and art collector Jorge M. Pérez – has debuted its highly anticipated fourth exhibition, titled To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection. On display from Nov. 2, 2023 to August 2024, the show celebrates numerous textile-based works from the Pérez collection – many of which have never been publicly exhibited before – and engages these acquisitions as focal points from which to structure creative dialogues with artworks presented in other mediums. The exhibition highlights works from historic and contemporary artists.
Location: 2270 NW 23rd St., Miami, Florida 33142
Strange Fruits: Homage To Purvis Young at African Cultural Arts Center
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023-Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024
Amadlozi Gallery
Opening Reception and Art-Talk
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, 6:00-10:00 p.m. (Admission: $10)
Amadlozi Gallery Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (Call 305.390.6377 for appointments on weekends)
Strange Fruits is a groundbreaking group show featuring African-descent artists paying tribute to Purvis Young. It explores contemporary portraiture, recycled art, installation, and sculpture. Mbida, Kialeuka, Diarra, Tsimba, and Washington unite for the first time, presenting new works in dialogue with Miami’s street art pioneer. Building on Purvis Young’s foundational paintings, the exhibit delves into tradition, history, and Black identity, while also pushing boundaries in social expressionism and re-Animism. Like a collection of unique fruits, these artists celebrate Miami’s diverse art scene and its global significance. Artists featured include Purvis Young, Cullen Washington, Jr., Wilfried Mbida, Freddy Tsimba, Bayunga Kialeuka, and Carrington Ware.
Curator: Klaus Pas (Kloser Contemporary)
Location: The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22nd Ave., Miami, Fla. 33142
This South Florida gem is known for excellent programming that encompasses art, food and culture. The Little Haiti Cultural Center intersects art, food and culture for a full cultural experience.
Order of Events
Dec. 4-10 LHCC – Digital Art Exhibition (Afro-Futurism) • Theater Lobby
Dec. 4-10 Miami Virtual Museum – Virtual Reality Art Exhibition • Theater Lobby
Dec. 6-10 Art Beat Miami – Art Exhibition • Caribbean Marketplace
Dec. 8-10 Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance—Global Borderless Caribbean Art Basel Exhibition (A Call to the Ancestors) • Gallery
Dec. 8-10 Ayiti Art – Designer Handcrafted Art & Fashion • Art Room
Dec. 9 LHCC + Art Beat Miami – Art & Music Festival • Courtyard
Dec. 9 Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance – La Rebelle Film Screening • Theater
Dec. 10 Art Beat Miami – Chefs of the Caribbean Celebrity Brunch (Sew Artsy) Art on the Catwalk • Caribbean Marketplace
Location: 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami, FL 33137
Ancient Future and Por America at Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA NOMI)
Ancient Future features Jamea Richmond-Edwards’ multidimensional exploration into Afro-futurism and Black mythologies, and showcases her signature vibrant paintings, film explorations and immersive installations. The exhibition introduces a video work that weaves her experiences with HBCU marching bands and majorette performances, complemented by a musical score from her son, an emerging jazz musician. Central to the exhibition is a monumental painting blending Egyptology and biblical references, featuring the cosmic guardian, Egyptian goddess Nut.
Populated by fantasy and self-portraits, Ancient Future prompts viewers to envision a world without oppression, asking who we might become in such a universe. For Richmond-Edwards, this exhibition projects a luminous future built on the energy of our past and present.
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América offers a captivating retrospective of the brief, yet significant career of the late Cuban artist. The exhibition features over 70 works by Juan Francisco Elso and a multigenerational group of artists like Glenn Ligon and Belkis Ayón and introduces new commissions from Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Reynier Leyva Novo. Por América presents the largest survey of Elso’s career to date, showcasing the evolution of his practice, from his experimentation with new materials to incorporating Indigenous traditions, Afro-Caribbean beliefs, and post-colonial perspectives.
Events:
- Saturday, Dec. 2, 2:00-4:00 p.m.:
MOCA miniMakers – Futuristic Visions, inspired by the art of Jamea Richmond-Edwards - Sunday, Dec. 3,10:30-11:30 a.m.:
Sunday Stories: Making a Mural
- Tuesday, Dec. 5, 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.:
MIAMI ART WEEK RECEPTION 6:00-8:00 p.m (VIP), 8:00–10:00 p.m. (Public)
Location: 770 NE 125th St, North Miami, FL 33161
Miami MoCAAD: This Life: Black Life in the Time of Now
The Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (Miami MoCAAD) is set to kick off Soul Basel and Miami Art Week fully immersed in the digital space. Miami MoCAAD will celebrate the premiere of its groundbreaking documentary and digital exhibition “This Life: Black Life in the Time of Now” on December 4, 2023, at The Urban from 7:30-10:30 pm. Attendees can also tune in virtually at https://shorturl.at/jxA49. Miami MoCAAD, through augmented and virtual reality experiences, delves into the intricate tapestry of contemporary Black existence through creative lenses and weaves together the personal narratives of four visual artists, offering an immersive experience that transcends geographical boundaries. “This Life: Black Life in the Time of Now” is a testament to the enduring power of art to bridge gaps, ignite conversations, and inspire change. As the world grapples with issues of race, identity, and social justice, this documentary and digital exhibition offer a unique and timely perspective on diverse experiences of Black individuals.
Location: The Urban-(1000 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136)
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, 2023 to March 17, 2024.
Also on view on the ground floor, ICA Miami Ezratti Family Prize for Sculpture winner Tau Lewis The cure will be completed in my body, silence your spirit to let me reach you, my skin (2023).
Location: 61 NE 41st St., Miami, Fla. 33137
Gary Simmons at Perez Art Museum Miami
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is a Black Art Guide mainstay and is led by art hero Franklin Sirmans. PAMM’s Gary Simmons: Public Enemy, opens Dec. 5, 2023. The exhibition, co-organized with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, is the first comprehensive career survey of the richly layered work of Gary Simmons and features nearly 70 sculptures, paintings, photographs, works on paper and installations, as well as a number of large-scale wall drawings the artist will create onsite.
Location: 1103 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, Fla. 33132
UNTANGLED: Combing through the Roots of Black Hair
Exhibition open Thursday and Friday, Dec. 7-8, 12-6 p.m.; and Artist Talk, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2-4 p.m.
For Black people, hair is more than just beauty. It is a vital element of our self-expression and identity. Its versatility has historically been the source of everything from pain and shame to celebration and revolution. Each strand carries personal stories and political weight rooted in ancestral legacies. This exhibition untangles that pain and that power with a dynamic group of artists who celebrate the ultimate freedom and pride that is Black hair.
Location: Goodtime Hotel, 601 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. 33139
The fair that elevated Art Week Miami to the next level. Art Basel Miami Beach is the premier fair during this week and one of the most influential platforms in the world. There are many galleries presenting work by global Black artists, but I’m always excited to shine light on must-see Black owned galleries that you should visit such as Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Nicola Vassell, Welancora Gallery and Afriart Gallery. I’m also excited about the Meridians sector featuring Ja’Tovia Gary, Hew Locke, Erick N. Mack, plus Mary Lovelace O’Neil, Odili Donald Odita, Jacob Lawrence, Torkwase Dyson in the Kabinet sector. Also, the UBS Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 will feature a site-specific triptych painting by Jeffrey Gibson titled JUST WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, commissioned by UBS for the UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. The work, to be installed on a custom wallpaper created by the artist, is titled after the lyrics of Love Comes Quickly (1986) by the Pet Shop Boys, reflecting Gibson’s engagement with music as well as his unique visual language that combines Native American traditions and materials with geometric abstraction. The Lounge will also feature the Collection’s recent acquisitions by Nick Cave, Awol Erizku, Deana Lawson, and Hank Willis Thomas, among others. The UBS Lounge is for UBS invited guests over the week of Art Basel Miami Beach. Also, UBS will also host a public panel at the MBCC auditorium on December 8 at 11:00am EST, moderated by the curator Larry Ossei-Mensah who will be in conversation with artists featured in the presentation. You can plan your visit by downloading the app for Art Basel
Location: Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Ctr. Dr., Miami Beach, Fla. 33139
NADA Miami 2023 (Dec. 5-9) will showcase a diverse selection of 140 galleries, art spaces, and nonprofit organizations spanning over 50 cities around the globe including San Juan, Puerto Rico, Paris, Chicago, Memphis, Tenn., Brussels, and Beijing. This year’s fair includes over 85 NADA members and 34 first-time exhibitors. The fair also will feature the return of Curated Spotlight, a special section highlighting a selection of galleries organized by a renowned curator and presented in partnership with TD Bank. This is the fair that you visit when you are looking for emerging artists and work that you typically don’t have access to.
Location: Ice Palace Studios, 1400 North Miami Avenue, Miami, Fla. 33136
It’s been 11 years of being a cornerstone of the Black Art Guide, and Prizm is still growing. This year’s fair takes place Dec. 5-10 on Biscayne Boulevard, an easy location to find with an equally impressive roster of artists such as David Thuku, Max Pierce, Greg Bailey, Amber Robles Gordon, Abi Salami, plus Prizm talks featuring Auttrianna Ward, Cierra Britton, Daisha Board and Jewell Sparks.
Location: 1501 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, Fla. 33132
When you arrive at Miami Beach during Art Week Miami, your second stop always should be this fair. Visit to see work at Tern Gallery, Maat Gallery and the gallery I want to visit NXTHVN (NEST), plus curated work that addresses gender.
Location: 12th Street and Ocean Drive, Miami, Fla. 33129
Black and Basel Black Art Guide Honorable Mentions for Collectors
If you are looking to gather with Black art collectors, consider Baye Miami. Back for its second year, BAYE (Black Art Yacht Experience) brings you a unique immersive art experience during Miami Art Week. Start the evening by viewing works from emerging Ghanaian painter Theophilus Tetteh and enjoying dinner curated by local award-winning culinary artists.
Location: 1635 N Bayshore Drive Miami, Fla. 33132
Also, Bithouse Projects presents The State of Art: Black Art and Collecting Dec. 7 at the Center for Black Innovation in Overtown from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: 937 NW 3rd Ave Miami, FL 33136
Featured image for Black Art Guide: Adama Delphine Fawud, (Detail) Dancing with the Universe, 2022. Photograph. On View at The Ten North Group.
