PÉREZ ART MUSEUM MIAMI PRESENTS UNPRECEDENTED EXPLORATION OF THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE CARIBBEAN

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World April 18 – August 17, 2014

MIAMI – March 10, 2014 - Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, opening April 18, 2014 at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), explores the diverse cultural history of the Caribbean and its diaspora, highlighting over two centuries of rarely seen works dating from after the Haitian Revolution to the present. The exhibition is the culmination of nearly a decade of collaborative research and scholarship organized by El Museo del Barrio in conjunction with the Queens Museum and The Studio Museum in Harlem. The Miami presentation, curated for PAMM by guest curator Elvis Fuentes, is a honed reiteration of this critically-acclaimed survey and offers a vital reflection of Miami’s Caribbean community. The exhibition is the centerpiece of a season at PAMM dedicated to Caribbean art, which includes related exhibitions, a two-day symposium, a Caribbean film and video series, major new performances and other related programs and events (pamm.org/calendar).

With over 180 objects including , sculptures, prints, photographs, installations and videos, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World features images of, from and about the region. This exhibition employs a transhistorical approach to explore the many nations and cultures that comprise a broad conception of the Caribbean and focuses on four central themes: Fluid Motions, Counterpoints, Shades of History and Kingdoms of this World. These interconnected frameworks provide common ground and allow insight into the complex context from which the vital and varied artistic production of the region has emerged, illuminating multiple histories. Artists who have lived and worked in the Caribbean, as well as artists living abroad who responded to the rich visual tradition and history of the area are shown side-by-side. This exhibition mixes historical work by artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Victor Patricio Landaluze, , Wifredo Lam, Rigaud Benoit, Amelia Peláez and Armando Reverón, with works by contemporary artists, including Allora and Calzadilla, Janine Antoni, Renée Cox, Glexis Novoa, and Ebony G. Patterson, among many others. Works include:

 Richard Evans (b. 1784, Shrewsbury, England; d. 1871, Southampton, England), Portrait of the King Christophe, King of Haiti, 1816: This remarkable portrait of Henri Cristophe, a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the first king of Haiti, will be featured alongside Evans’s portrait of Henri’s son, the prince Jacques-Victor Henri. These portraits are among the most iconic images from this seminal period in Haitian history.

 Francisco Oller y Cesteros (b. 1833, Bayamón, ; d. 1917, San Juan), Portrait of Cézanne, ca. 1864: Francisco Oller y Cesteros was a Puerto Rican painter and was deeply involved in the development of . This captures one of his

students, the important Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne, at work.Visual evidence of Oller’s relationship with Cézanne, this work was recently shown in New York after over 90 years of not being seen in public.

 Leo Matiz, Pavo real del mar Santa Marta (Peacock of the Sea, Santa Marta), ca.1945: an image portraying a fisherman elegantly raising his net at Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta in Colombia by one of the most significant Colombian photographers of the 20th century.

 Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911, Port-au-Prince; d. 1986, Port-au-Prince), Carnaval des Fleurs, 1973: a lively and dense surreal depiction of animals masquerading for carnival, one of two works included in this exhibition by one of Haiti’s most celebrated artists.

 Renée Cox (b. 1960, Colgate, Jamaica; lives in New York), Redcoat Queen Nanny of the Maroons series, 2004: Renée Cox is an important Jamaican conceptual photographer whose works take on history and identity. Redcoat (2004) shows the artist defiantly imagined as the Jamaican national hero, Queen Nanny, dressed in the ‘red coat’ of the British military uniform—a stunning work that plays with history and power through portraiture.

 Allora & Calzadilla (Jennifer Allora [b. 1974, Philadelphia; lives in San Juan]; Guillermo Calzadilla [b. 1971, Havana; lives in San Juan]), Returning a Sound, 2004: Allora and Calzadilla,a duo based in San Juan, represented the United States in the 2011 Venice Biennial. Their short, poetic video, Returning a Sound (2004), documents a performative action they undertook on the contested island of Vieques—attaching a trumpet to the exhaust of a motorcycle—producing an almost comical victory bugle celebrating the departure of the military from its former base.

“This exhibition will greatly surprise people, as it repositions artists within new art historical contexts,” said Tobias Ostrander, PAMM Chief Curator. “For instance, Camille Pissarro, who is considered among the most important French painters, was born in St. Thomas, which was then part of the Danish West Indies. The island features in his work and his biography alludes to the larger and complex colonial relationship between the Caribbean and Europe.”

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World is part of a season at PAMM focusing on Caribbean art, and celebrating Miami’s position as an important Caribbean city. This includes Edouard Duval-Carrié: Imagined Landscapes (March 13 to August 31, 2014), a solo exhibition of large-scale works by the Haitian-born artist, and the opening of a project gallery featuring a recently-acquired, large- scale work by Simon Starling, (Inverted Retrograde Theme, USA (House for a Songbird)) (2002) that traces the paradoxes of modernist architecture in the Caribbean. Also on view and part of the museum’s collection is a large-scale installation by artist Hew Locke, a British artist of Guyanese descent, For Those in Peril on the Sea (2011), which hangs in the museum’s front entrance.

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World was originally organized by El Museo del Barrio in conjunction with the Queens Museum and The Studio Museum in Harlem, and presented at the three institutions in 2012. This iteration of the exhibition was organized by guest curator Elvis

Fuentes for Pérez Art Museum Miami. It was coordinated by Associate Curator Diana Nawi with Curatorial Assistant María Elena Ortiz. It is presented by J.P. Morgan. Support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners. This project has received additional funding through a grant from the Netherland-America Foundation, and additional support is provided by Nedra and Mark Oren, Pat Papper, Darlene and Jorge Pérez, and Dorothy and Aaron Podhurst.

Related Programs

Opening Celebration for Caribbean: Crossroads of the World Thursday, April 24, 6-10pm “TRANCE-FORMATIONS: Doucement……l’Eau por L’ORI” 7–8pm: Performance by Akuzuru: Ak-t 1 Body Aphorisms The Trinidadian artist’s first live performance in the U.S. will debut an interdisciplinary work in two ak-ts over two days evoking themes of fertility and interconnectivity. This complex work will involve several choreographed elements, including movement and sound, outside and within the museum.

Waterfront bar on the terrace with music by DJ Majestic.

Performance by Akuzuru “TRANCE-FORMATIONS: Doucement……l’Eau por L’ORI” Ak-t 2 The Knowing Friday, April 25, 4:30-5:30pm The Trinidadian artist’s first live performance in the U.S. will debut an interdisciplinary work in two ak-ts over two days evoking themes of fertility and interconnectivity. This complex work will involve several choreographed elements, including movement and sound, outside and within the museum.

Caribbean Crossroads Symposium: Transnational Histories Friday, April 25, 1:30-8:30pm and Saturday, April 26, 2014, 11-4pm Transnational Histories will consist of four panels that correspond to the central themes of the exhibition: Fluid Motions, Counterpoints, Shades of History, and Kingdoms of this World. Each of these panels will pair a scholar and artist who will present and discuss their work in relation to these themes.

Shleu Shleu Miami All Stars: Presented by PAMM and the Rhythm Foundation Thursday, May 1, 6-9pm In honor of Haitian Heritage Month and a season at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) dedicated to Caribbean art, PAMM and the Rhythm Foundation present Shleu Shleu Miami All Stars, one of the longest running act in the history of Haitian Kompa music. Visitors are invited to dance to Shleu Shleu Miami All Stars on the outdoor terrace, enjoy cocktails from PAMM's waterfront bars,

and enjoy Caribbean art exhibitions including “Caribbean: Crossroads of the World” and “Edouard Duval-Carrié: Imagined Landscapes.” The event also kicks off the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Miami Museum Month.

Free First Thursdays is made possible in part with support from Knight Foundation.

Lauderhill Steel Ensemble: Presented by PAMM and the Rhythm Foundation Thursday, June 5, 6-9pm In collaboration with The Rhythm Foundation, PAMM presents Trinidadian band, Lauderhill Steel Ensemble, kicking off the Colors of the Caribbean Festival in honor of National Caribbean- American month.

Free First Thursdays is made possible in part with support from Knight Foundation.

PAMM Free Second Saturdays presented by Target: Fly Your Flag Day Saturday, June 14, 1-4pm Explore the upstairs exhibition Caribbean: Crossroads of the World and look for symbols which represent different places and times. If you had your own new island or coastal nation, what would make it a special place to live or visit? Design a flag to represent your unique country.

PAMM Free Second Saturdays presented by Target: El Bibliobandido Strikes Again! Saturday, July 12, 1-4pm Ravenous for stories, El Bibliobandido (or ‘book-bandit’) frightens little kids until they offer him fresh stories they’ve written. Rumor has it that PAMM is El Bibliobandido’s next target in his search to satiate his appetite. Save Miami! Avert calamity! Help make books to appease El Bibliobandido’s wrath!

About Pérez Art Museum Miami Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) 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. Designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, the museum’s new facility, a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming, opened in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park on December 4, 2013. The facility features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with diverse galleries, shaded outdoor verandas, a waterfront restaurant and bar, a museum shop and an education center with a library, media lab and classroom spaces. For more information, please visit pamm.org, find us on Facebook (facebook.com/perezartmuseummiami), or follow us on Twitter (@pamm).

Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. Additional support is provided by the City of Miami. Pérez Art Museum Miami is an accessible facility. All contents ©Pérez Art Museum Miami. All rights reserved.

Media Contacts: Tracy Belcher, [email protected], 786 548 9993

Alexa Ferra, [email protected], 786 345 5619