Here's Your Guide to Miami Art Shows in September 2024

That revving sound you're hearing isn't Formula 1 cars — that was four months ago. The South Florida art scene is starting its engines for the mad drag race toward Miami Art Week. Galleries and museums are returning from summer break, and there are more things to do and shows to see than there have been in months.

Before we get going, I want to give one last notice to a show that's been open for quite some time: Manuel Mathieu's impressive two-in-one presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. Combining an earlier show, "World Discovered Under Other Skies," and a brand new one, "Dwelling on the Invisible," the Haitian-born artist discusses the ingrained trauma of Haitian identity through stirring canvases and installations. Works pay tribute to Haitian art icons such as Jorel Filsaimé, as well as remarking on historical figures and events. One painting shows the wife of dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier; another depicts the Kennedy assassination. Most striking is Study on Death, in which the artist places an embryonic figure in a field of brilliant yellow.

The shows take on even greater resonance against the backdrop of turmoil in present-day Haiti, which has descended into chaos and gang warfare after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenal Moïse. Photographs of unfinished construction projects and an installation made from rebar, ceramic sculptures, and silicone also speak to the state of uncertainty and instability the country seems unable to leave, and a video work depicts street protests in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Yet Mathieu's bold works, which blend materiality with a biomorphic style of abstract figuration reminiscent of Francis Bacon, also stand alone as thrilling works in their own right, worthy of consideration even without any geopolitical subtext. Both presentations close on Sunday, October 6.

Unless otherwise noted, all listed events are free to attend and open to the public.

Ulla Von Brandenberg and Rachel Feinstein at the Bass

The Bass is bursting out of the gates in the lead for this year's art season, opening two new shows in September. The most prestigious one would have to be the latest edition of the ongoing series "The Miami Years," this time focusing on South Florida-born Rachel Feinstein. The state's kitschy culture heavily influenced the sculptor's practice, and this presentation of her early work, opening on Wednesday, September 25, includes a new site-specific installation. Meanwhile, German-born artist Ulla von Brandenberg will show work designed to be paired with a monumental tile mural by Etel Adnan, which is currently on display at the museum; that show opened on September 4. These shows will anchor the rest of the Bass' season, centered on the theme of "performance" — a collection rehang focusing on the same idea opened on August 28. 2100 Collins Ave, Miami Beach; 305-673-7530; thebass.org. Tickets cost $8 to $15; admission is free for Miami Beach residents.

Frankétienne and Frederic Tuten at Central Fine

Central Fine's September shows pair a historically important Haitian artist with a Bronx-born painter in his 80s, both of whom are still making new work. The former is Frankétienne, a writer, artist, and member of the Spiralist movement, whose recent canvases brim with darkness and tribulation. Tuten, meanwhile, creates colorful, blocky scenes in which the objects and individuals of the everyday burst with vibrancy. On view through Thursday, October 3, at Central Fine, 1224-1226 Normandy Dr., Miami Beach; 786-899-0977; centralfine.com.

Brigette Hoffman at Dalé Zine

Dalé is showing work this month from Brigette Hoffman, an American artist of German and Nicaraguan heritage, in a show titled "Dual Embers Glow & Grit." Her childlike style of sculpture and painting emphasizes themes of domesticity, play, and family, with influences from pop culture. Opens Friday, September 6, at Dalé Zine, 50 NW 40th St., Miami; dalezineshop.com.

Two New Shows at Locust Projects

Artist duos are the focus of Locust Projects' two new shows, opening on Saturday, September 7. Daniel Almeida and Adrian Rivera, Venezuelan and Mexican-American, respectively, have built a TV studio as part of their installation, "The Elephant Never Forgets," based on the popular Mexican sitcom El Chavo del Ocho. The work contends with Latin America's mass media culture and the region's tendencies towards media piracy and technological subterfuge as a means of political agency. Meanwhile, in the art center's Project Room, local duo LizN'Bow is putting on a VR rollercoaster ride through a queer-futurist Miami in "Niñalandia Skycoaster." The work is inspired by video games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon and Mario Kart and incorporates the duo's custom-wrapped Buick Rendezvous. Opens Saturday, September 7, through Saturday, November 2, at Locust Projects, 297 NE 67th St., Miami; 305-576-8570; locustprojects.org.

Three New Shows at Pan American Art Projects Design District

Three artists will open shows at Pan American's Design District space. Hailing from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Carlos Nicanor will show his threaded installations in the U.S. for the first time in a show titled "The Skein of the Soul." Miami-based Carlos Estevez explores the search for an inner light with esoteric objects in his show "Lux Arcana." Finally, Cuban-born painter Luis Cruz Azaceta reckons with displacement and identity in "Poetic Incongruities." Opens Saturday, September 7, at Pan American Art Projects, 21 NE 39th St., Miami; 305-751-2550; panamericanart.com.

Lisu Vega at Edge Zones

Drawing from her childhood memories and grandmother Yiya's practice of weaving hammocks, Lisu Vega brings her ecologically aware sensibility to fiber art in "Everything I forgot?" at Edge Zones. Her practice, based on a family tradition of weaving endemic to the Wayuu people of northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela (the largest indigenous group in either country), is zero-waste, resulting in work that is as sustainable as it is impressive. Opens Saturday, September 7, at Edge Zones, 3317 NW Seventh Ave. Cir., Miami; 305-303-8852; edgezones.org.

Lee Gihun at Lina Cerrone

Korean illustrator Lee Gihun creates strange scenes inspired by his rural upbringing, pairing traditional and modern techniques from his homeland. His show "Masquerade," featuring fantastical, Noah's Ark-inspired scenes of animal-masked figures wandering desolate landscapes, has a style that reminds me of Radiohead's album artwork by Stanley Donwood. It's one of several running through the end of the year at Wynwood gallery Lina Cerrone, including presentations from photographer Bastien Soleil, local figurative painter Patrick Penkwitt, and graffiti artist Sven. Opens Monday, September 9, at Lina Cerrone, 2239 NW Second Ave., Miami; 305-646-1474; linacerronegallery.com.

Three New Shows at Nina Johnson

Little Haiti gallery Nina Johnson is back from summer break with three new shows. There's a presentation by Texan photographer and Wolfgang Tillmans protégé Adraint Bereal, whose photographs chronicling life in the Southern U.S. are drawn from a period in the artist's life marked by grief and celebration. New Yorker Rhys Gaetano will show paintings of cleaning products in "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness." Finally, writer Camille Okhio curates a show exploring time in "Residual Energies." Opens Thursday, September 12, through Saturday, October 19, at Nina Johnson, 6315 NW Second Ave., Miami; 305-571-2288; ninajohnson.com.

New Shows at Mindy Solomon and Andrew Reed

Three is always company for Mindy Solomon, which launches its fall season with three new presentations. Two of them are focused on female ceramic artists. London-based Claire Partington will show sculptures based on the feminine experience, with imagery drawn from social history and fairy tales, while Portland, Oregon's Kate McDowell creates fantastic animal-hybrid sculptures to discuss humanity's relationship with the natural world. The duo of Christian Ruiz Berman and Christine Rebhuhn will also show work. A few doors down on 22nd Street, Andrew Reed will also be opening the show "Pain Portraits" by painter Christopher Huff. Opening Thursday, September 12, at Mindy Solomon, 848 NW 22nd St., Miami; 786-953-6917; mindysolomon.com; Andrew Reed, 800 NW 22nd St., Miami; andrewreedgallery.com.

Desi Swoope at Supermarket

For its second presentation, nomadic gallery Supermarket will channel the joy of family and home cooking with a show by Destyni "Desi" Swoope. Drawing on her Puerto Rican and Bahamian heritage, Swope creates quilt-like paintings celebrating tradition and craft. The show will be hosted at Grand Opening Gallery in Wynwood, a neighborhood once known for its status as a Puerto Rican enclave in Miami. Opens Saturday, September 14, at Grand Opening Gallery, 2242 NW First Pl., Miami; supermarketgallery.com.

Linet Sánchez at Laundromat

Hailing from Cuba, multimedia artist Linet Sánchez gets philosophical in "The Silence of Forms," curated by Daniela Olivero of El Espacio 23. Drawing on the work of Baudrillard and Bachelard and using models and photographs, the artist explores concepts such as hyperreality, simulation theory, and how architecture affects our perceptions of the world. Opens Saturday, September 14, at Laundromat Art Space, 185 NE 59th St., Miami; laundromatartspace.com.

Stephen Patterson at Terrestrial Funk

Much like their neighbors across the street at Dalé Zine, record store Terrestrial Funk is getting into the art game, becoming an impromptu gallery to host an exhibition by local painter Steven Patterson titled "Pretty Good, Not Bad, Can't Complain." Curated by fellow artist Kayla Delacerda, Patterson's crude scenes of nuns, hot girls, grimy dudes, and other late-night revelers in various dives and strip clubs are pretty unique, to say the least. Opens Saturday, September 14, at Terrestrial Funk, 35 NE 40th St., Miami; terrestrialfunk.com.

"Women at Large" at Piero Atchugarry

Dainy Tapia of Art Seen 365 knows a thing or two about Miami's art community, especially when it comes to its female-identifying artists. That might be why she's curating a third edition of "Women at Large," a group show dedicated to large-scale works by women artists, taking place at Little Haiti's Piero Atchugarry Gallery after previous editions at the Doral Contemporary Art Museum and LnS Gallery. Participants for this go-round include Nathalie Alfonso, Carolina Cueva, Luna Palazzolo, Chire "VantaBlack" Regans, and Denize Treizman. Opens Saturday, September 21, at Piero Atchugarry Gallery, 5520 NE Fourth Ave., Miami; 305-639-8247; pieroatchugarry.com.