Critic's Choice September 2018

And, the Season Begins! With a bit of something for everyone, from painting and photography, to film and multi-media

Spanish Cultural Center (CCE) Miami, “The Secret Life of Cities” by Carlos Estevez includes six installations drawn on paper, and another of objects converted into masks – all of them inspired by the story and history of cities, and pulling the viewer in with a variety of textures, colors, and lines. Sept. 6 through Oct. 18. / MOCA North Miami, It’s always great to see a local artist get a solo show at one of our major museums, and “Tracing the Thread” from Mira Lehr is one such example. Based on the Greek myth of Adriadne’s Thread, Lehr has created a site-specific “nature trail” where she leads the visitor around the galleries through a pattern of mangrove roots to other works, a meditative path mixing art and the precarious environment. Sept.6 through Nov. 4. / Film Art Expanse, Part of Downtown Art Days, this multi-channel film performance night will highlight avant-garde and experimental in their original formats of 16mm motion picture film, which brings to the evening an element of live theater and performance. Curated by filmmaker and co-director of Obsolete Media Miami (OMM) Barron Sherer, at Miami Dade College’s Live Arts Lab. Two “performances” on Sat., Sept. 8. / Pan American Art Projects, The well-known painter Gustavo Acosta depicts city-scapes, but not broad views, more like the nooks and crannies, the rooftops, the places that people might not always observe, especially on their way to and fro during the twilight hours. His favorite subjects are Havana, Mexico City, and yes Miami, in images where he meshes memory and current reality, for the exhibit “Structural Narratives.” Sept. 8 through Nov. 3 / Coral Gables Museum, In an incredible moving exhibit, “Sacred Ground: the Rise, Fall and Revival of Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery” tells the story of the historically significant but long-neglected African-American cemetery, with objects and documents from the museum’s archives, along with a photo gallery filled with more current imagery from the superb local photographers Carl Juste and C. W. Griffin all with the aim of preserving this cultural gem. Through Nov. 6.