_{Image courtesy of Natalie Conn}

Spots, Dots, Pips, Tiles: An Exhibition About Dominoes
PAMM, Miami
From 30 june to 29 october 2017

 

Pérez Art Museum Miami presents Spots, Dots, Pips, Tiles: An Exhibition About Dominoes, on view June 30–October 29, 2017. This thematic exhibition highlights the domino game, an activity played daily in Miami, as metaphor for contemporary art practice. Played throughout the American South, Latin America, and the Caribbean, dominoes have been used extensively in contemporary art to address notions of abstraction, politics, race, urban life, and social practice. The exhibition originated at Hunter East Harlem Gallery (HEHG) in New York and features more than 19 international contemporary artists – including Adriana Lara, Oscar Murillo, Betye Saar, Donald Sultan, Nari Ward, and Lawrence Weiner – working across a variety of media, including painting, mixed-media, sculpture, installation, and video.

 

_{Image courtesy of PAMM}

 

Spots, Dots, Pips, Tiles is organized by Maria Elena Ortiz, PAMM Associate Curator, and Arden Sherman, HEHG Curator. “I am most interested in how artists around the world enrich the understanding of our own distinct cultures and histories interconnected with art,” said PAMM Associate Curator María Elena Ortiz. “Curatorially speaking, this exhibition is mono-thematic and focused on a popular activity in Miami (the domino game) , but the trope serves as an opportunity to show a group of exceptional artists, including Betye Saar, Lawrence Weiner, Robin Rhode, Nari Ward, together with a younger generations of artists such as Adriana Lara, Juni Radames, Glendalys Medina, and Rodolfo Peraza among others. It is our hope that the exhibition brings new audiences into the museum.”

 

_{Image courtesy of PAMM}

 

“I first became interested in the theme when I discovered Lawrence Weiner’s domino set, which he created as a multiple meant to be distributed and played not only as an art object.” commented Arden Sherman, the co-curator of the exhibition.

 

_{Image courtesy of PAMM}

 

Dominoes originated in ancient China; the version of the game commonly played today was first recorded in 18th century Italy. In contemporary art, it has a discernible aesthetic, political vantage point, and relationship with communities that grow around the domino table. Some of the works in the exhibition directly reference dominoes, while others provide a conceptual relationship to the game. The oldest work is Sitting…dominoes (1966) by Öyvind Fahlström, a historical work representative of Brazilian studies on Concrete art and poetry.

 

_{Image courtesy of Untapped Cities}

 

Other notable works include an assemblage by Betye Saar, titled Eat Seeds ‘n All! (2010), which evokes American folk art while critiquing stereotypical and racist ways of depicting African Americans and others of color. A classical-style painting by Donald Sultan, titled Stacked Dominos, Oct. 28, 1994 (1994), illustrates scattered dominoes that seem to be moving throughout the composition, commanding the viewer’s attention by playing tricks on the eye. The exhibition also includes an interactive piece made for community and conversation building, titled DominoDomino (2014), by Edra Soto and Dan Sullivan, which encourages museum visitors to play a game of dominoes in the gallery.

 

_{Image courtesy of PAMM}

 

In conjunction with the exhibition, PAMM will host a pop-up dominoes park on the museum’s West Portico, encouraging visitors to experience the game firsthand. Visitors will also be encouraged to share their thoughts, memories, and connection to the game on social media by tagging posts with #PAMMDomino and @pamm for a chance to be featured and win a domino set.

 

more. pamm.org