Located in the Miami Design District, de la Cruz Collection is a private, 30,000 square foot art museum displaying the contemporary art collection of Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz. Occupying a modern, 3-story white building, the art museum opened in 2009 to display the collection and to conduct lectures and workshops. Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz are the top 200 art collectors in the U.S., and it is amazing to see how much time, effort and finances this couple spared to build and maintain this art museum.
Force and Form
Force and Form brings together pivotal works from the collection to create a dialogue addressing a shift in artistic, as well as cultural, practice and form. The works respond to current issues of identity, gender, class, power, and the values that define our social fabric. The use of everyday materials and recycled imagery challenge traditional practices of sculpture, installation, and painting, while addressing the interaction between the human and mechanical gesture.
If you happen to see the galleries, the staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating to every person ringing the door bell. They are also eager to walk you through the installations. The downside is that the art show is hardly visual arts. Despite its monumental display and the scope of this art exhibition, most artwork is so conceptual, it leaves nothing for the eye to get excited about. And while the staff may explain the artwork to engage you some, this engagement would be limited to your perception and art appreciation in general. When I see such shows one of the questions that runs in my mind is how irrelevant the skill, talent, and knowledge have become in art production and sales. Almost anything can be named ART, while very few artworks deserve this definition. This is one of the reasons visitors feel confused looking at ART that makes no sense whatsoever and therefore doesn’t connect with the viewer on a visceral way. This purposeful deskilling of ART leads to and fosters public’s indifference to contemporary art in general, in my opinion.
Obviously, any private art collection is a matter of taste of the collectors, and should be viewed as such. It is nice of the couple to support the artists making purchases of their art. If you plan on buying art for your private art collection, I encourage you to rely on your aesthetics and support talented contemporary artists as well.
Artists in the Exhibition
Kathryn Andrews, Tauba Auerbach, Walead Beshty, Mark Bradford, Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Martin Creed, Aaron Curry, Salvador Dalí, Peter Doig, Isa Genzken, Félix González-Torres, Mark Grotjahn, Wade Guyton, Guyton/Walker, Rachel Harrison, Arturo Herrera, Jim Hodges, Evan Holloway, Thomas Houseago, Alex Israel, Rashid Johnson, Alex Katz, Martin Kippenberger, Michael Krebber, Wifredo Lam, Glenn Ligon, Michael Linares, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Ana Mendieta, Albert Oehlen, Laura Owens, Jorge Pardo, Manfred Pernice, Sigmar Polke, Seth Price, Sterling Ruby, Analia Saban, Josh Smith, Reena Spaulings, Rudolf Stingel, Rufino Tamayo, Kelley Walker, and Christopher Wool.
Contact:
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Admission free. Must call the doorbell to enter the museum (doors are locked even during the open hours).
23 NE 41 Street. Miami, FL 33137 | (305) 576-6112 | https://www.delacruzcollection.org/