Pierce, Mark, Morph

Miami is a city synonymous with body transformation. Our city is famous for morphing and embellishing the human body through surgery, piercings, tattoos, and other forms of modification. However, many forms of body modification used today are not unique to Miami or youth culture. Piercings, markings, and other forms of alteration have been practiced across cultures for millennia. In addition, artists today are experimenting with modification to reflect and convey ideas related to justice, identity, environment, and gender.

Pierce, Mark, Morph explores the piercings, markings and cranial modification in Pre-Columbian sculpture drawn from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation Collection juxtaposed with work by contemporary artists who are utilizing the body as canvas. While the methods may be similar physically, the intent and concepts behind modifying the human form differ greatly.

Exhibiting artists include Lauren Kalman, Carlos Martiel, Hiromi Moneyhun, Tatiana Parcero, Cecilia Paredes.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.