In a city where culture pulses vibrantly through every street, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) unveils its fourth exhibition from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Language and Image: Conceptual and Performance-based Photography. This compelling assembly gathers over 100 works by more than 50 international artists, inviting viewers into a profound meditation on photography’s ability to transcend the visual and the verbal.
More than a mere display of photographic technique, this exhibition explores the liminal space where image and meaning intersect, unveiling photography as a potent medium for both cultural expression and conceptual experimentation. The works traverse abstract realms, documentary traditions, and performance art, each piece acting as a testament to photography’s power to construct realities.
Jorge M. Pérez, whose vision and philanthropy underpin this collection, describes photography as a universal language capable of conveying the depths of human experience without uttering a single word. His passion for the medium resonates throughout the show, reflecting a dedication to the multiplicity of voices and perspectives that photography encapsulates.
The exhibition brings together a remarkable constellation of artists who employ photography not just as a tool for capturing reality, but as a language for interrogating identity, memory, and social structures. Marina Abramović’s pioneering performance pieces delve into the body as a site of endurance and transformation, while Vanessa Beecroft’s staged works challenge notions of visibility and the collective female experience. Similarly, Ana Mendieta’s haunting earth-body sculptures blend photography with ritual and nature, positioning her work at the intersection of personal history and political displacement.
Within this framework, Olafur Eliasson and Alfredo Jaar expand the conceptual boundaries of photographic art, using light, space, and installation to provoke dialogue around environmental and humanitarian concerns. Rashid Johnson and Zanele Muholi bring critical attention to race, gender, and representation, embedding activism within their visual narratives. Their work resonates with Vik Muniz’s inventive approach to materials and imagery, while Cindy Sherman’s self-portraits interrogate the construction of identity and the power of visual stereotypes. Wolfgang Tillmans and Thomas Struth further complicate photographic language by exploring intimacy, urbanity, and the documentary gaze, emphasising the camera’s multifaceted capacity to reveal hidden layers of contemporary life.
Together, these artists form a vibrant dialogue across movements such as conceptual art, performance, and postcolonial critique, illustrating photography’s evolution from a traditional medium to an expansive platform for poetic and political expression. Language and Image thus functions not only as an exhibition but as a meeting ground where diverse artistic practices converge, revealing how image-making continues to challenge and redefine the boundaries of communication, memory, and collective experience.
The exhibition’s thematic frameworks – ranging from “Landscape and Nature” to “Collective Action” – create dynamic conversations across generations and continents. These curated dialogues spotlight how artists navigate concepts of belonging, displacement, identity, and resistance through inventive visual languages. Through the shifting interplay of image and text, stillness and movement, the works invite viewers to consider the power structures embedded within the photographic medium and how these forces shape perceptions of history, culture, and selfhood.
A standout moment arrives with Jonathas de Andrade’s Eu, Mestiço, a poignant, multi-room installation that juxtaposes contemporary Brazilian portraits with racially charged descriptors drawn from a mid-20th century study. This installation confronts enduring legacies of racial prejudice with stark honesty, prompting reflection on the sociopolitical dimensions embedded within photographic practice.
Curated by Franklin Sirmans, PAMM’s director, and Fabiana A. Sotillo, the exhibition balances its global scope with an intimate exploration of the artists’ diverse methodologies. The Jorge M. Pérez Collection, amassed over 15 years and spanning nearly a century of photographic history, reveals the evolution of the medium from documentary tool to a platform for activism, identity exploration, and conceptual dialogue.
Language and Image stands as a powerful testament to photography’s capacity for transformation and expression. It insists that through the lens, the familiar becomes new, and the ephemeral is granted permanence. More than a collection of images, it is an invitation to experience the interplay of perception, memory, and meaning – unfolding one frame at a time.
Language and Image: Conceptual and Performance-based Photography is at Pérez Art Museum Miami until 11 January 2026: pamm.org
Words: Shirley Stevenson
Image Credits:
1&5. Isaac Julien. Emerald City / Capital (Playtime), 2013. Chromogenic printEndura ultra photograph, face-mountedto plexiglass, flush-mounted toaluminum. Edition of 6 + 2 AP. 63 x 941/2 inches. Jorge M. Pérez Collection.© Isaac Julien. Courtesy the artist andVictoria Miro.
2. María Teresa Hincapié. VITRINA,1989–2020. Color photographs,pigmented inks on 315g PhotoRagBaryta paper mounted on 2mm Forex.Edition 4/5 + 2 AP. 2 parts, 15 3/4 x 235/8 inches each. Jorge M. Pérez Collection.
3. Thomas Struth. Grabvon Lu Xun,Shanghai,1997(TombofLuXun, Shanghai, 1997). Chromogenic print, face-mounted to plexiglass, in artist’s frame. Edition 3/10.711/4×8515/16inches. Jorge M. Pérez Collection. ©Thomas Struth
4. María Teresa Hincapié. VITRINA, 1989–2020. Color photographs, pigmented inks on 315g PhotoRagBaryta paper mounted on 2mm Forex.Edition 4/5 + 2 AP. 2 parts, 15 3/4 x 235/8 inches each. Jorge M. Pérez Collection.
