MIAMI, FLA.- Over 150 works of contemporary and post-war art joined the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami collection in 2021, affirming the museum's commitment to global and local artists and inclusiveness of backgrounds, identities, and perspectives. A thematic presentation of major works from the collection is on view beginning May 12, 2022, bringing together more than 100 works across a range of media and highlighting themes of activism and representation explored across the museum's holdings.

"One of the most active collections of contemporary art, ICA Miami has acquired over 500 works since 2017, demonstrating the dynamism and scope of the museum's program," said ICA Miami Artistic Director Alex Gartenfeld. "Together with many visionary supporters, we are creating one of the most significant collections of contemporary and emerging art in the world -- sited in the vibrant and multi-dimensional cross-roads of cultures and histories that is Miami -- and advancing an inclusive and wide-ranging understanding of art history. "




ICA Miami's 2021 acquisitions include work by established and rising artists, including works by Lucas Arruda, Diedrick Brackens, Rashid Johnson, Che Lovelace, Doron Langberg, Naudline Pierre, Lauren Quin, Huang Yuxing, Marina Perez Simao, Loie Hollowell, Arcmanoro Niles, Anna Park, Christina Quarles, Avery Singer, Andrew Cranston, Rick Lowe, Antonio Ob á, Henni Alftan, Otis Kwame Quaicoe, Henry Taylor, Florian Krewer, Betye Saar, Robin F Williams, and Miami-based artists Tomás Esson, Bernadette Despujols, Loriel Beltran. These include new commissions for the collection, including works by Vaughn Spann and Louise Bonnet. For many of these artists, this marks their first U.S. museum acquisition, including Anthony Cudahy, Rachel Jones, Rebecca Ness, Chiffon Thomas, Clifford Prince King, Caroline Kent, Sasha Gordon, Jiang Cheng, Milo Matthieu, Vojtech Kovarik, Alexander Harrison, and Jameson Green.

ICA Miami's acquisitions have been facilitated by a global network of collectors. A number of donors have made multiple gifts that will impact generations of audiences and scholarship: Ed Tang and John Auerbach, Ariel and Daphna Bentata, Ralph Gindi, Andre Sakhai, Andy Song, Helen Kent-Nicoll, and Ed Nicoll. Also, Trustee John Marquez has enriched the museum's holdings of Miami-based artists in addition to gifts of work by important international artists, and Clarice O. Tavares has bolstered the museum's holdings of Afro-Brazilian and queer Brazilian artists. Artist donors include Sterling Ruby Studio, and Harmony and Rachel Korine.

Representing the international diversity of contemporary art and cultural production, the museum is anchored by a 75% commitment of its annual acquisition budget to works by artists of color, which has continued to expand the museum's representation of Black, Asian, LatinX, and indigenous artists from South Florida, the United States, and across the globe. In 2021, the museum exceeded this goal with 90% of its acquisitions budget ultimately used for this purpose. The museum's collecting strategy is additionally driven by its Culture Club, the first affinity group for LGBTQIA+ supporters in a U.S. museum and advances the museum's support for scholarship for LGBTQIA+ artists. Works by more than 10 LGBTQIA+ artists, including transgender-identifying artists, joined the museum's collection in 2021 as a result. As of this month, the composition of ICA Miami's collection closely mirrors the diversity of the U.S. population with 13% of its collection representing works by African American and African Diaspora artists, 16% by Latin American and LatinX artists, 5% by Asian American and Asian Diaspora artists, and 1% by non-binary and trans artists.

This May, ICA Miami presents its first major exhibition of works from the collection, Recent Acquisitions (working title), spanning the museum's second and third floors. Illustrating persistent themes in the work of today's most innovative artists, the exhibition surveys abstraction, landscape, the human figure, and activism in art of the past several decades. The exhibition will feature works by more than 100 works from the ICA Miami collection by artists including Toyin Ojih Odutola, Arthur Jafa, Maria Berrio, Hernan Bas, Alvaro Barrington, and Jill Mulleady. The exhibition is on view May 12 through October 2, 2022.