MIAMI, FL.- In celebration of Miami Art Week, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA) is hosting a series of public programming opportunities introducing three artist presentations—Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Ancient Future, Juan Francisco Elso: Por América, and Chris Friday: Narcissist—to both global and local audiences.

During the evening of December 5, MOCA invites the public to an Art Week opening reception of Ancient Future and Por América. The festivities include presentations by Miami'z Finest Majorettes along with the Antoine Roney Trio, and BERRAKKA. Refreshments will be provided throughout the evening by partners Rhum Barbancourt, Justin Wines, Tripping Animals Brewery, and Semaj's One Way Catering.

Ancient Future premieres as Richmond-Edwards’ largest solo exhibition to date. Spanning large-scale assemblages and immersive new installations, the exhibition explores the realms of Afro-futurism and mythologies through the lens of the rising artist’s bespoke visual idiom. Curated by MOCA’s Adeze Wilford, the exhibition is a product of new thematic elements, assembling a selection of never-before-seen artworks in dialogue with the artist’s signature oeuvre.

Alongside Richmond-Edwards’ exhibition, Juan Francisco Elso: Por América showcases nearly the entirety of the late Cuban artist’s works in the largest survey of his career to date. Part of the first generation of artists born and educated in post-revolutionary Cuba, Elso was a pioneer in Cuban art who created sculptures using natural materials. The artist gained international recognition in the mid-1980s before dying of leukemia at the age of 32. Co-organized by guest curator Olga Viso and Susanna V. Temkin, curator at El Museo del Barrio, the show’s organizing institution, Por América also gathers more than 70 works by over 30 artists, including Glenn Ligon, Tania Bruguera, Belkis Ayón, with new commissions by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Reynier Leyva Novo.

These two signature exhibitions represent the lasting influence and significance of a collective history through art. Juan Francisco Elso: Por América explores the many ways in which past and present experiences engage in dialogue with one another, while Richmond-Edwards’ Ancient Future demonstrates the forward-thinking perspective of the next generation of artists.

Set against the backdrop of Ancient Future, on December 8 MOCA will host an inspiring and thought-provoking panel discussion alongside Howard University. Titled The Art of Influence: An Artist’s Journey, the discussion will be led by MOCA curator Adeze Wilford and joined by artist and Howard University (Howard) alum Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Assistant Dean Denise Saunders Thompson, and Associate Professor Alex McSwain from Howard’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. In conversation, the panel will explore the evolution from student to professional artist, examining the legacy of AFRICOBRA, which influences Richmond-Edwards’ work in Ancient Future, and discussing the cultivation of Black art spaces. This conversation will shed light on the paths of Black artists, the role of HBCUs in nurturing artistic talent, and the broader necessity of creating and maintaining spaces for Black art and artists in the art world.

Following Friday’s panel discussion, the museum will also host a Members Appreciation Breakfast and artist-and-curator-led tours of the two shows on Saturday, December 10.

In conjunction with Art Week programming, MOCA will also premiere Chris Friday’s Narcissist, a large-scale, free-standing metal figure, which will be open to the public on MOCA Plaza. Using a style that the artist describes as ‘chalkboard’, Friday creates large-scale drawings that depict Black figures in moments of leisure, play and slumber. Her work reimagines the portrayal of the Black body within the context of institutional spaces, creating scenes that evoke emotions from joy to tenderness. Historically, Black art has often been focused on the viewer’s perception or the or what they can be taught. In Narcissist, Friday shifts this focus, presenting a subject engaged in self-reflection. The installation will activate MOCA’s fountain and offer visitors an indelible opportunity to contemplate and take part in these ideas.