Haegue Yang: In the Cone of Uncertainty / Mickalene Thomas: Better Nights / Lara Favaretto: Blind Spot

The Bass, Miami Beach’s contemporary art museum, is pleased to present solo exhibitions by Haegue Yang, Mickalene Thomas and Lara Favaretto to open the 2019-2020 season. 

Haegue Yang
In the Cone of Uncertainty
November 2, 2019-April 5, 2020

Bringing together new and existing works spanning the last decade, In the Cone of Uncertainty presents a selection of Yang’s oeuvre ranging from light sculptures and blind installations to anthropomorphic sculptures and mural-like, graphic wallpaper pieces. The exhibition foregrounds Haegue Yang’s persistent curiosity about the world and tireless experimentation with materializing the complexity of identity politics. 

Yang’s works are known not only for their diversity of media and methods, but also for their eloquent and unique sculptural language of visual abstraction, frequently derived from her research on historical figures, events and phenomena. Interweaving narratives with materiality, Yang mobilizes industrially produced commonplace items, sensorial devices and labor-intensive handicraft techniques, aiming to create conceptually complex, culturally diverse and sensually immersive works. Often evoking performative, sonic and olfactory perceptions, her multisensory environments appear familiar, yet engender bewildering experiences of time and place.  

The exhibition’s title is taken from a common expression, ubiquitous to South Florida, used to describe the probable track of a tropical cyclone or hurricane. Aside from this particular usage, the term alludes to an eagerness to track our largely unstable and always changing future. Referencing this meteorological model of statistics, the exhibition investigates current anxieties related to climate change, overpopulation and resource scarcity, in addition to seemingly different topics, such as movement, displacement, migration, diasporas and history writing.

Mickalene Thomas
Better Nights
December 1, 2019-September 27, 2020

Better Nights presents an installation that will transform the exhibition’s galleries into an immersive art experience. Inspired by the local New Jersey play Put a Little Sugar in my Bowl organized and performed by Thomas’ mother, friends, and family as well as the parties hosted by the artist’s mother in the late 1970s, the installation embodies an apartment environment, conceptually reconstructed according to the domestic aesthetic of the period, including faux wood paneling, wallpaper and custom seating reupholstered with the artist’s signature textiles. An extension of Thomas’ artistic universe, the installation incorporates both work by the artist and a curated selection by Thomas featuring work by emerging and prominent artists of color, with the prop-like tableau echoing the collage-like compositional style of Thomas’ paintings.

Better Nights will present a schedule of programming arranged by the artist, including live performances, concerts, activations, a live bar and appearances by guest DJs. The first chapter, Better Days, took place at the Galerie Volkhaus in Basel, Switzerland during Art Basel 2013.

Lara Favaretto
Blind Spot
December 1, 2019-April 19, 2020

Favaretto’s practice embraces the idea of constant change, creating works of art and situations that are in flux. Though often humorous and playful, her works address more serious subject matter such as decay, consumption and loss. Using elements like obsolete technologies to subtly refer to the passing of time, Favaretto incorporates found materials that are repurposed in her work. These upcycled materials—such as found paintings, discarded books and weathered construction materials—serve as commentary on the lifecycle of material detritus. Favaretto’s oeuvre highlights her interest in exploring ideas of the survival of certain objects over others, while contemplating their legitimacy in relation to the forgotten and exposing their inevitable destiny of wear, corrosion, erosion and breakage.

Blind Spot features paintings, sculpture and interactive installations including Momentary Monument – The Library (2012-2019), an interactive bookcase displaying 2,200 donated books containing folded images from the artist’s archive, a sort of visual reservoir that feeds Favaretto’s artistic production. Additional works include a silver plaque with a slit for putting in coins for charity that bears an engraving filled with Savoy-blue enamel forming the words “Your Money Here”; and a newly commissioned, site-specific work for The Bass’ permanent collection, Gummo VI (2019), comprising five automated car wash brushes constantly twirling and wearing themselves down against metal plates.