Observer’s Must-See Miami Art Week Exhibitions
From speculative A.I. dreamscapes to mythic gardens, geological ceramics and queer maximalism, these are the shows not to miss when you’re in town for Art Basel Miami Beach.
By Elisa Carollo
It’s that time of year: your inbox floods with previews and invitations from galleries, organizations and brands around the world, all asking the same question: “Will you be in Miami?” Since its launch in 2002, Art Basel Miami Beach—along with the citywide art week surrounding it—has become the most highly anticipated stop in the fair behemoth’s global portfolio, expanding its reach and cultural influence far beyond the art world. With brand activations, parties and events hosted by players across the creative, luxury and finance industries, it’s a full-scale cultural spectacle that many industry veterans rightly describe as a “circus” even as they answer its siren call year after year. Yet beyond the cocktail breakfasts and late-night parties, art is still at the core of Miami Art Week. To help you sift through the deluge of invitations, we’ve rounded up the list of exhibitions to prioritize on your annual trip to the 305.
“Acid Bath House”
Nina Johnson
Through February 7, 2026
Founded in 2007, Nina Johnson Gallery is another pillar of Miami’s contemporary art community, championing both local and international voices through a wide-ranging, intuitively vibrant program. Fully attuned to Miami’s festive, sun-struck exuberance, the new exhibition in the front gallery, “Acid Bath House,” gathers twenty-six artists and presents a diverse range of works, from rare queer counterculture archival materials to new pieces by mid-career and emerging figures.
Curated by American writer, curator and critic Jarrett Earnest—whose deep knowledge of queer art across the past century anchors the show—the exhibition promises an eclectic, maximalist experience where colors, textures, forms and feelings collide, staging glittering, rainbow-drenched queer pleasure and freedom of expression against the haunting rise of American authoritarianism and conservatism today. Highlights include a sensual, candy-colored velvet sculpture by Anna Betbeze, glitter-and-pearl paintings by Reuben Patterson, liquid-mirror wall works by Carrie Yamaoka, holographic lenticulars by Jake Brush and a newly commissioned sculpture by Sean Bennett. Other artists in the show include Steven Arnold, Belasco, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Matt Connors, Gaby Collins-Fernandez, TM Davy, Johnnie Gardner, Jesse Genepi, Sadao Hasegawa, Juliana Huxtable, Savannah Knoop, Keith Lafuente, Moses Leonardo, Chris Martin, Yuval Pudik, Lee Relvas, Dean Sameshima, Laurel Sparks, Paula Gately Tillman, Chris Udemezue and Nicole Wittenberg. Read the full article online on Observer.
