Pérez Art Museum Miami will open two exhibitions on August 20 that expand the museum’s 2026 programming in distinct directions: “John Baldessari: The End of the Line,” a 50-year retrospective drawn entirely from the collection of Miami design leader Craig Robins, and a new iteration of “Fragments of Time: Selections from PAMM’s Collection,” a video-art survey exploring memory, loss, and the passage of time through works from the museum’s permanent holdings.
Key Takeaways
- “John Baldessari: The End of the Line” opens August 20 and runs through July 23, 2027, presenting five decades of the late conceptual artist’s work from the private collection of Craig Robins, one of Baldessari’s closest friends and collectors.
- “Fragments of Time: Selections from PAMM’s Collection” also opens August 20, presenting video works that address Alzheimer’s disease, shared cultural memory, the erosion of innocence, and the fragility of memory in the digital era.
- The openings join an already dense 2026 schedule that includes “Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols,” an unprecedented South Florida presentation of nearly a dozen works by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the Kenneth C. Griffin collection.
- PAMM’s fall slate continues with “Anina Major: The Sacred Mangrove” (October 8), “Picasso-Klee-Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen” (October 29), and “Zoë Buckman: Show Me Your Bruises, Then” (November 5).
- The museum’s 2026 programming represents one of the most concentrated exhibition calendars in PAMM’s history, spanning conceptual art, Caribbean identity, modern European masters, and collection-driven surveys.
The Baldessari Exhibition Tells a Story Through One Collector’s Five-Decade Relationship With the Artist
The framing of “John Baldessari: The End of the Line” is what sets it apart from a conventional retrospective. Rather than surveying Baldessari’s career through institutional loans or estate holdings, the exhibition draws entirely from the collection of Craig Robins, the Miami-based real estate developer behind the Design District and one of Baldessari’s closest personal and professional relationships. Robins was not simply a buyer of Baldessari’s work; he was a friend, promoter, and interlocutor whose collecting activity spanned the full arc of the artist’s output. The result is a show that reads as much as a portrait of a collector-artist relationship as it does a career survey.
The exhibition covers foundational works from the 1960s and 1970s, when Baldessari abandoned traditional painting and turned to text, found photography, and appropriated imagery. The show includes documentation of one of the most radical gestures in postwar art: Baldessari’s 1970 incineration of his own paintings, an act that literalized his rejection of conventional craftsmanship in favor of ideas, language, and systems of meaning. From there, the exhibition traces his serial approach to photography and his sustained exploitation of the relationship between images and text, a method that paired philosophical rigor with deadpan humor across five decades of output. Karen Grimson, Curator of the Craig Robins Collection and Director of Cultural Programming at Dacra, curated the show. The PAMM presentation is organized by José Carlos Diaz, Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs and Chief Curator, and Fabiana A. Sotillo, Curatorial Assistant.
Baldessari’s Influence on Contemporary Art Runs Through an Entire Generation of Miami-Exhibited Artists
John Baldessari, who died in 2020 at age 88, is recognized as a pivotal figure in postwar contemporary art who fundamentally shifted the discipline’s emphasis from craftsmanship to ideas. Emerging from conceptual art in the late 1960s in Southern California, he pioneered the use of irony and appropriation as serious artistic tools, bridging Conceptual and Pop Art in ways that shaped how subsequent generations approached image-making. His students and artistic heirs include David Salle, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, and Mike Kelley, artists whose work has appeared extensively in Miami collections and exhibition programs over the past two decades.
For PAMM and the broader Miami art ecosystem, a Baldessari retrospective anchored by a local collection carries specific resonance. Robins has been one of the most active forces in building Miami’s visual arts infrastructure, and his collection reflects the kind of long-term, relationship-driven collecting that distinguishes the city’s private holdings from those in more established art markets. The exhibition running through July 2027 also positions the show to be on view during Art Basel Miami Beach in December, when the museum’s visitor traffic peaks and international collectors, curators, and critics descend on the city.
“Fragments of Time” Uses Video Art to Examine How Memory Shapes Identity
The second August 20 opening takes a different approach entirely. “Fragments of Time: Selections from PAMM’s Collection” is a collection-driven video art survey that draws from the museum’s permanent holdings to examine how artists use the moving image to reflect on memory, time, and mortality. The exhibition positions memory as the bridge between life’s fleeting moments and the ongoing construction of self, exploring how the interplay of remembering and forgetting produces fragmented recollections that define how people exist in time.
The works address these themes through specific lenses. Elizabeth Cerejido and Mark A. Koven’s “Absence Series: Rocking Chair” (2002) and Autumn Casey’s “Elysian Fields” (2014) explore Alzheimer’s disease and the dissolution of memory through illness. Glenda León’s “Canalización” (2014) examines the role of shared cultural memory in collective identity. Hernan Bas’s “Fragile Moments” (2003) addresses the erosion of innocence, while Jack Strange’s “Into a Puff of Virtual Smoke” (2008) confronts the fragility of memory in the digital era, a theme that has only grown more relevant in the years since the work was created. The exhibition will also be accessible online through PAMMTV, the museum’s streaming platform.
August 20 Adds to a 2026 Season That Already Includes Basquiat, Modern Masters, and Caribbean Ceramics
The two new openings arrive at a museum already running one of its densest exhibition schedules. “Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture,” organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and timed to the Miami Open, Formula 1, and the FIFA World Cup, features more than 100 works and runs through September 13. “This Is America: Selections from PAMM’s Collection” presents nearly 80 works by 70 artists reflecting on American identity through the lens of the country’s 250th anniversary. “Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols,” curated by PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans with support from Kenneth C. Griffin, unites nearly a dozen works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, including “Untitled (Skull)” (1982), for the most significant presentation of the artist’s work in South Florida to date. The Basquiat exhibition explores his Caribbean heritage, connecting his Puerto Rican and Haitian roots to Miami’s communities.
The fall brings three more openings. Bahamian-born artist Anina Major’s “The Sacred Mangrove” (October 8) will be her first solo presentation at a major institution, featuring towering woven clay sculptures and a path of crushed conch shells that ground the installation in Caribbean cultural and ecological history. “Picasso-Klee-Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen” (October 29) marks PAMM’s first exhibition dedicated solely to modern masterpieces, bringing nearly 100 works from the Berlin museum and the Berggruen family collection. British artist Zoë Buckman’s “Show Me Your Bruises, Then” (November 5) rounds out the year with a three-channel video installation exploring domestic violence and the female body in patriarchal society, featuring the artist alongside actors Cush Jumbo and Sienna Miller. Pérez Art Museum Miami is located at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park, with Thursday hours extending to 9 PM and general admission available through the museum’s website.
FAQs
When Does the John Baldessari Exhibition Open at PAMM?
“John Baldessari: The End of the Line” opens Thursday, August 20, 2026 and runs through July 23, 2027. The exhibition presents five decades of Baldessari’s work from the private collection of Craig Robins.
Is the Basquiat Exhibition Still on View?
Yes. “Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols” opened June 25, 2026 and runs through June 26, 2027. The exhibition features nearly a dozen works including “Untitled (Skull)” (1982) and “Pez Dispenser” (1984) from the Kenneth C. Griffin collection.
What Are PAMM’s Hours and Location?
PAMM is located at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The museum is open Monday and Friday through Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM, Thursday from 11 AM to 9 PM, and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets and additional visitor information are available at pamm.org.
