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Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) presents “Jason Seife: Coming to Fruition” opening May 18, 2023. Featuring all new site-specific works including a custom wallpaper, triptychs, and a large-scale canvas, “Coming to Fruition” is Seife’s first solo exhibition in the United States.
“Jason was born and raised in Miami and continues to live and work here. As Miami’s flagship institution, we want the local art ecosystem to flourish and support our local artists,” PAMM Assistant Curator Maritza Lacayo said. “Jason’s very first museum visit was to Miami Art Museum, PAMM’s predecessor, and it gave him the idea that he could become an artist and exhibit his work at a museum. This exhibition is very much a full circle moment for Jason and means the world to me, as a born-and-bred Miamian as well.”
Jason Seife, like many Miami residents, is the son of immigrants—in his case of Cuban and Syrian descent. His oeuvre centers on his Middle Eastern heritage, referencing Persian carpets and the intricate details found in mosques and traditional Islamic art. He digitally designs his carpet-inspired compositions, mirroring weavers’ practice of associating patterns or colors with specific locations and communities.
Seife subsequently hand-paints these intricate patterns onto a concrete slab or canvas.
For “Coming to Fruition,” Jason Seife presents his elaborate process in media res––amid the action. The effect created by this site-specific exhibition is one in which the boundary between artistic process and finished product is blurred. The process-as-product dynamic is evident in two triptychs that reveal the progression of his paintings—from initial stages and minimal paint on the concrete to intricately painted finished product.
Accompanied by an additional finished painting on canvas, the triptychs are surrounded by labyrinthine wood frames which appear to seep out of the paintings and onto the walls, as if taking over the gallery’s interior. The frames recall elaborately carved mosque ornamentation and have been made specifically for this exhibition and gallery space. The overall effect of wooden frames and paintings on the concrete walls recalls a phenomenon common to both Cuba and Syria: beautifully painted buildings that have been reduced by war or neglect to their wood and concrete shells.
The site-specificity of “Coming to Fruition” allows Seife to present a secular sanctuary wherein the visitor can meditate on human desecration, community-building, and complicated identities.
“Jason Seife’s work and facility with old and new technology to make art objects is remarkable. While finding inspiration in art from antiquity, he is also incredibly versed in the art of our time, specifically in new digital advancements in technology, including NFT’s and the burgeoning space of Web3. Also evident of his versatility and a reflection of his timeliness, he has been a collaborator with artists from other disciplines,” PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans said. “A true collaboration between artist and curator, Jason and Maritza—two Miamians who visited PAMM growing up—we hope our community can draw inspiration from their example as well.”
“Jason Seife: Coming to Fruition” is organized by PAMM Assistant Curator Maritza Lacayo.
EXHIBITION RELATED EVENTS
Opening Celebration of “Jason Seife: Coming to Fruition”
Thursday, May 18, 6pm
Artist Jason Seife and exhibition curator Maritza Lacayo will be in the exhibition space and available to discuss and share the works, the artist’s process, and the trajectory of his practice throughout the evening.
Before or after seeing the exhibition, enjoy happy hour (5–7pm) and live music (6–8pm) on the terrace.
Admission to the galleries is $16 for adults and free for PAMM members.
ABOUT JASON SEIFE
Jason Seife lives and works out of Miami, Florida. Despite being accepted to some of the most prestigious art schools in America, Jason opted for a more hands on approach and dove straight into the art world. Paving his way through graphic design, Jason has worked with some of the largest names in the music business including Pharrell Wiliams, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj, designing everything from album artwork to jewelry and merchandise.
Refusing to be limited to one form of Art, Jason’s true passion lies in painting. His work is loosely based on reinventing the past by using modern day materials and compositions to change the way the viewer experiences a once overlooked piece of art.
ABOUT PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture, and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. The nearly 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013 in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park.
The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.
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