In recognition of
#Juneteenth , and in celebration of African American resilience and achievement, we’re highlighting the work of Calida Rawles, whose debut solo museum exhibition ‘Away with the Tides’ opens on June 27 at
@PAMM in Miami.
In this exhibition,
@CalidaGarciaRawles delves into the particular experience of Black people in Overtown, a Miami neighborhood that went from a thriving cultural and commercial hub for Black people to a community dismantled by gentrification, systemic racism, and mass displacement. The figures in Rawles’ paintings are residents of the Overtown community—from young children to senior citizens. The exhibition’s focus is on the stories and experiences of those who live in this historic neighborhood.
Rawles takes her practice a step further by photographing some of her subjects in natural waters for the very first time, at the historic Virginia Key Beach, which was once racially segregated. By photographing Black subjects in the ocean for the first time, Rawles is able to probe the Atlantic’s history as the site of the supremely exploitative transatlantic slave trade.
The finished work critically engages with Miami’s water-entwined climate and mines the history of beauty, oppression, and resilience in
#PAMM’s neighboring community of Overtown.
📷 Away with the Tides, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 96 x 120 inches (243.8 x 304.8 cm). Photo by Marten Elder
📷
#CalidaRawles in her Los Angeles studio. Photo by Marten Elder
#LehmannMaupin 
