Running until 16th August 2024, at The Bass Museum of Art is Nam June Paik: The Miami Years, an exhibition exploring Nam June Paik’s relationship to Miami Beach and and the surrounding South Florida community.

Born in Seoul in 1932 and passing away in Miami Beach in 2006, Nam June Paik was a trailblazer in the realm of electronic motion pictures and digital compositions as a means of artistic expression. Paik’s intricate works pushed the boundaries of digital media as an artistic medium. Throughout his prolific career, the artist examined the global expansion of social networks, and the growing links between modern life and technology. Paik is credited with coining the term “electronic superhighway” in 1974 and was part of the same artistic circles as pioneering artist John Cage.

Arranged around The Bass’ recent acquisition of Paik’s TV Cello (2003), Nam June Paik: The Miami Years considers the artist’s connections to Miami. The exhibition uncovers the little-known history of the artist’s life in Miami Beach while looking at the innovative ways he used communication and media technologies in his work.

Travellers arriving at Miami International Airport in the early 1990s had the chance to see two spectacular sculpture installations by Paik. The Concourse B lobby’s WING welcomed visitors with about a hundred television monitors arranged in a neon frame like an aircraft and accented by a propeller. MIAMI had 74 monitors set up to spell out M-I-A-M-I in block letters.

Commissioned in 1985 by the Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, WING and MIAMI were dedicated on November 29, 1990. While Paik made Miami Beach his home until his death in 2006, by the late 1990s, WING and MIAMI were no longer on public view.

With original research into Paik and South Florida, including a timeline account of the making and display of WING and MIAMI, Nam June Paik: The Miami Years will offer fresh insights into the acclaimed artist’s personal engagement with our region.

This exhibition will also include Notations, performances by contemporary artists whose practices engage with and further the experimental uses of technology found in Nam June Paik’s work. The first Notations features MyFi Studio on October 19’s Third Thursdays at The Bass.