Miami : Through the Lens of Jack Pierson

Jack Pierson: The Miami Years, now on view at the Bass, captures the essence of Miami’s colorful characters and showcases Pierson’s distinct eye for arresting portraiture of personal friends and figures. Multi, media artist Pierson, a born and raised New Englander, came into prominence in the early nineties for his work showcasing bohemian queer communities in major metropolises such as New York and Miami Beach. This exhibit is the first of its kind to explore Pierson’s work in connection to the latter. After Pierson migrated to South Beach in the winter of 1984, he found that the sun-drenched landscape was a means to live affordably, escape the rat race of New York, and experiment in the vibrant queer nightlife community.

The exhibit takes the viewer on a trip through Pierson’s personal and professional life throughout his time in the sunshine state. From portraits of his lovers to overexposed images of the beach, the collection of images and collages created by the artist is a nostalgic time capsule. Drawing inspiration from superstars of the fashion and art scene to unknown locals, Pierson treats each of his subjects like they are the only people in his life. He captures both old Hollywood stars and local bums. Glamour meets grit in Pierson’s archive. According to the exhibit’s introduction, “the city’s Art Deco renaissance and the inaugural edition of Art Basel Miami would soon elevate the scene to stratospheric heights. This alluring mix of glamour, art, and celebrity combined with Miami's darker underbelly come together in Pierson’s complex expressions of self and psychological states of being.”

His camera work is intimate and confrontational. The people he chooses often stare directly into the lens, creating a captivating and arresting effect upon the viewer. At the start of the exhibit, viewers are welcomed by one of his blown up photographs. A large, scale Ken, type figure with a campy, plastic smile greets the viewer through the lens. Colored in saturated tones, the tongue- in-cheek image immediately sets the tone for the Miami characters that fill Pierson’s work. The distinct energy carries over into a nearby room designed to pay homage to the Miami club scene. In Black Jackie, a small stage in the corner is covered in tinsel, reminiscent of South Beach’s vibrant disco halls at the time. A large, scale photograph covers the entirety of one side of the room. The handsome figure in it is a young man in his prime. He is sincere, fresh, and full of joie de vivre.

A hallway leading to the main entrance continues to place the viewer in Pierson’s shoes. A playful “entranceway” with an accompanying staircase and room keys is staged across from a movie room. Inside, a film depicting the beach immediately transports the viewer to the motel where it was shot. Shot on an early digital hand, held camera, Lifeguard documents a young lifeguard’s day at the beach. Through voyeurism, one immediately feels as if they are nearby, watching the young man go about his day.

In the main exhibition hall, a huge collage of mementos and photographs covers the right side wall to form Array, a monumental assemblage work. One can spend hours looking at these images, picking apart their subjects’ stories and the small clues scattered among them. Hotel cards, telephone numbers, gas stations, restaurants, and other paper keepsakes give context to the images. A particularly arresting story states that the lady captured in the photograph was shot in the Everglades later on. Narratives overlap each other quite literally. Shots of interiors of his apartment at 56 Washington Street and Robert Miller’s penthouse capture the inner world of both places and a time lost to the past. Without knowing Pierson, this becomes a visual autobiography introducing you to his world.

Next to the multitude of photographs, Kodak Composition, a cheeky multimedia work made of all of Pierson’s empty film stock containers, highlights how much physical medium it took to document this specific period of time in culture. The impressively tall piece is a reminder of the resources required to build the adjacent body of work. Other playful works on display continue to showcase the artist’s humor. A piece designed like a diner sign proclaims that for hope, breakfast will be served, and for dinner, fear.

My favorite work of the exhibit is a photograph titled Rafael (1986), an image of his next door neighbor at the time. Rafael was a Cuban immigrant who arrived in Miami in 1980 from the Port of Mariel. Rafael’s gaze is piercing and judgmental. He holds nothing back.

In the back, a recreation of Pierson’s simple but lived-in bedroom showcases a personal side of the artist. Small trinkets and decor give us a glimpse into his thematic inspirations, casual junk, and valued possessions at the time. A singular painting of a matador and his bull hangs above a messy mattress. A bottle of Vitalis hair tonic sits below a sign advertising mezcal. A shell and candle sit next to some cigarettes. A tiny black and white naked image of Tommy Lee sits beside a purple bandana and western belt. Themes of isolation and connection arise here. In Untitled: Andre, several images of his past boyfriend Andre LeRouche mount a nearby wall, bringing with them youth, spirit, and presence, things that were taken away from many friends and lovers lost to the AIDS crisis. Cigarettes and alcohol point to personal vices, while flowers and candles present life, seeking forces. The curators have been sensitive to demonstrating the time’s fragility and impermanence, creating a portrait that allows the viewer to feel these things rather than be told them. The fleeting existence of the free generation is captured here.

Perhaps the core of Pierson’s work is expressed in a piece that is overt and impossible to miss. In our current technologically saturated landscape, it is easy to look up at a large sign crafted by Pierson that reads “Real Life” and feel as if he is making fun of us. The found object sculptural sign suggests that real life has become the art of his past, something achieved and put up on a wall. The wanderlust and escapism experienced in South Beach can never be replicated. Buildings have been torn down. The apartment he stayed in is gone. Venues that once carried music into the late night have closed. We may wish we could go back to this time and experience real life, but instead we stand here staring at it. Perhaps we are motivated to keep pursuing it or find it somehow, even though the whole world now lives online. If anything is to be taken away from Pierson, it is that life is meant to be lived, no matter the painful consequences. Especially in Miami.

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Chiara Padejka

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Miami : Through the Lens of Jack Pierson

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