Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Nam June Paik: The Miami Years

Brian King, Nam June Paik, Miami Florida, 1990.

2100 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States

Throughout the early decades of his career, the 1960s and 70s, the Korean artist Nam June Paik was very much a New York artist. In the 1990s, however, “the king of video” moved to Miami, making his home in the tropical city. Indeed, in 1985 the city had commissioned two works from him for the Miami International Airport. WING, in the lobby of Concourse B, was made up of 100 television monitors, and MIAMI, located in front of the Customs Exit, spelled out M-I-A-M-I across 74 screens. Though the works were later vandalized, Paik’s contributions to the city left their mark. He died there at age 74, in 2006. This exhibition focuses on his important but often overlooked Miami years. —Elena Clavarino