Pepe Mar's Love Letter to the Frost

In the Frost Art Museum's newest installation, Pepe Mar marries a broad range of visual references and personal obsessions spanning art, fashion, queer history, and Mexican culture. Mar raises awareness of the museum's permanent collection of art from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe, as special treasures belonging to the public. "I wanted to make a collage of the collection as an extension of my artistic practice," Mar reflects "to create new definitions for the objects on view and encouraging unexpected connections throughout the installation."

Organized visually across thematic chapters such as Theatre of the City; Mirror, Mirror; Procession; and Cabinet of Curiosities, Tesoro's highlights including masks, ceramics, and paintings by René Portocarrero, Thornton Dial, and Purvis Young, alongside select loans.

An FIU alumnus who has been living and working in Miami for the past twenty years, Pepe Mar's recent solo exhibitions include presentations at the Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art (Pittsburgh) and Locust Projects (Miami). He received his MFA from Florida International University and his BFA from the California College of the Arts.