Pérez Art Museum Miami has opened ‘This Is America x PAMMTV’, a yearlong presentation running from July 9, 2026, to July 7, 2027, in the museum’s auditorium and online through PAMMTV. The project brings together time-based works from PAMM’s permanent collection and places them in dialogue with questions of US politics, the Black American experience, and the role of artists in shaping the nation’s past, present, and future.
According to PAMM, the exhibition centers artist changemakers who reflect the American experience. It is being presented as a digital extension of ‘This Is America: Selections from PAMM’s Collection’, with the online component explicitly linked to the museum’s auditorium presentation. The museum says the project is organized to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, using artists’ visual language and personal perspective to consider how a nation’s identity continues to be redefined.
The selection includes works by Carrie Mae Weems, Howardena Pindell, Martine Syms, Rashid Johnson, and Yucef Merhi. The PAMMTV page lists the featured works as ‘May Days Long Forgotten’ by Carrie Mae Weems (2002), ‘Free, White and 21’ by Howardena Pindell (1980), ‘A Pilot For A Show About Nowhere’ by Martine Syms (2015), ‘Black and Blue’ by Rashid Johnson (2021), and ‘Color Bars’ by Yucef Merhi (2024). All of the works are described as video or other time-based media.
PAMM’s accompanying text frames the selection around representation, collective experience, and political and social cycles. The museum says Howardena Pindell, Martine Syms, and Carrie Mae Weems illuminate the ongoing struggle for Black representation in history, media, and the art world. It says Rashid Johnson’s work documents the collective anxiety and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic while also reflecting on racial injustices of the period, and that Yucef Merhi’s piece examines repetitive systems and the fatigue that can accompany anticipation of change.
The institution describes PAMMTV as its streaming service for video art, with an emphasis on landmark media from South Florida, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the African Diaspora. PAMM says the platform is free to watch and is intended to democratize access to contemporary video art for global viewers. The exhibition is presented through PAMMTV as part of that digital framework, while also appearing in the museum’s auditorium.
Curatorial credit for ‘This Is America x PAMMTV’ goes to Naomi Bitton, Curatorial Administrative Assistant, and Maritza M. Lacayo, Associate Curator. PAMMTV is produced by Lauren Monzón, Program Manager, New Media. PAMM says its project galleries and digital initiatives are funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and that ‘This Is America: Selections from PAMM’s Collection’ is presented with lead individual support from Diane and Werner Grob, with additional support from Jayne Binzer-Jacowitz and Steven Jacowitz.
