Since moving to Miami year-round in 2012, I have been making large-scale, mixed-media portraits of people in the Miami arts communities. An exhibition of my 40 x 60 inch, mixed-media portraits of patrons and performers at the Historic Hampton House during the era of Segregation opened on February 1, 2022. “First Person Portraits: Hampton House Performers & Patrons” is funded by The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts. The exhibition opened on February 1, with people in the portraits telling stories about their experiences at the Hampton House during the Jim Crow era. The portraits are still on display.
In the fall of 2023, the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach will be exhibiting approximately 27 of my large-scale, mixed-media portraits + 27 video portraits. The exhibition will open on 10/22/2023, with a reception at 5:00 PM. October 22, 2023 to March, 2024.
COMMISSIONS
FEATURED PORTRAITS
Installation iPhone Video View, 2016
ELMAN + HOLT
THE OUTER CAPE ART COLONY
PROVINCETOWN ART ASSOCIATION & MUSEUM
JUNE 17 TO AUGUST 7, 2016
"In this exhibition we celebrate the work of two Cape Cod artists: Raymond Elman and Norma Holt. For decades they recorded the intellectual and cultural life of our unique art colony at the tip of Cape Cod by making portraits of the creative talent that embraces the special nature of this seaside community.
This place is the hidden character of the story, and perhaps the most influential one. It breathes a historic significance into the images of Elman and Holt. To understand why, one only needs to look at the Outer Cape as a historic center of creative achievement. The people that live or lived here gave it a kind of star power. They came for inspiration and were rewarded by the nature of this place. The Outer Cape is isolated enough for one’s thoughts to gain clarity. However, the Outer Cape’s geography is also compact enough so one does not need to go too far to reach a social center of town to find a willing collaborator. In this way, recognized and less recognized artists rubbed shoulders with each other so that everybody, including the subjects of these portraits, became part of the cultural stew and birthed remarkable artwork."
ETHAN COHEN, curator
