MOCA North Miami is presenting “Michael Richards: Are You Down?” through October 10.
Curated by Alex Fialho and Melissa Levin, The retrospective takes its name from one of the last artworks Richards created during his lifetime. It features nearly all of the artwork Richards made between 1990 and 2001, including numerous sculptures and drawings, and documentations of early site-specific installations and images.
Richards passed away on September 11, 2001 while working in his Lower Manhattan Cultural Council World Views studio on the 92nd floor of World Trade Center, Tower One. At age 38, Richards was an emerging artist who was a leading figure in contemporary art. Richards’ work engages with Blackness, masculinity, diaspora, spirituality and police brutality that are especially pressing themes we experience today. The retrospective not only celebrates and honors Richards’ legacy but simultaneously a memorial for the 20th anniversary of September 11.
