Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides

Unveiling stories of resilience and beauty, Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides opens at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) on June 27, running through February 23, 2025. The exhibition delves into the healing and transformative power of water, reimagining the African American community through a lens that merges hyperrealism and poetic abstraction. Rawles' work features portraits of Black bodies interacting with bright and mysterious bodies of water, highlighting themes of physical and spiritual healing as well as historical trauma and racial exclusion.

In her first solo museum presentation, Rawles bridges her distinctive style with a story from Miami's history that is often overlooked. She delves into the experiences of Black residents in Overtown, a neighborhood that transitioned from a thriving cultural hub to a community fragmented by gentrification and systemic racism. The subjects in Rawles' paintings are Overtown residents, from children to elders, sharing their stories and experiences.

Rawles further challenges historical narratives by photographing some subjects in natural waters at the formerly segregated Virginia Key Beach. This work critically engages with Miami’s water-centric climate and explores the historical layers of beauty, oppression and resilience in the neighboring community of Overtown.

Art of Black Miami