Curated by Bonnie Clearwater

In the mid-1970s the US economy was collapsing; in Miami, however, where the young Luis Gispert lived, cars costing hundreds of thousands of dollars were being bought with abandon, and fitted with bulletproof glass. That insular boom, produced by the cocaine trade, and the concurrent rise of hip-hop culture meet in Gispert’s work, which captures all the distortions of a city in which Art Deco confections house Burger Kings. The MOCA exhibition will trace a theme of “customization” through about thirty works made since 2002, many of which involve cars: photographs of tricked-out interiors, sculptures of lowriders, a film of a cheerleader lip-synching to an alarm. Few artists in these global days seem able to cultivate a nuanced sense of place. For so richly getting Miami, its glitter and heat, its magic and horror, Luis Gispert is exceptional.

— Kyle Bentley