Philip Smith on Magnetic Fields at MOCA North Miami

Philip Smith: Magnetic Fields is a career survey and solo institutional debut for Miami artist Philip Smith. Curated by art historian Robin Clark, Magnetic Fields presents over 50 works spanning five decades of Smith’s expansive artistic career.

The exhibition unfolds across six gallery spaces at MOCA, with thematically organized environments that revolve entirely around Smith’s multifaceted pictographic language. Extending beyond conventional artistic practices, Smith explores metaphysical and spiritual themes through large-scale, vibrantly chromatic paintings.

The exhibition traces Smith’s artistic evolution. Early works from the Pictures era showcase his ambitiously-scaled drawings based on found images forming enigmatic, puzzle-like compositions. Another section, “Black Paintings,” draws from his studies of ancient cultures and mystery schools, and then into “Modern Paintings,” which overlay linear patterns with abstract geometries inspired by mid-century painters like Barnett Newman, Mark Tobey, and Jasper Johns.

The exhibition culminates in Smith’s newest series, “Energy Paintings,” in which monumental canvases are uniquely activated with gestural and chromatic energy. These works synthesize elements from earlier series, radiating a fresh dynamism. Much like the earth’s magnetic field—generated by molten iron at its core and shielding the planet from harmful solar radiation—Smith’s “Energy Paintings” emit their own magnetism. Vibrant lines and cosmological symbols pulse across the canvases, drawing viewers into their powerful, protective embrace.

Philip Smith: Magnetic Fields will remain on view through October 5, 2025.

‍About the artist

Philip Smith (b. Miami, FL, 1952) is based in Miami. In his work, found images documented by Smith on slide film are used to create metaphysical narratives that explore new areas of consciousness. Art historical references, DNA strands, periodic tables, tarot cards, Cold War spy manuals, advertisements for home goods, and cartoon characters populate his imagery which is both cryptic and personal. While much of his earlier work seems mysteriously encoded, the most recent paintings convey a sense of openness and dynamism. They may be understood as generators of positive energy, or magnetic fields. Smith’s work has been collected by major museums including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Whitney Museum, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Perez Art Museum Miami. He is the author of a memoir, Walking Through Walls(Simon and Schuster, 2008).

Adam Curtis - HyperNormalisation

Our world is strange, and often fake and corrupt, but how did we get here? We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion, marked by events that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - they have no idea what to do. This film is the epic story of how we got to this strange place. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening, but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them. It shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us, we accept it as usual. But there is another world outside. Forces that politicians tried to forget and bury forty years ago - that then festered and mutated - but which are now turning on us with a vengeful fury and piercing through the wall of our fake world.

Terence Riley on Charlie Rose

The Museum of Modern Art's chief curator, Terence Riley, talks about an exciting new exhibit, "The Un-Private House," focused on how architecture is changing to meet the needs of society.

As an architect, museum professional, teacher, and critic, Terence Riley is an internationally recognized leader in the design and development of cultural facilities and programs with great architectural significance worldwide.

In 1991, Riley was invited to join the curatorial staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA). After having served as the senior curator in the field for 10 years, he was given the title of Philip Johnson Chief Curator for Architecture and Design in 2002. Riley joined the Miami Art Museum (MAM) as its director in March 2006. In this role, Mr. Riley led the museum through the design phase of a major expansion. He led the museum’s Architect Selection Committee, that selected Herzog & de Meuron to design an innovative new waterfront home in Miami’s Museum Park — the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).

Terence Riley passed away on Tuesday, May 18th, 2021.  We remember him daily and are honored his architecture will be in forever dialogue with our program here at Primary.

Terence Riley, curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art discusses his exhibition "O.M.A.," which showcases the work of architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

Architect Philip Johnson, critic Herbert Muschamp, and MoMA's chief curator Terence Riley discuss Frank Lloyd Wright, his legacy, and the exhibition of his work at the MoMA.

Typoe Gran & Allison Glenn | We should talk. - No. 001

A conversation between curator, Allison Glenn and artist, Typoe Gran on the occasion of Gran's second solo exhibition at Primary titled Living Form Dying Ground.

Typoe Gran (b. 1983, Miami) is a Miami based mixed media artist whose works range from paintings and murals to larger than life sculptural works that can be found in the public realm. His work has been exhibited at Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, Arkansas, Locust Projects, Miami, FL, Public Art of UH System, Houston, TX, Artis-Naples, Naples, FL, and Faena Art Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina and can be found on the permanent collections of the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA and the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL.

Allison Glenn is a New York-based curator and writer focusing on the intersection of art and public space. She is the Artistic Director of The Shepherd, a three-and-a-half-acre arts campus located in the Little Village cultural district, Detroit. Glenn held positions as Co-Curator of Counterpublic Triennial 2023, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Curatorial Associate for Prospect New Orleans' International Art Triennial.

For more information: info@thisisprimary.com

Dustin Emory & Kathryn Kampovsky - VIDEO

In the summer of 2024, Primary welcomed Dustin Emory and Kathryn Kampovsky to our first annual residency program. Dedicated to introducing new voices in contemporary art to the unique subtropical environment that makes up Miami, our eight-week residency invites artists to immerse themselves in research, exploration, and the development of new works. Primary's 5500 sq ft live/work residence in Little River provides a nurturing space for artists to deeply engage with their studio practice while connecting with the vibrant cultural landscape Miami has to offer.

Dustin Emory (b. 1999, Atlanta, GA) is a self taught visual artist with a practice primarily consisting of painting. His work largely explores the human response to confinement through a black and white lens. He has exhibited nationally and internationally with group shows in New York and Paris, as well as recent solo exhibitions in London, Paris and Miami. His work can be found in the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA and is included in the upcoming issue (166) of New American Paintings.

Kathryn Kampovsky (b. 1997, Atlanta, GA) creates using vibrant and layered oil and acrylic paints, inviting viewers to engage with important contemporary issues through the perspective of a young, modern woman. Her use of color and energetic brushstrokes leads the viewer towards the subjects, prompting questions about safety, unity, and our sense of community. Each piece encourages the viewer to approach and yet simultaneously creates a sense of caution. Kampovsky's paintings offer a glimpse into the intricate and sometimes disconcerting reality of womanhood, employing pleasing colors, textures, and subtleties to captivate the viewer. Kampovsky lives and works in Atlanta, GA.

Modern Luxury on Primary.

This Trio Is Changing Miami's Contemporary Art Scene
Two decades and three friends bring hundreds of artists to Miami.

In 2007, three artist friends banded together to create Primary Flight (thisisprimary.com), an art project that painted the walls of warehouse districts later named Wynwood Art District and Miami Design District. In only four years, Books Bischof, Cristina Gonzalez and Typoe Gran had brought hundreds of artists to Miami to participate in urban takeovers. The first murals featured coveted ‘street’ artists such as Ron English, Shephard Fairey, and El Mac, subsequently appropriated and popularized by real estate developers. Founder Books Bishof shares, “We had a desire to surround ourselves with like-minded misfits! We needed to be with those who saw the world downside-up when it was clearly right side-down.”

Derrick Adams

The trio recognized the immense value of bringing dynamic international contemporary art programming to the city. In 2010, they opened Primary Projects, a storefront exhibition space in Miami Design District. The gallery debuted with a solo exhibition by renowned Los Angeles-based artist RETNA, followed by group exhibitions International Friendship Exhibition, OMGWTF, as well as Here Lies Georges Wildenstein, which featured a performance installation by Miru Kim, who lived in the gallery’s windows naked and among live pigs for the duration of Miami Art Week. Further grounding Primary’s fresh eye for talent, in 2017, Derrick Adams created a handpainted, geometric and immersive exhibition that showcased an ambitious range of disciplines by one of contemporary art’s most celebrated artists.

Oona Brangam-Snell

Today, Primary runs a discreet yet equally subversive exhibition schedule from a pristine Little River gallery custom-designed by late architect Terence Riley. In November 2022, artist Wade Tullier shared a sweetly satirical personal journey through his exquisite large-scale ceramics in “It Was a Dream It is a Flood.” This art season, collectors and fans will encounter a solo exhibition of textile works by the boundary-pushing, New York-based artist Oona Brangam-Snell.

Hernan Bas

Self-described as a context and research-driven curatorial collective, the Primary team has maintained its passion for public art. Previous projects include eleven art installations across the then-new Fashion Outlets of Chicago, the city’s most giant murals created via Related Group’s Wynwood 25 and spearheading Miami Worldcenter’s multimillion-dollar creative program alongside renowned dealer Jeffrey Deitch. Together, Primary and Deitch realized murals by Nina Chanel Abney and Viktor El-Saieh, and sculptural works by Nick Cave, Woody De Othello and Trenton Doyle Hancock. Bischof shares, “We found our footing through public art, and today, in many ways, public art remains our salvation.”

Wade Tullier in Clay Pop from Rizzoli

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Artburst on Avery Pack

Words By Josie Gulliksen

Having been away from painting for the past 25 years, this exhibition is a sort of comeback for Avery Pack, who has been creative since his teenage years.

As a teenager, Pack used to program and publish video games, at a time when “the video games were made by individuals. I worked in that world as a teenager, publishing my first game when I was around 13, 14 years old,” explains Pack.

Pack recalls those early days of video game design as “a very special moment when the distribution was unique, things were available through downloads.” Video games were often crafted by small teams, giving them a distinct and peculiar quality, much like painting.

Drawing from these early experiences, he crafted works for his debut solo exhibition “Wheel” at Primary in Little River.

When asked to explain why he chose to title the exhibition “Wheel”, Pack explains that for the last 20 years or so, he has been working in the world of bike design. “This show is kind of a conflation of all that,” Pack says.

Visual arts came first though, by way of Columbia University in New York where he had a visual arts focus and dabbled in digital visual arts. Eventually, he found himself working in bike design and only revisited painting recently.

“I’ve always been drawn to painting and I feel a special connection with it. When I’m at a Museum, I know the connection when I see it. It hits me, I learn about it and then it hits me again later, it stays with me,” said Pack.

Books Bischof and Cristina Gonzalez, a husband and wife duo of the Primary’s owners, were lured to Pack’s work by their shared passion for it. The local artist and gallery Co-owner Typoe Gran also joined in to collaborate with them.

“We were introduced to Avery about a year ago and there was always something exciting going on in his studio when we visited,” Bischof explains. “Eventually we asked him to build a body of work for us to exhibit.”

Considering himself an artist at heart, Pack began painting with real intention 3-4 years ago. During that time, he created a series of 500-600 paintings. “It was a way for me to rediscover my creative drive, regain my artistic confidence, and explore and experiment without hesitation,” shared Pack candidly.

The exhibition at Primary, titled “Wheel”, was curated by Bischof, Gonzalez, and Gran. The trio edited and structured the works, while Avery added the final touches. The exhibit, which served as an introduction, held primary importance in ensuring that each work breathed, revealed a journey and walked the viewers through the artist’s narrative.

The carefully curated journey includes 11 colorful, dynamic artworks by Pack that incorporate his video game, bike, and visual art worlds. To make an immediate impact, the artist chose to display the work against bare concrete walls, creating an industrial yet warm space that resonates with Pack.

“The gallery is slick but really, really warm. It simulates a house, I feel it’s very different from a lot of gallery spaces. The design was definitely intentional. I love the exposed brick, the concrete block. It translates so well,” remarked Pack.

The striking contrast between color and concrete catches the eye of anyone who steps through the door and certainly left an impact on Primary’s owners.

“There’s something challenging about Avery’s art. Something that you can’t put your finger on. His work leaves just enough room for the viewer to imagine, to participate. There is a punch that we look for in an artist that we associate with Primary. Avery Pack has that and it’s exciting that this is just the beginning,” said Bischof.

View of works featured in Avery Pack’s first solo exhibition, including his larger paintings shown here: Storm Drain, 2023 (left) and Broken Glass, 2023. Photo by Oriol Tarridas. Courtesy of Primary.

It could really be called the mutual admiration society between the trio from Primary and Pack, who trusted them and their understanding of his work as well as their audience.

“I trusted them to translate what was there in terms of how they laid out the space, what they chose to present, and how to present it. I think it was very smart how they laid it out. They gave certain pieces a more impactful space. I appreciated their editing of my works,” said Pack.

Pack’s trust instincts with the trio are on point given how they feel about his work. Bischof says, “There is a confidence in Avery’s work, in his brush stroke, a maturity in his ability to pull back and not overwork a piece. There is a beauty in the details and layering of the paintings themselves, that is included in the overall concept of the exhibition.”

Despite the incorporation of skulls and such in some of the works, Pack assures that his pieces are more mischievous than dark. In fact, the artist feels they are quite playful.

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Harper's Bazaar on TYPOE

Miami New Times on Spring at Primary.

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the brightness of the day spills into the concrete fortress that is Primary, the gallery in Little Haiti. The space smells of fresh palo santo, and the vibrations are warm and welcoming.

Owners Books Bischof and Cristina Gonazlez are readying the room ahead of the opening reception of their latest exhibition, "Spring." On view through the end of the month, the exhibition features work by 15 artists: Adam Beris, Tess Bilhartz, Sarah Bedford, Miranda Byk, Corydon Cowansage, Douglas de Souza, Laura Findlay, Kevin Ford, Alanna Hernandez, Sally Jerome, Claudia Keep, Rose Nestler, Ben Sanders, Aaron Michael Skolnick, and Lina Tharsing.

Bischof moves about the space and expertly lists each artist and their place of residence as he passes by their work. He explains how the selection of the artists and their work stems from long conversations with Gonzalez and their third partner, artist Typoe Gran. "We then find a similar thread, and then we see them from there."

As Bischof sits to write the announcement for the group show, he reflects on spring and what the season means — and brings. It's a slow and almost romantic time of year. Flowers bloom, cloud-watching is a must, and the days get warmer and slower. He writes a line about his 2-year-old daughter coming home with a small pot she filled with soil and seeds. "Will it ever sprout?" he ponders.

In spring 2021, when Bischof and Gonzalez were newly navigating the world of parenting, they presented the group show "Can't Wait to Meet You." The exhibition was curated wholly with their latest addition top of mind.

"Spring," says Bischof, is almost like a continuation of that group show from two years ago. This time, however, the emphasis is on a softer tone while still harnessing the power of renewal and growth that comes with springtime.

"It's the simple things [in life], and we were just looking for ways to illustrate those feelings."

The various works all share the space beautifully. Their placement on the exposed brick walls is entirely intentional.

While most of the works are small, a pair of paintings demands your attention. Hanging on the back wall are two large green canvases. The works, titled Landmark and Boxcars, is by artist Adam Beris. It's evident from afar the greenery is a grassy field, and the pops of colors are flowers. Upon closer inspection, you find little trinkets hidden in the blades of green paint. A little discarded pink pompom. A tiny green army man.

These pieces instantly transport you to a moment in your youth when you may have picked up a tiny toy horse, played with it until your heart's content, and left it forgotten somewhere in the green. How many toys were left abandoned in a field? How many strangers stepped over your once-loved plastic lion until it was completely buried under the dirt?

"Have you ever been to the park and accidentally stepped on a little kid's toy?" Bischof asks. "You don't have to have a kid to know that experience. I just found [Beris' paintings] so perfect for this show.

Armed with the insight that a common denominator for the works is the notion of childhood and innocence, it impacts how you view each piece. Is the grayscale leather bouquet by artist Rose Nestler simply a gorgeous collection of flowers, or does its dark color combination represent something more sinister? Are the foamy waves of Kevin Ford's pink ocean concealing a deeper truth?

Stare long enough, and you'll answer your own queries.

Primary is already gearing up for their season closer: the debut of artist Avery Pack.

"You've never heard of him. No one has ever heard of him. It's his debut," says Bischof excitedly. His eyes widen as he recalls the first studio visit with Pack. "He's an amazing painter and kind of prolific. It's wild work. It's different. You can't say that his work looks like anybody else's."

Art lovers can meet Avery and check out his solo show starting May 6.

"You know what?" Bischof says, recalling one particular line from the show description for "Spring." He smiles as he sees his daughter giggling and running around outside. "It sprouted."

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Typoe for the Underline