DECEMBER 5 – 9, 2023

Ice Palace Studios
1400 North Miami Avenue
Miami, FL 33136

VIP Preview (by Invitation):
Tuesday, December 5, 10am–4pm
Wednesday, December 6, 10–11am

Open to the Public:
Tuesday, December 5, 4–7pm
Wednesday, December 6, 11am–7pm
Thursday, December 7, 11am–7pm
Friday, December 8, 11am–7pm
Saturday, December 9, 11am–6pm

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce it has been chosen as one of eight TD Curated Spotlight participants for NADA Miami with a solo presentation of Monica Kim Garza at booth B-110. A special section of the fair, Curated Spotlight, is  sponsored by TD Bank and selected by Jenée-Daria Strand, Assistant Curator at Public Art Fund. NADA Miami runs from December 5th to 9th at Ice Palace Studios. 

Garza is known for her pastose, painterly use of oil paint and her figurative subject matter – robust and often nude or partially clad women who subvert the male gaze and enjoy themselves. The artist continues to push boundaries thematically and materially, with her figures dissolving further into abstraction through impressionist and expressionistic brushwork. Her heavy layering of paint is sometimes punctuated by mixed media - yarn, wool, glitter - affixed to the surface like accessories.

In this solo presentation, Garza has created new, large paintings, ceramics, and works on paper with the idea of Miami and the “cafecito” culture that lives within it. Experiences shared with friends in restaurants and cafés are at the forefront of the subject matter. Intimate atmospheres of hot summer days are depicted through bright colors as seen in Breakfast Menu, where women are seated around a table reading and enjoying drinks. Each work is deeply personal to Garza, who recreates particular and modern everyday experiences layer by layer. The artist’s memories play out through texture, where moments at a café shift into other moments of daily life – figures sharing a glass of champagne in the park or lounging on an ottoman.

Garza’s heavy use of oil layers evoke a sense of nostalgia. Viewers can see the history of her hand through the overlapping of figures and forms–a visual embodiment of memories and the passing of time. The artist’s mastery of the medium highlights Garza’s intent with oil paint, to reflect only what painting can do and not to replicate reality. Her abstracted figures and thick brushwork remind viewers of the facade of the painting itself–a mesmerizing glimpse of a world that appears both tangible and distant.

The artist employs the same forms and motifs from her paintings to create sculptures that add another dimension to her work.  Female figures are depicted along the exterior and interior of the vessels and each ceramic acts as an accompaniment to the artist's paintings and works on paper, filling the space in the same “cafecito” theme.

Monica Kim Garza (B. 1988, New Mexico)

Monica Kim Garza (b. 1988, New Mexico) has gained widespread recognition for her (mostly nude) female subjects with expressionistic brushwork and a smattering of tonal hues, situating them within bright backgrounds that reflect both real locations and atmospheric states. Throughout her oeuvre, women drink, recline, and reflect with each other and with themselves. Garza is American born with Mexican and Korean lineage. She has exhibited in Paris, Cologne, New York, Copenhagen, and Los Angeles. She lives and works in Atlanta, GA.