Jack Pierson in Miami An Artist and a City in Transformation

By Hilarie M. Sheets

In late 1984, Jonathan Pierson, a recent art school graduate, took a spontaneous trip from New York to Miami Beach with his friend André Laroche. Captivated by the city’s laid-back beach life, thrift shops, and gritty glamour, he stayed six months working as a busboy at Wolfie’s deli, where a coworker mispronounced his name as “Jack.” Multiple visits throughout the 1980s, during a period of rapid cultural and physical change in Miami, shaped his artistic approach.

The exhibition Jack Pierson: The Miami Years at the Bass Museum highlights this formative period, combining early works with later pieces and new commissions. Pierson first exhibited in New York in 1990 and became known during the AIDS crisis for intimate, candid portrayals of gay life and bohemian culture. His assemblages mix photographs, printed materials, found objects, paintings, and drawings, exploring themes of memory, longing, and transience.

Miami gave Pierson confidence and freedom to experiment, helping him develop his artistic identity. The Bass exhibition presents collage-like installations of photographs, sculptures, and word pieces, often referencing his time in Miami and the city’s changing landscape, showing how these experiences influenced his enduring approach to art.