Artist: Leandro Erlich
Title: Order of Importance
Site-specific installation on the Oceanfront at Lincoln Road
On the occasion of Art Week Miami Beach 2019, the City of Miami Beach commissioned Order of Importance, a monumental site-specific installation on Miami Beach by Argentinean conceptual artist Leandro Erlich.
Taking place from December 1–15, 2019, Erlich’s playful and surreal installation for Miami Beach recast the 21st century traffic jam as 66 life-sized sculptures of cars and trucks queued at an imaginary stand still on the oceanfront at Lincoln Road.
Internationally renowned for combining elements of sculpture, architecture, and theater to disrupt the audience’s natural view of the world, Erlich’s colossal installation was the largest work produced by the artist to date.
Leandro Erlich describes the project as a matter of urgency: “Climate change and its consequences are no longer a matter of perspective or opinion. The climate crisis has become an objective problem that requires immediate solutions. As an artist, I am in a constant struggle to make people aware of this reality, in particular, the idea that we cannot shrink away from our responsibilities to protect the planet.”
Regarded as an international destination for arts and culture, Miami Beach is dedicated to commissioning works of public art that evoke a unique sense of place and thoughtfully engage our residents and visitors. Order of Importance adds to Miami Beach’s legacy as a vanguard for public art and complements the recently completed $7 million public art investment at the Miami Beach Convention Center, which represents the largest single commission by a municipal percent-for-art program in the United States.
