Avalon Hotel, 700 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Dates of Exhibition: November 14, 2024 through December 12, 2024
Julia Zurilla was born in Venezuela and has been residing and working in Miami since 2017. Zurilla completed the Master’s program in Systems of Representation of Contemporary Art at IUESAPAR, Caracas (2004). She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art with a specialization in Painting and Mixed Media from IUESAPAR (2001), and a diploma in Fashion Design from IUDLM, Caracas (1989). Currently, she is an active member of Laundromat Art Space.
Her practice spans video, photography, writing, and textiles, often incorporating images from family archives, poems, and narrative texts to explore themes of belonging, memory, and identity, weaving together personal and collective histories. By transforming space into a material, her installations create site-specific environments where materials and ideas intersect, inviting viewers into a dialogue between the personal and the universal. In addition to memory and place, Zurilla addresses pressing issues such as migration, gentrification, and environmental crises, viewing these concerns as essential to understanding identity and belonging today. Each project is grounded in a strong conceptual framework, offering a fluid narrative and an immersive experience. Her art has been showcased in esteemed international museums, art biennials, institutions, and galleries, including Galería de Arte Nacional Venezuela (2023), Special Projects at PINTA Miami (2022), Coral Gables Museum in Miami (2020), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo MAC Lima in Peru (2019), Theâtre La Colonie in Paris (2018), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas (2012), Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation CIFO in Miami (2006), Museo de Bellas Artes Venezuela (2006), and The Americas Society Art Gallery in New York (2005).
Miami Artist Julia Zurilla presents — .. .- .– -..- (MIA WX), a multimedia project that combines experimental videos and circular photographs, juxtaposing images from past and present that explore nostalgia and contemporary environmental realities. The installation layout is arranged in Morse code, a visual system composed of dashes, dots and spaces that is also known as “the lifesaving language.” This project reflects both the urgency of climate communication and the adaptability of the installation, allowing any word associated with the project’s theme to be expressed and tailored to various spaces.
Photo credit: Monica McGivern