MIAMI, FLA.- On the occasion of Miami Art Week, the City of Miami Beach premieres Order of Importance, a monumental new site-specific installation on Miami Beach by Argentinean conceptual artist Leandro Erlich curated by Ximena Caminos.

Taking place from December 1–15, 2019, Erlich’s playful and surreal installation for Miami Beach recasts 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 is the largest work produced by the artist to date.

Order of Importance is situated on the shore of Miami Beach’s popular beachfront at Lincoln Road, a short walk from the City’s newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. Visitors are invited to walk through this strikingly familiar scene of modernity from December 1-15, coinciding with Miami Art Week.

The site-specific work is commissioned by the City of Miami Beach in collaboration with Miamibased curator Ximena Caminos, and Brandi Reddick, Cultural Affairs Manager at the City of Miami Beach.

Leandro Erlich said: “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.”

Ximena Caminos said: “Erlich has an uncanny ability to encourage us to take pause and reflect upon how we view the world around us. By defying our perceptions, his work makes us question reality. Apart from its surreal beauty and poetry, Order of Importance, like an image from a contemporary Pompeii, or a future relic, also alludes to our fragile position in the large universal canvas. It interacts with the climate crisis facing the world, particularly the rising sea level.

“My goal as a curator is to create acts of urban acupuncture that harness the force of art as a tool for change to promote the cross pollination of ideas and civic engagement through public programming and world-class activations.

“Today we’re relying on our cities to be at the forefront of social innovation and the City of Miami Beach, with its inclusive and innovative spirit, is playing a strong leadership role in instilling urgency in this conversation and the collaboration with their team has been extraordinary.”

Brandi Reddick said: “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.”