Jorge Pérez has undeniably been one of the most influential figures in shaping Miami’s art and cultural landscape—so much so that the city named an entire museum after him. Even after generously donating his entire collection of Latin American art to the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Pérez hasn’t rested on his laurels. His continued funding and active support for both the museum and Miami’s broader art scene reflect his profound dedication as a patron of the arts, a commitment that has always been as vital to his identity as his collecting. With his private museum and art center, El Espacio 23, nearing its fifth anniversary, we sat down with Pérez to explore his journey as a collector and patron, his lasting impact on the local art community and his ambitious vision for the future.
Pérez vividly recalls his upbringing as the son of Cuban exiles in Colombia, where his mother nurtured his early connection to art by taking him to museums as a child. “I was looking mostly to the great Latino American Masters, which is also where my collection started,” he shares. After moving to the U.S. and building his fortune in real estate—beginning with low-income multifamily apartments across Miami—Pérez found that collecting art was a way to stay tethered to his cultural roots. “It gave me a sense of not losing my culture,” he explains.
At a pivotal moment in his career, Pérez made the bold decision to donate his world-class collection of Latin American art to a newly founded Miami museum that was in search of both funding and artistic treasures. Soon after, the institution was named in his honor, cementing his legacy. “I did it for two reasons,” he explains. “First, because of legacy and because I wanted my art to be seen by the public. However, the main reason was mostly because, when you look at the United States, all the major institutions are named after a non-Hispanic person. I thought it was very important since Hispanics were becoming a bigger percentage of the population, that they would be known not just as takers, but also as people that gave back to the community.”
The donation to PAMM included works by heavyweights such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Roberto Matta and Wifredo Lam. With their departure, Pérez’s home and office were suddenly bare of art, but as he tells Observer, this void became a turning point. “I felt I had already done my job in collecting dead artists,” he says. “And I wanted to start knowing artists and understanding their creative process.” From that moment, Pérez shifted his focus to collecting living artists. While his collection retained its deep connection to Latin American art, it began to expand across cultural and geographical boundaries. “I started collecting in areas that were very important to me for different reasons—American abstraction, post-war abstraction, women artists, post-expressionism, photography and art from Africa.”
Africa, in particular, became a significant focus for Pérez. He found parallels between the continent’s cultural art scene and that of Latin America, noting shared histories of colonization and struggles for cultural reclamation. “They were both continents that were colonized and enslaved until fairly recently,” Pérez explains, drawing a connection between the ongoing efforts of both regions to assert and revive their suppressed cultural identities.
SEE ALSO: Miami’s Untitled Art Fair Announces Its Expansion into Houston
This journey of expanding his collection has been, and continues to be, a process of relentless learning. With his sons now managing most of his business ventures, Pérez has the freedom to dedicate much of his time to art. While he employs two curators at El Espacio 23, he emphasizes his hands-on role as the final decision-maker. “It’s my collection; I buy what I love,” he states firmly. His vision is to create a snapshot of the most significant art of recent decades. Today, the collection features a global perspective, with 36 percent of the works by Latin American artists, 20 percent by U.S. artists, 20 percent by African artists and 16 percent by European artists. Notably, women artists make up 40 percent of the collection, reflecting Pérez’s commitment to diversity and representation in his acquisitions.
Cuba has remained a central focus for both Jorge Pérez’s collection and the programming at El Espacio 23. Pérez explains his commitment to staying connected with Cuban artists, many of whom now live abroad. “I kept going back and tried to meet every living, important artist on the island, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job at it,” he tells Observer. “However, I would say that at least 70 percent of the young, middle-career, and older career artists in Cuba are now living in the United States, Mexico and Spain, and I still visit them where they are. The collection is still solid.”
Pérez’ is notably generous with loans, with works frequently traveling for exhibitions around the globe. “Art wants to be public–art wants to circulate because it needs to reach more people,” Pérez explains. His dedication to sharing his collection with the community runs so deep that he’s even willing to part with his favorite piece, which has hung over his bed for years. “We want the community to see it. I strongly think that art makes you a better person and helps you understand your present and past.” This conviction—that art can catalyze social change—extends to El Espacio 23.
As a private institution, El Espacio 23 is directly linked to Pérez and his collection, granting him a certain degree of freedom. “At El Espacio, we can express and present the things that I wanted to exhibit without political, economic or social pressures.” For Pérez, artists are vital agents of social change, tackling issues like exploitation, capitalism and sexism. “We want to make people think,” Pérez emphasizes—to get outside their comfort zones. This ethos of pushing boundaries is at the core of El Espacio 23’s mission.
Just ahead of Art Basel Miami, El Espacio will debut “Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection,” a cross-media and intergenerational exhibition that examines the representation of the human body. The show will explore how artists use figuration and portraiture to delve into the complexities of the human condition.
In a statement accompanying the exhibition, Pérez reflected on the milestone moment: “As we mark five years since the opening of El Espacio 23, the 2024 arts season stands as a proud moment and an opportunity to reaffirm our vision for the future. With mounting financial and societal pressures, it is vital that we strengthen our commitment to the arts community. This latest exhibition offers a safe space where everyone can experience the transformative power of expression and engage in meaningful dialogue about the fundamentals of something that unites us all: the human experience.”
Featuring several recent additions to the collection—including compelling works by Shirin Neshat, Anselm Kiefer, and Julio Galán—the exhibition brings together artists whose practices interrogate the body as a vessel that experiences, documents, participates, and transforms throughout the human journey. The works oscillate between materiality and immateriality, physical and psychological dimensions, and individual and collective identities. Divided into thematic sections, the show delves into notions of flesh, perception and trauma—both individual and intergenerational—before transitioning into more introspective themes of investigation, belonging, and healing. Additionally, the exhibition highlights works by artists from the new studio residency program at El Espacio 23, which welcomed Pamela Castro, Andrea Chung, Jorge Ribalta, Moris, La Chola Poblete and Vinicius Gerheim this fall. Among the participating artists, Carlos Motta will present an exclusive performance during Art Basel Miami, adding a dynamic, live element to the program.
In line with Pérez’s vision of accessibility, admission to El Espacio 23 remains steadfastly free. Pérez always envisioned the museum as a space for the community—open to people of all cultural and economic backgrounds, particularly those from the surrounding neighborhood. “We are in Allapattah, which is not a rich neighborhood, so many people feared visiting the museum,” he explains. “But we said, please come. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand, we will have people here who can explain it to you, and we want to be open. They will see the response, it’s amazing. That’s why we also want the artists to interact with the local community, being a catalyst to inspire it.”
