‘Suns + Shadows’ Brings Out the Best of Miami’s Black Artists

Installation view of “Suns + Shadows” at the Marshall L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. (Photo by Nazir Forbes)

As a revered cultural institution in Liberty City celebrates its 50th anniversary, one Miami artist is taking the opportunity to reflect on its impact.

“Suns + Shadows,” an art exhibition at the Marshall L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, convenes some of Miami’s most celebrated artists of Black diasporic lineage. It also marks the curatorial debut of a beloved figure in the Miami arts community, lens-based artist Roscoè B. Thické III.

The exhibition was originally proposed as a solo presentation by Thické, who was approached to do a solo show at the gallery by its manager Bayunga Kialeuka. But the artist had just wrapped the group show “Summer School” at Homework Gallery and was reticent about doing another so soon. He offered to curate a show instead, something he hadn’t done before. Then, during a residency in Suriname, supported by the Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, his research into the center’s 50th anniversary gave him the exhibition’s theme: Legacy.

From left, Roscoè B. Thické III, Mark Delmont, and Lance Minto-Strouse survey the exhibition. (Photo by Gregory Reed)

“I was over there writing a lot about legacy, what it would have meant to me, what it means, period, how does it even reflect in my work and other artists’ work,” he says. “I just started talking to artists, talking about how they practice, how they think about it in passing, and what they think about legacy and how that shows in their practice.”

Thické decided on the final list after sending out a prompt, eventually settling on five artists that seemed “the most enthused.” Some of the participants are already well-established in Miami’s art scene; Reginald O’Neal, for instance, showed at the Rubell Museum in 2021 and at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2023, while T. Elliot Mansa staged one of the final shows at the former Locust Projects space in the Design District in 2022.

T. Elliot Mansa, Ubuntu (For Marcus), 2025. (Photo by Jarem Hodges)

Each employed a range of different materials and angles. Mansa’s florally inspired collages incorporate found materials such as seashells, sand, stuffed animals, and nails in a series titled “Ubuntu,” after the pan-African philosophy of universal human connection. Mark Fleuridor’s textile works incorporate quilting and digital collaging, while Mark Delmont, who previously exhibited in 2024 at the Center in a solo show titled “Papers,” presents figurative paintings reflecting on the impact of unseen Black laborers in Miami.

Some artists treat the idea of legacy from a personal angle.  O’Neal is known for both his neo-impressionist paintings and for large-scale installations of souvenir caricature figurines reflecting on the historic commodification of Black creativity. His work for “Suns + Shadows” takes on a sculptural element with the use of poured concrete slabs. One piece, “The opposite side of headcracks is losers,” embeds dice in the concrete, its name a reference to the highest scoring move in the dice game cee-lo.

Reginald O’Neal explored concrete as a material for the first time for his work in “Suns + Shadows.” Mark Fleuridor’s work can be seen on the wall. (Photo by Nazir Forbes)

In “I wrote my name in the concrete,” he places a painting of his recently deceased brother, also named Reginald, and etches his initials in the concrete as if it were an actual sidewalk panel. Thické says O’Neal came up with the idea for the two artworks after discussions between the curator and artist.

“Reggie…wanted to memorialize him and let his legacy live on,” says the curator, who like O’Neal also grew up in Miami’s Black community. “And we started thinking about how we did that when we were young. We would see wet concrete and write ‘Long live so-and-so,’ that’s how we would memorialize people in the neighborhood. So, I think that got him on a path of what he wanted to do.”

Reginald O’Neal is known for both his neo-impressionist paintings and for large-scale installations of souvenir caricature figurines reflecting on the historic commodification of Black creativity. (Photo by Jarem Hodges)

The art exhibition itself is only one half of the project. Thické has also produced a sumptuous catalog that both expands and accompanies “Suns + Shadows” , featuring poetry, essays, photos, and other documentation. Part of the impetus for the book is to counterbalance a deficiency in the show, the fact that all five of the exhibiting artists are men, according to Thické

“I know I wanted a woman’s perspective, but the budget didn’t allow for more than five artists,” Thické remarks. “With the book, I wanted to lead with the women. The women are major and the guys are minor in the book, since the guys are major in the show itself.”

Indeed the catalog provides much more expansive reflection on the five female creatives selected to participate, particularly in terms of mediums covered. There are pages and stills from film director Monica Sorelle’s feature “Mountains” about a demolition worker in Little Haiti and his emotional tug of war over working in a job that is leading to the neighborhood’s gentrification, as well as an interview between Sorelle and fellow filmmaker Faren Humes. The book also features stills from Humes’ film “Liberty,” documenting the community around the Liberty Square housing project. Thické even included poetry from his daughter, Jada Forbes, a high schooler and budding artist herself.

Mark Delmont’s paintings reflect on the legacy of Black laborers in Miami. (Photo by Gregory Reed)

Reflections on feminine influence can also be found in the show itself, however. Jamaican-American artist Lance Minto-Strouse, who claims a mix of Afro-Chinese, Anglo, and Native American heritage, discusses family in his work “Guidance from the Matriarchs.” The collage of text and photos, with faces blurred as a way of “protecting” the family according to the artist, came about after he revisited archives from his mother’s upbringing in Jamaica. It’s also meant to be a meditation on the matriarchal nature of Caribbean culture.

“In Caribbean culture, women tend to lead the children into ideas (and help them to) understand the world around them,” says Minto-Strouse. “My mother was a photographer and pushed me into the art and art ideologies. So (I was) revisiting that after her death and making it, in a way ,of honoring all the things that came before me.”

WHAT: “Suns + Shadows” 

WHERE: Marshall L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22nd Ave., Miami

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Closed Saturdays and Sundays. Through Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. 

COST: Free

INFORMATION: 305-638-6771 and ahcacmiami.org 

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