TROPICAL STOMPING GROUNDS

—PEPE MAR

COMMISSIONED BY THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION AND VISITORS AUTHORITY PRESENTED BY NO VACANCY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FAENA ART

PEPE MAR’S SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION, TROPICAL STOMPING GROUNDS, TRANSFORMS CASA FAENA’S SUNLIT ATRIUM INTO AN IMMERSIVE TABLEAU COMPOSED OF TEXTILES PRINTED WITH IMAGERY DRAWN FROM FIFTEEN YEARS OF HIS COLLAGE, ASSEMBLAGE, AND SCULPTURAL PRACTICE.

Unfolding as a floor-to-ceiling panorama of pattern and memory, the work reimagines fragments of Mar’s earlier pieces in textile form as a tactile retrospective that maps his visual and emotional terrain. Both autobiographical and celebratory, Tropical Stomping Grounds pays homage to Miami Beach, a place that has shaped the artist’s life and practice for over two decades. The repeated patterns and layered imagery evoke ideas of myth, culture, self-exploration, and nature, creating a vibrant environment that reflects Mar’s ongoing exploration of identity and belonging. As a part of the installation, Mar introduces a custom-designed sofa upholstered with imagery from his monumental collage My First 25,000 Years on Earth (2024), extending the work’s vivid iconography into a lived and tactile encounter. Viewers are invited to sit, read, and lounge within a living collage that bridges art and everyday experience. Mar’s assemblage practice embraces a spirit of reuse and transformation, incorporating discarded objects, vintage jewelry, ceramics, glassware, leather, and other found materials. Books and objects integrated into the installation further expand this sense of discovery and reflection, encouraging a communal and contemplative engagement with the artist’s world.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?  

• Being home with my schnauzers.

What is your greatest extravagance?  

• My studio.

Which living person do you most despise? 

• Too many to list here.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? 

• Indecisiveness.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

• My husband, dogs, and art.

When and where were you happiest? 

• Right now.

What is your favorite occupation? 

• Chef.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

• Insincere kindness.

On what occasion do you lie? 

• When i’m bored.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

• Skinny legs.

Which talent would you most like to have? 

• Singing.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? 

• Tardiness.

What is your favorite journey? 

• The creation of an exhibition.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? 

• Gurrrl.

What is your current state of mind?

• Overwhelmed. 

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

• Wall-E.

How would you like to die?

• Sleeping.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

• For them to be more fun.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• Becoming an artist.

What is it that you most dislike? 

• Unfairness. 

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

• A bird.

What is your most treasured possession?

• My clothing collection.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? 

• Being alone.

Where would you like to live?

• Rome.

What is your most marked characteristic?

• Sarcasm. 

What do you most value in your friends?

• Realiability.

Who are your heroes in real life?

• Too many to list.

What is your greatest fear?

• Eating alone.

What is your motto? 

• Live life to the fullest.