Friday March 20th, 2026, Miami / 6:30pm-9:30pm
On the occasion of the new “Urban Forms” exhibition catalogue, JCMC invites you to an evening of entertainment including an Art Talk (in Spanish) with Curator Ariel Jiménez and Architect Henry Rueda, followed with a concert by Octoplus Ensemble with a program inspired by the dialogue between modern architecture and geometric abstract works in the exhibition. Please note the sequence of events will begin promptly, we do ask guests to plan accordingly.
Free entry, limited seating.
Concert Program
View the full Concert Program, here.
Collaborating:
About the collaborators:
Ariel Jiménez is a historian, museographer and curator of modern and contemporary art. He studied History of Art and Archeology at the University of Paris I, Panthéon Sorbonne (DEA 1983). He has curated numerous exhibitions in public and private institutions in Venezuela, Latin America and the United States. He was director of the Department of Education and Audiovisual Media of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas (1984-1986); general director of the Exhibition Hall of the Eugenio Mendoza Foundation in Caracas, where he created a documentation center on contemporary art and organized seminars with guests such as Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, Sophie Calle, Andrés Serrano and Josef Kosut (1989-1997). He worked as Chief Curator for the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection in Caracas (1997-2011), where he directed an exhibition circuit from the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University to the MALBA in Buenos Aires. He was also general director and curator of the Museum of Modern Art Jesús Soto in Ciudad Bolívar (2004-2006). Currently working as an independent Curator.
Henry Rueda started teaching at FIU in 2014 and before that, he taught at Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño at Universidad Jose Maria Vargas; Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo at Universidad Central de Venezuela and also at Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela. His professional experience includes working for Jesus Tenreiro in Caracas, Venezuela and Wiel Arets in Maastricht, Holland. His current work focuses on Single Family Residences in different cities in Venezuela and in Miami. In 2014 his VL House was nominated for the Emerging Architects Mies Crown Hall Prize of the Americas, organized by the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Octoplus is a musical ensemble built around an octet of voices, joined—depending on the program—by accompanying instrumentalists or guest artists. The concept emerged among musicians who frequently share the stage in various productions, as an opportunity to develop specific concerts with a distinct purpose and defined artistic identity. On this occasion, the event and its purpose revolve around the exhibition “Urban Forms,” presented by the Juan Carlos Maldonado Collection (JCMC). In this context, we have curated a selection of musical works that dialogue with and complement the exhibition. Most of the musicians are of Venezuelan origin, several of whom were trained in El Sistema, founded by Maestro José Antonio Abreu. The ensemble’s members have extensive experience on international stages and are active contributors to Miami’s cultural life. Florida Grand Opera, Amazonia Vocal Ensemble, Voices of Miami, Miami Lyric Opera, C4 Trio, Fine Arts of Miami, Ensemble 7/4, Encantus Voices, as well as The Choir and Orchestra of Florida International University (FIU), are among the groups with which many of our members have collaborated with. Several of our members have received recognition for their artistic achievements, including a Grammy Award in the case of cuatrista and guitarist Héctor Molina.
