Miami can get pretty steamy in August, but never more so than this year, when Florida’s roving art pop-up Nude Nite makes landfall Thursday, August 14 through Saturday, August 16 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. each night.
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Nude Nite has roamed all across the state for the last 20 years, offering patrons and artists the chance to ponder, ogle, and question issues of body image, self-expression and the beauty of the human form. The evenings consist of approximately 150 pieces of artwork, from painting, photography, and sculpture to mixed media and textiles. Each event also includes interactive installations, body painting, and live performances, the latter spanning burlesque, aerialists and strolling models. Yes, there is artist nudity. No, patrons are not allowed to show up and undress. If you do, you will be asked to leave, so keep those trousers on!
The event is more than just a gallery show; Nude Nite categorizes itself as a weekend-long “pop-up interactive art exhibition,” where the art is found as much in the crowd as it is on the walls. This special summer edition at Wynwood (555 NW 29th St) is the first to take place in Miami since 2017, overseen by executive director and producer Sloan Waranch, whose mother, Kelly Stevens, founded Nude Nite. “In today’s world, where so much is curated and filtered, Nude Nite reminds us to pause, feel, and appreciate the honesty of the human form,” Waranch says.
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That may be even more relevant now than it was when Stevens founded Nude Nite in an Orlando pizza parlor. In an age where people are experts at Facetuning but likely don’t know how to file their taxes, our exposure to fabricated physical perfection has reached an all-time high. Nude Nite looks to force attendees to confront bodies that exist outside of the confines of the Instagram grid, while simultaneously reminding everyone that real bodies are sexy.
Or, as Stevens told The Miami New Times the last time Nude Nite came to town: “This show is not a lifestyle or erotic show. It’s also not a stuffy art fair with champagne. It’s an art fair on steroids.”