Assume Vivid Astro Focus: XI

Floor-to-ceiling patterns, video projections, sculptural elements and a modular stage transform a gallery at The Bass into an immersive environment shaped by color, performance and collective participation. assume vivid astro focus: XI is on view through August 29, 2027, at the Miami Beach museum. The exhibition revisits a work first presented in Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2004 and later gifted to The Bass by collectors Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz.

Founded in New York in 2001, assume vivid astro focus, or avaf, is a multidisciplinary collective whose installations combine drawing, sculpture, video, performance and other media while challenging conventional ideas of individual authorship. The reconfigured installation brings together avaf’s work with contributions from numerous artists and collaborators, including General Idea, Natalja Kent, Los Super Elegantes and Michael Lazarus. A newly commissioned mural also pays tribute to Miami drag performers and their role in the city’s creative communities.

At the center of the exhibition is Butch Queen Realness with a Twist in Pastel Colors, a nearly seven-hour program of 93 short videos assembled by avaf in 2004. The selection spans experimental film, music videos, underground performance footage and popular culture, with works and appearances ranging from László Moholy-Nagy and Paul Sharits to Blondie, Grace Jones and footage of Harlem vogue balls. Together, the installation and video program explore subculture, identity, collaboration and the ways artistic communities form around shared spaces and experiences.

The exhibition contains nudity.