In her six decades as an artist, Mira Lehr has created a prolific oeuvre of work.
The Doyenne: Mira Lehr
Mira Lehr’s North Miami Beach studio is tucked away in a very secluded neighborhood, yet her neighbors know she is working when they see clouds of smoke. “They think I’m crazy,” she admits. But then they see her work, typically ethereal large-scale abstract paintings reflective of nature in all its glory, sometimes with somatic features from fire, fuses and gunpowder, and they understand the statement Lehr is aching to make. “It gives a certain texture and resonance to the work,” she explains. “It has something dynamic in it. It also, philosophically, is the other side of creation. It’s a commentary to remind people everything is transitory.” Having lived in Miami for most of her life, Lehr has seen—and participated in—its evolution in myriad ways, and justifiably she will be celebrated at the Jewish Museum of Florida–FIU with A Walk in the Garden (through Feb. 3). The exhibition honors her six decades of art-making and features 10 of her paintings with more than 180 burned and resined sculptures dangling from the museum’s rotunda. “They have a glow to them,” says Lehr. “They’re beautiful colors and the stained glass reflects from them. It feels like a garden. A very celestial one.” 301 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, 305.672.5044