Images and allegories of ecological damage from “the godmother of Miami’s art scene”
At the age of 87, Brooklyn-born, Miami-based artist Mira Lehr (born 1936) continues to work every day in her studio, creating ecologically informed images inspired by and depicting nature, on canvas and rice paper. Lehr uses not only paint but also explosives and fire; the resulting destruction is integral to the meanings of these works, which seek to increase awareness about climate disaster. This concern has been a part of her thinking as far back as her young adulthood, studying under Hans Hoffman with Robert Motherwell. In 1969, she was chosen by Buckminster Fuller to participate in his
World Game
. Since the 1960s, she has been an important voice in the Miami art scene, co-founding the first artist co-op for women there. This updated monograph collects work contained in the previous 2014 edition (published by Hudson Hills), as well as new work created between 2015 and 2021.