Olga de Amaral Retrospective Now on View at ICA Miami
Installation view of “Olga de Amaral” (2025) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, presented with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. Artwork: © Olga de Amaral. Photo: © Kris Tamburello.
Cranbrook Academy of Art alumna Olga de Amaral (Weaving, 1954–55) is the subject of a major retrospective now on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami), following its acclaimed debut at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris. The exhibition, presented in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier, offers U.S. audiences a rare opportunity to experience over 50 works spanning six decades of de Amaral’s pioneering career in fiber art.
Known for her innovative use of materials such as gold leaf, linen, and horsehair, de Amaral transforms traditional weaving techniques into sculptural forms that explore abstraction, spirituality, and the natural world. The ICA Miami installation invites visitors to navigate a forest-like arrangement of suspended textiles, allowing for an immersive engagement with the works from multiple perspectives.
Installation view of “Olga de Amaral” (2025) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, presented with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. Artwork: © Olga de Amaral. Photo: © Kris Tamburello.
De Amaral’s contributions to contemporary art have been increasingly recognized in recent years, with this retrospective serving as a testament to her enduring influence and the evolving appreciation of textile art within the broader art historical canon. The exhibition is on view through October 12, 2025.
Amaral received a degree in architectural design from the Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, where she attended in the early 1950s. Shortly after, she studied fiber art during a one-year program at historic Cranbrook Academy of Art. At Cranbrook, she first met her future husband Jim Amaral, who was studying in Design.
Amaral received an Honorary Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy in 2022, in conjunction with her retrospective at Cranbrook Art Museum, Olga de Amaral: To Weave A Rock.
Learn more:
Olga de Amaral Wove Her Own Path. At 92 the Art World Is Catching Up. – Artnet
