In October 2024, the Museum of Sex, which has been a cult institution in New York for 22 years, opened a second home in Miami (which Wallpaper* previewed in 2022). The 32,000 sq ft converted warehouse was designed by architecture firm Snøhetta, and has become a beacon of open discourse around sexuality, encouraging public awareness, discourse and engagement.
Residing in Miami’s Allapattah district – a stone’s throw from the Miami Design District, one of the most vibrant arts communities in the US – the museum is home to three exhibition galleries housing more than 20,000 artefacts and artworks that make up its permanent collection. Snøhetta, it has said, wanted to create spaces that bring people together, imbued with the levity and fun that characterises the Museum of Sex.
The New York Museum of Sex was founded in 2002, with its flagship location designed by SHoP Architects. It has since launched over 40 exhibitions committed to presenting and celebrating different shades of human sexuality (Dutch studio Droog set up camp there for a 2015 show; controversial Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki featured in 2018).
The executive director and founder of the Museum of Sex, Daniel Gluck, said of the Miami opening: ‘We are excited to reach this major milestone in our history and to bring our vision to the vibrant cultural landscape of Miami. Our inaugural programming perfectly embodies our ambitions to be a thought-provoking forum around sex and sexuality, and to bring a unique, beloved and critically acclaimed cultural offering to Miami.
The inaugural exhibition spotlights Hajime Sorayama, known for his detailed portrayals of feminine robots. The Japanese artist’s first solo show in the US explores the eroticism of human bodies via his signature hyperrealist aesthetic, featuring four large-scale ‘sexy robot’ sculptures.
The Miami outpost is also staging a retrospective of the design and marketing of sexual health products from the 1920s to today. ‘Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency’ considers the impact of historical sexual health campaigns, from the boom in sexual expression of the ‘roaring twenties’ to the restrictive impact of the Second World War and the sexual counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. It does this via more than 500 artefacts, historical media and medical objects that demonstrate how discourse, packaging and advertising on this topic have been received and controlled throughout history.
Also showing at the Miami Museum of Sex: a scaled-up version of an exhibition that has entertained New York visitors since 2019, ‘Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival’. This installation, inspired by the eroticism of the carnival (which dates back to the Roman Bacchanal), presents an immersive ‘fairground’ containing 20 sex-themed amusements and games. The Miami iteration of this permanent exhibit also features an otherworldly triptych by Sorayama, measuring 14ft high.
Snøhetta, which has worked on international projects such as the Oslo Opera House, North Carolina State University and the Groupe Le Monde headquarters in France, has found in the Miami Museum of Sex another boundary-pushing project on which to stamp its mark.
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