Two site-specific exhibitions at Little River’s Locust Projects, engage with themes of identity, pop culture, and the intersection of Latin American and American media.
“The Elephant Never Forgets” by Daniel Almeida and Adrian Rivera, and “Niñalandia Skycoaster” by Liz Ferrer and Bow Ty, LIZN’BOW, offer immersive installations that reflect Miami’s prolific multicultural community and coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month. The shows are on view through Saturday, Nov. 2.
On the final day of the exhibitions, Locust Projects will present a Tianguis flea market inspired by Mexican open-air street flea fairs, a source of inspiration for “The Elephant Never Forgets.” An artists’ talk at 4 p.m., moderated by Lorie Mertes, executive director of Locust Projects, features all four artists. The indoor street fair, with about 30 vendors, begins at noon.
But don’t wait for the last day to see this show. Both “The Elephant Never Forgets” and “Niñalandia Skycoaster” explore nostalgia, media consumption, and representation, resonating with global political discourses.
“I really try to create pairings that have some meaningful intention to build a dialogue between the shows,” explains Mertes. “With both exhibitions, the artists delve into Latin American media, not just to reflect on personal experiences but to critique how power structures and nostalgia shape cultural identity and perception.” Her curatorial vision brings the two distinct yet complementary projects into conversation, putting in the spotlight how both works interrogate nostalgia and challenge cultural norms.
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“The Elephant Never Forgets,” takes over the main gallery room. In the center of it, Almeida and Rivera reimagine the backstage television studio inspired by the iconic Mexican show “El Chavo del Ocho.” The installation, filled with 200 puppets hanging from the space’s high black ceilings, broadcast equipment, and family memorabilia, critiques media’s pervasive influence and the complex relationship between authenticity, memory, and mass communication.
As Almeida explains, “Piracy provided agency and became a transformative force… the counterfeit often becomes more authentic than the original.”
Through this lens, the artists question ownership and the localization of foreign media.
The show delves into how bootleg culture and piracy have shaped a hybridized identity in Latin America, where inaccessible content is reimagined and reinterpreted by local communities. An example of that are the puppets that Miami-based Almeida and New York City-based Rivera created for the exhibit, among them one can see American cartoon icon Homer Simpson wearing a Marvel shirt, and puppets representing different cultures, such as Sailor Moon and Goku (Japananese comics or manga) and Argentinian cartoon Mafalda, among many other popular characters. The puppets, which were 3D printed, mimic the ones found at flea markets across Mexico.
“We created costumes and sets to reflect this remixing of characters in Latin American media… inducing a message that differs from the original,” says Almeida. By blurring the lines between the real and the counterfeit, “The Elephant Never Forgets” challenges the viewer to consider what constitutes authenticity in a mediated world and cultural resignification.
The installation’s set-like structure, complete with a puppet theater made from metal, confronts the viewer with a spectacle of power and manipulation also featuring screens and showcasing AI generated commercials, and prerecorded performances. Miami-based Almeida and New York City-based Rivera employ both humor and critique, drawing parallels to authoritarian regimes that appropriate media for political spectacle. “It’s like a ‘Wizard of Oz’ interaction—people can see both the illusion and the artifice behind it,” says Almeida. The overarching exhibit ultimately serves as a meditation on power, memory, and the shaping of cultural narratives through media.
In the Project Room, a smaller space located near the entrance of Locust Projects behind bright curtains, LIZN’BOW’s “Niñalandia Skycoaster” offers a visual and color contracting experience from the main room, presenting a post-apocalyptic, queer-futurist vision of Miami through a VR (virtual reality) rollercoaster ride.
The Miami art duo, known for their maximalist aesthetic and playful yet incisive critique of pop culture through multiple mediums, including a music group, transport visitors into their “Niñalandia Mixed Reality Multiverse.” The pair’s collaborative history spans almost a decade, marked by explorations of feminist and queer perspectives in Latin American pop media through music, mixed media and coding. “It’s like a culmination of our worlds coming together, inspired by everything from video games to our band project,” shares Ty.
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The immersive installation features projections, soundscapes, and in the center of it all, their personal car—a 2006 Buick Rendezvous—converted into the VR ride’s “coaster cart,” adorned with imagery that blurs the lines between digital and physical spaces. Elements of early internet nostalgia, from “RollerCoaster Tycoon” to “Mario Kart,” mix with absurd Miami iconography—jet-ski unicorns, burning money stacks, and submerged leche jugs. The result is a critique of the often superficial yet powerful impact of pop culture on identity and representation.
LIZN’BOW’s work challenges traditional exhibition formats, inviting participants to engage physically and digitally with the narrative. “We wanted to build a theme park, but in the virtual world… it’s a way of creating a complete universe,” says Ferrer. The installation’s surreal and colorful aesthetic not only entertains but provokes thought on what defines belonging and representation in contemporary culture.
“One of the best parts of my job is taking a project from paper and helping artists realize it in real life. It’s very seldom that a project actually ends up looking exactly like what they presented on paper,” says Mertes. “That’s the nature of the work—it’s a dialogue, a collaboration, and an evolution… we give artists the opportunity to experiment, to push their practice, and to do something that might shift their work in a new direction.”
If You Go
What: The Elephant Never Forgets, and Niñalandia Skycoaster
Where: Locust Projects, 297 NE 67 Street, Miami
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. The final day of the shows, Saturday, Nov. 2, from noon to 5 p.m., will be the Tianguis Flea Market with 30 vendors. Artists’ talk at 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Information: (305) 576-8570 or
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