2018
Art Basel Miami Beach
Milford Graves
December 1 – 3, 2022
Miami Beach Convention Center
1901 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Survey Section | Booth S17
Video walkthrough of Milford Graves installation at Art Basel: Miami Beach 2022.
Fridman Gallery is honored to present Milford Grave’s first ever art fair presentation, bringing together a range of historic works spanning the 1970s to 1990s in an immersive installation.
Milford Graves was a visual artist, drummer, healer, computer programmer, martial artist, and professor of music. His spirit defined the sounds of free jazz, a musical style that became a symbol of Black empowerment. Graves’ artworks combine the various elements of his genre-bending practice: sculptures, drawings and paintings of energy flows connecting body and mind, often incorporating musical instruments and anatomical studies.
Graves was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study human heart vibrations to better understand music’s healing potential. Having taught himself computer programming, he developed an algorithm that assigned musical notes to various frequencies of a heartbeat, generating what he called "heart music". The synthesized tracks could then be sent back into the body using transducers vibrating at modulated frequencies to stabilize arrhythmia.
For media inquiries, please contact hanna@hannagisel.com
For general inquiries, please contact info@fridmangallery.com
Press
Free Jazz Pioneer Milford Graves Transports with Posthumous Art Basel Installation Bringing the Polymath’s Many Practices Together
By Harrison Jacobs
ARTnews
December 1, 2022

Installation image of Milford Graves at Art Basel: Miami Beach 2022. Photo by Mikhail Mishin.

Installation image of Milford Graves at Art Basel: Miami Beach 2022. Photo by Mikhail Mishin.

Installation image of Milford Graves at Art Basel: Miami Beach 2022. Photo by Mikhail Mishin.

Milford Graves
Untitled
1977
Paint, pencil, collage on paper
24 x 36 inches

Milford Graves
Drum Table
c. 1970
Wood, rope, leather,
17 x 15 inches

Milford Graves
Self Portrait,
c. 1970
Amate bark paper, acrylic paint
23.5 x 15.5 inches

Milford Graves
Painted Chair
1989
Wood, metal, Egyptian figurines, mirror, copper, brass, casters
59.5 x 24 x 21 inches

Milford Graves
Painted Album Covers
1970
Acrylic on album covers
Heart Harmonics Catalog
Fridman Gallery presented a solo exhibition of the late free jazz percussionist and visual artist Milford Graves in 2021. View the digital version of the exhibition catalog, which includes contributions from his family, and former students, as well as essays by curators Rhea L. Combs and Niama Safia Sandy.



In loving memory of Professor Milford Graves, his family, friends and colleagues are creating a memorial fund that will allow his legacy to grow. Throughout the years, Professor Graves carefully cultivated his home, garden, and temple space, which are treasured by his community in Jamaica, Queens. The Milford Graves Memorial Fund will honor his wishes for the long term care of his estate and continue the community work that he valued so deeply.