12 November 5-11, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Writing’s on the wall After making his mark all over Miami, Disem debuts his first museum show. BY YUVAL OFIR W hether you’ve encoun- tered his towering por- trait of Dwyane Wade in Little Havana, his tribute to the late Marlins pitcher José Fernández in Wynwood or the unmistak- able faces of Gloria and Emilio Estefan watch- ing over Calle Ocho, you probably know Disem’s work. If you haven’t seen those out in the streets, maybe you caught his portrait of Pitbull on stage at one of Mr. Worldwide’s re- cent concerts. His vivid magenta and cyan mu- rals have become fixtures of the city’s visual landscape, fruits of decades spent honing his skills both in the classroom and on the streets. After more than 25 years of making his mark on Miami and beyond, the graffiti writer and muralist is checking off another significant accomplishment: his first mu- seum exhibition. “Who Authorized This?,” on view at Wynwood’s Museum of Graffiti through Nov. 15, displays previously unseen portraits of Miami creatives alongside new paintings and multimedia installations that reveal a different side of his practice. It isn’t really a retrospective. Disem sees the exhibition as an opportunity to introduce the multifaceted artist he’s become over the course of his career. “I would say it’s more of a ‘this is who I am now’ and where I’m going, but carrying along the past work,” he says. Raised by parents who met at art school, Disem grew up surrounded by creativity. He pursued a formal art education, too, after drawing and painting from a young age. In el- ementary school, an older cousin introduced him to graffiti culture. He would end up get- ting sucked into that community, which, at the time, came with its own rules, rivalries and considerable risks. For years, his two worlds existed mostly independently. He would sign paintings ex- hibited in art shows with his legal name and use his graffiti moniker on walls. “It kind of just felt like cheesy, like I had a split identity. Like on some superhero shit,” he recalls. Eventually, he found a way to merge the two sides of his identity. The tags and throw- ups, once kept underground, began sharing space with the photorealistic portraiture he’s become known for. The combination chal- lenged viewers to consider why one form might be valued over the other. That contrast — between graffiti’s treatment in the art world versus that of so-called “fine art” — looms large in “Who Authorized This?” Among the exhibition’s most ambitious works is a large, three-layered wooden graf- fiti piece incorporating a reclining nude fig- ure within the lettering. Disem designed, painted, sanded and assembled the work, us- ing pastel colors that subtly blend into the wood grain. The combination of classically inspired nude imagery and oversized graffiti lettering is deliberate, confronting two seem- ingly contradictory developments: graffiti’s growing acceptance within institutional art spaces and what he perceives as the declining presence of nudity in contemporary art. Other works push further into conceptual territory. Take, for example, the ATM under a cascade of oversized, torn-up $305 bills de- signed by Disem. “Who’s willing to see what it does?” he wondered when the museum raised the possibility of including instruc- tions. Rather than explaining the in- stallation, he wants visitors to discover its function. At the opening, a line of visitors waiting to interact with it stretched nearly out of the gallery. The show also includes a series of portraits Disem began working on around 2016, depicting Miami artists, musicians and other creatives who influenced him. The col- lection originated almost accidentally, when a tattoo artist working at a shop he owned challenged his oil painting abilities. Disem re- sponded by painting the artist’s portrait and enjoyed the process so much that he went on to paint friends and acquaintances, including local artist Miss Reds and DJ Oscar G. The paintings sat largely unseen until now, but their inclusion is fitting for his first solo ex- hibition in the city that shaped him. Unlike his celebrity murals, these portraits are more inti- mate tributes to people he personally knows and respects. They’re not up for sale — he says selling his friends’ faces doesn’t feel right. The exhibition itself was made possible largely by a grant Disem secured through an Art Sharks pitch competition during last year’s Miami Art Week. His mural commis- sions provided a living, but producing the de- tailed oil paintings and elaborate installations he envisioned required time and resources he couldn’t easily spare with a family to support. The grant allowed him to step away from that work long enough to bring his ideas to life, and the experience appears to have reig- nited his appetite for a studio practice. He’s already continuing paintings he couldn’t fin- ish in time for the opening, with ambitions for another exhibition. Regardless of the expanding scope of his practice, he has no intention of abandoning the culture that started it all. “I’m always go- ing to be a writer, man. Some people go fish- ing; I paint,” he says. For Disem, the question isn’t so much who authorizes his work anymore, but how far he can push it as he’s increasingly free to decide for himself. “Who Authorized This?” On view through Nov. 15 at the Museum of Graffiti, 276 NW 26th Street, Wynwood; 786-580-4678; museu- mofgraffiti.com. Admission costs $16 via event- brite.com. [email protected] ▼ Culture Culture Disem’s magenta and cyan murals have become fixtures of Miami’s visual landscape. Provided by the Museum of Graffiti UNLIKE HIS CELEBRITY MURALS, THESE PORTRAITS ARE MORE INTIMATE TRIBUTES TO PEOPLE HE PERSONALLY KNOWS AND RESPECTS. Star talk Neil deGrasse Tyson will bring his tour to Miami in 2027. BY CELIA ALMEIDA A strophysicists’ lectures don’t typically pack concert halls, but Dr. Neil de- Grasse Tyson isn’t your average as- trophysicist. Throughout his more than three-decade career, the “StarTalk” podcaster, “Cosmos” host, Hayden Planetarium director, cosmic vest enthusiast and curmudgeonly movie critic has cultivated enough of an audi- ence to hit the road, and next year, he’ll bring his show, “The Search for Life in the Universe,” to the Fillmore Miami Beach. The venue an- nounced the booking on Instagram. In a recent interview, Tyson told journalist Aa- liyah McFadde that his tour topics vary greatly. “It’s not a tour in the traditional sense that people use the word,” he said of his latest jaunt. “When I’m invited to a town, to a theater, I offer them a choice of 10 to 15 topics, and they pick. The topics are quite varied. One of them is ‘The Search for Life in the Universe’; another one is ‘The Cosmic Perspective’; another is ‘Cosmic Collisions’; another one is ‘Delusions of Space Enthusiasts,’ [about] the mismatch between where we think we should have been in space by now and where we are.” Some cities even get to hear Tyson’s movie hot takes IRL with his show, “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies.” During his Miami stop on March 15, 2027, we’ll get “The Search for Life in the Universe,” which is described as a “review [of] the ongo- ing effort to search for habitable planets, liquid water, and life in the cosmos.” Tyson has made several visits to South Flor- ida in recent years. In 2022, he discussed his book, “Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization,” at the Arsht Center in partner- ship with Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair. He returned a few months later with “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies II” at the Broward Center in Jan. 2023. But he doesn’t just visit the area for work — last year, he was spotted in town during the Miami Grand Prix. Neil deGrasse Tyson. 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 15, at the Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7300; fillmore-miami.com. [email protected] Neil deGrasse Tyson Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Onward18