The City of Miami Beach has acquired Modulations - Sequence XXIX (2025), a sculpture of woven copper rope by the Peruvian artist Ximena Garrido-Lecca from the Lima-based Livia Benavides Gallery at Art Basel Miami Beach, following a public vote. The work is from Garrido-Lecca’s Modulations series, in which she turns patterns based on mining companies’ logos into the basis for abstract weavings made of copper as a commentary on the ecological and labour impacts of the industry.
“Her work deals with the relationship to materials in Peru, and material exploitation,” says Maria Godoy, a manager at Livia Benavides Gallery. “Copper is a very important export in Peru, and Ximena is interested in how it has a direct impact not only on the landscape but on communities. She addresses this in weavings that are also influenced by Peru’s long history of textile innovation.”
Peru is the world’s third-largest producer of copper and its exports of the material totalled around $23bn in 2024. Only 2% of that came to the US, although that share is likely to become even smaller, as President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper imports last summer.
Miami Beach’s annual Legacy Purchase Program, launched in 2019, sees one work acquired from the fair each year. Past acquisitions have included pieces by Amoako Boafo, Ebony G. Patterson, Farah Al Qasimi, Sanford Biggers, Juana Valdés, Anneke Eussen and Nina Surel. Garrido-Lecca’s has already been installed on the second floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center in close proximity to Biggers's and Valdés’s works.
“It is a privilege for our gallery to see Ximena’s work added to the Legacy Purchase Program as part of the City of Miami Beach’s Art in Public Places Collection, especially alongside the works of other internationally recognised artists,” Livia Benavides said in a statement. The gallery has another work from Garrido-Lecca’s Modulations series on its stand at the fair.
Miami Beach’s mayor, Steven Meiner, added: “This year’s Legacy Purchase not only strengthens our city’s public-art landscape but also reinforces Miami Beach’s standing as a global destination for creative innovation.”