Black Art Near + Far

Exhibits and Events

This page is dedicated to Black art exhibitions and events, locally, nationally, and internationally.  Come back often to see what's happening! 

South Florida

 Miami, FL

Depth of Identity: Art as Memory and Archive

Depth of Identity: Art as Memory and Archive, curated by Rosie Gordon Wallace, explores the impact and legacy of the African, Indo, and Caribbean Diaspora across US cities and the Caribbean, featuring nineteen artists.  The show represents 19 artists from over a dozen countries, representing first-generation artists across time and geography, including Aisha Tandiwe Bell, Autumn T. Thomas, Asser St. Val,  Michael Elliott,  Julian Pardo,  Suchitra Mattai and Kim Myung -Sik.  The Green Space Miami, 7200 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami.  Runs through October 20, 2022.

Miami MoCAAD: OVERtown: Our Family Tree

OVERtown: Our Family Tree is part of a mural series, Veo Veo, I See I See, Mwen Wè Mwen Wè, an interactive public art project exploring Overtown through visual art, storytelling and technology commissioned by Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (Miami MoCAAD) and curated by Donnamarie Baptiste. The mural, created by Miami-based artist Anthony “Mojo” Reed II,  honors the late Judge Lawson E. Thomas, who as a lawyer fought fearlessly for civil rights of Black people during the 1940s and 1950s Jim Crow era.   Judge Thomas  owned the Overtown law office building  where the mural incorporates QR codes containing oral  history videos about Judge Thomas and Overtown.  On view at 1021 NW Second Ave, Miami, FL.

Courtesy of Miami MoCAAD

Bentonville, AR

We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy

We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy presents a rare opportunity to view one of the 12 known original copies of the United States Constitution. This free exhibition is displayed with conversation on the diverse American perspectives on the nation’s founding principles and themes of equality, freedom, and justice. The exhibit features works by John Mathies, Jacob Lawrence and Gordon Parks among others. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, AR.  Runs through January 2, 2023

Jacob Lawrence, . . . is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?—Patrick Henry, 1775 , Panel 1, 1955, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56, egg tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Boston, Massachusetts

Touching Roots Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas

Touching Roots Black Ancestral Legacies​ in the Americas exhibit focuses on artworks that derive from rich legacies of the African Continent. The exhibition brings to the forefront artists from the Americas, including Allan Rohan Crite, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Ifé Franklin, Bryan McFarlane, Karen Hampton, and Stephen Hamilton.  Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA.  Runs through May 21, 2023.

John Wilson, maquette for Eternal Presence, modeled 1985, cast 1998 Bronze. William Francis Warden Fund. © John Wilson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

El Pasado Mío / My Own Past:
​ Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art

El Pasado Mio/My Own Past: Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art is an exhibition that looks to reconstruct the traditional lens viewed of Cuban art and focus on its African heritage and their descendants whose contributions are seldom acknowledged, identified, attributed, and studied. The exhibition features 43 artists born  1700s to 1980s,  including Vincente Escobar y Flores; Roberto Diago Querol;  Choco (Eduardo Roca Salazar); Belkis Ayon; and Carlos Martiel.  The Harvard Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, 102 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge MA.  Runs through December 23, 2022.  

Davis, California

Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi
​ Family Collection of Contemporary Art

Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, curated by Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff, highlights the emerging generation of black artists, including ​​LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jordan Casteel, Chiffon Thomas. Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and D'Angelo Lovell Williams. Manetti Shrem Museum, 254 Old Davis Rd, Davis, CA. Runs through December 19, 2022.

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Blue Dancer, 2017. Oil on canvas. 68 x 54 in. © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones.

Duluth, MN

There Is a Woman in Every Color

There Is a Woman in Every Color explores various representations of Black women over the past two centuries. The exhibit brings together over forty works of art that show their presence in American art history and overcomes the historical marginalization they faced. Currently on view at the Tweed Museum of Art – University of Minnesota, Duluth, 1049 University Drive Duluth, MN.  Runs through from December 18, 2022

© 2022 Mickalene Thomas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

​Washington, DC

Lou Stovall: The Museum Workshop,

​The Phillips Collection presents Lou Stovall: The Museum Workshop, which showcases works, including prints, paintings, sculptures, and photographs drawn from the collections of Lou Stovall and the Phillips. The exhibition highlights 1960–70s DC art history, including protest and community posters by artists created at the Dupont Center during workshops led by Stovall between 1969 and 1973. Lou Stovall was born in Athens, Georgia and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. Over the years, he has collaborated with many  prominent artists, including Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett.
 
“The exhibition brings to light an important chapter in DC’s vibrant cultural life that prospered under the creative vision of noted printmaker Lou Stovall.” - Chief Curator Elsa Smithgall.
 
The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Runs through October 9, 2022

New York, NY

The African Origin of Civilization ​

The African Origin of Civilization exhibition features collections from west and central Africa alongside art from ancient Egypt for the first time in The Met’s history. The exhibit allows introspection of different African cultures and eras while providing a rare opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary creativity of the continent across five millennia. The Met Fifth Avenue 136, 1000 5th Ave, New York, NY.   Ongoing.

Tropical Is Political: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime

​Tropical Is Political: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime explores  intertwined dualities of  natural and fiscal paradise and the geographical coincidence of these concepts within the Caribbean region where tourism and finance form the “visitor economy regime.” Tropical is Political features works by 19 contemporary artists from the Caribbean and its diasporas, including Allora & Calzadilla, Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Gwladys Gambie, Abigail Hadeed, Joiri Minaya, José Morbán, , Oneika Russell,Through video, installation, painting, and sculpture, the exhibition underlines the effects of tourism and finance on subjects including economic policy, self-image, and artistic production. Americas Society's Gallery, 680 Park Avenue New York, NY.  Runs through December 17, 2022

Tiona Nekkia McClodden’s 
​The Brad Johnson Tape, X – On Subjugation

Tiona Nekkia McClodden’s The Brad Johnson Tape, X – On Subjugation beacons Brad Johnson (American, 1952–2011), a Black gay poet whose “embrace of violence, sex, cruising, and, more importantly, his investment in love” shaped his work.   Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan, The David Geffen Wing. The exhibit is ongoing.

Tiona Nekkia McClodden at Brooklyn Museum during Black Lunch Table's Wikipedia Editathon for We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965-85 with guest photographer Noelle Théard

Black Melancholia, Martine Syms: Grio College

Black Melancholia, Martine Syms: Grio College, is a group exhibit highlighting African diasporic resilience, using a variety of expressions that emanates grief shared by these peoples.   
Also on display is  an in-depth multimedia study by Martine Syms.  These video installations are intended to capture the focus of the viewers, while building new worlds from the ashes. Center for Curatorial Studies Bard / Hessel Museum of Art. 33 Garden Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.  Runs through October 16, 2022.

Martine Syms, “Ugly Plymouths” (2020) (courtesy the artist, Sadie Coles, and Bridget Donahue, NYC)

Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott ​

​Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott, co-curated by Lowery Stokes Sims and Matthew Weseley, is a detailed collection of the works of Robert Colescott. Colescott was an African-American painter, who is often characterized by the ability of his satirical and humorous creations to invoke powerful emotions, promoting deep reflection by those who have had the privilege to take in his artwork.Organized by the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. New Museum. 235 Bowery, Lower East Side, Manhattan. Runs through October 9, 2022

Robert Colescott pictured in front on one of his many , famous art pieces

​Everyone

​Nick Cave’s glass mosaics in his installation, Every one, at the 42nd St shuttle in New York capture motions of  his “Soundsuits”.   Colorful  “figures on the wall are depicted leaping and twirling in mosaic Soundsuits”—Cave’s full body costumes that make noise when they move. “ ​​It’s almost like looking at a film strip,” Cave said. “As you’re moving down that from left to right, you see it in motion.” MTA New York, 42nd St Subway Connector.  Permanent installation

Nick Cave

San Francisco, CA

Faith Ringgold: American People

Faith Ringgold: American People showcases fifty years of work. This is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Faith Ringgold’s groundbreaking vision. The works span across Ringgold’s most notable series and follows her evolutionary works in her figurative style as it evolved to meet the socio-political demands of her time. de Young Museum: Golden Gate Park. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118. Runs through November 27, 2022.  ​

Faith Ringgold

St. Petersburg, Florida

Fresh Up

Fresh Up is Gio Swaby’s first solo museum exhibition exploring Blackness, womanhood, and family. Her textile portraits reveal her love of family, friends and sitters. Swaby’s celebration of Black women, femininity, and heritage is imbued in every stitch.  Museum of Fine Arts.  255 Beach Dr NE, St. Petersburg. Runs through October 29, 2022

Gio Swaby Photo Courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery

Tampa, FL

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue​ organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum, brings together over 40 years of photo-based works by Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems. The collection amplifies the artists’ conversation with history and African American culture, with each exploring similar themes of race, class, representation, and systems of power throughout their careers. Tampa Museum of Art Cornelia Corbett Center 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza Tampa, FL 33602.  Runs through October 23, 2022.

Upper Left: Carrie Mae Weems photo by Jerry Klineberg/courtesy of Carolina Performing Arts. Bottom Right: Photographer Dawoud Bey.

International 

London, UK
​

Africa Fashion

Africa Fashion, the largest ever exhibition on African Fashion, takes visitors on an iconic tour of fashion from the mid-20th century to current contemporary trends. The exhibit showcases fashion through photographs, textiles, music and visual arts. Africa Fashion implores the viewer to see fashion as a global phenomenon viewed through lens that are as diverse as the African continent. Victoria & Albert Museum South Kensington, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom.  Runs through April 16, 2023.

Mbeuk Idourrou collection, Imane Ayissi, Autumn/Winter 2019, Paris, France. Photo: Fabrice Malard / Courtesy of Imane Ayissi