BLACK ART
‍NEAR + FAR

This sweeping retrospective across the Bermondsey galleries presents six decades of Howardena Pindell's extraordinary artistic evolution—a body of work born from trauma and transformed into triumph. From the 1960s to today, her paintings, sculptures, and works on paper reveal an artist who has turned the wounds of racial segregation into weapons of beauty and resistance.

At age eight, during a family road trip through northern Kentucky, Pindell discovered red circles marking the bottom of cups at a roadside stand—a cruel coding system that designated which utensils Black customers were permitted to use under Jim Crow laws. This searing childhood encounter with institutionalized racism would become the genesis of her most powerful artistic vocabulary. The circle, initially a symbol of exclusion and humiliation, became Pindell's chosen instrument of reclamation.

Through obsessive, meditative repetition, she has spent decades transforming this loaded motif into something transcendent. Her circles multiply across canvases as ellipses, perforations, spray-painted constellations, and methodical hole punches—each iteration a small act of defiance, a conscious rewriting of painful memory. What began as markers of segregation become portals of liberation, turning the grid of oppression into a boundless field of possibility.

"Unsettling the City: Julie Mehretu’s Epigraph, Damascus" centers on Julie Mehretu's monumental print Epigraph, Damascus, which reimagines urban landscapes through layered mark-making techniques. Employing photogravure, sugar lift aquatint, spit bite aquatint, and open bite, Mehretu reflects on the complexities of city life and the impact of conflict on urban environments. Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110. Runs from November 21, 2025, to April 12, 2026.

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​Dia Beacon is set to present an exhibition of recently acquired black-and-white works on paper by Jack Whitten, opening on October 24, 2025.These pieces, created in the 1970s, highlight Whitten's experimental shift towards systematic processes and innovative techniques in image-making. The exhibition will open on October 24, 2025.

The Game marks the 40th anniversary of the Cuenca Biennial. It features a dynamic curatorial model with 17 different curators, each selecting three artists (with at least one Ecuadorian per curator) to create a pluralistic exhibition across the city.

Nationhood: Memory and Hope is a landmark touring photography project that brings together internationally renowned Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh and seven emerging UK photographers to examine identity, belonging, and cultural diversity across the UK’s four nations. The exhibition is structured as a dialogue between Muluneh’s colourful, staged photographs and a series of black-and-white portraits, both created in collaboration with communities in each host city. Each venue adds its own local voices through commissioned works by regional photographers, creating a layered portrait of modern Britain. This is the first UK City of Culture initiative to tour all four constituent nations, marking an unprecedented cultural exchange that connects audiences from Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff, and Glasgow.

"Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity" celebrates Hayward L. Oubre, Jr. (1916–2006), a pivotal figure in Black American art and modernism. Featuring 52 sculptures, paintings, and prints, it highlights Oubre's innovative use of materials, notably his transformation of wire coat hangers into modernist sculptures. Stanley Museum of Art, 160 W. Burlington St., Iowa City, IA 52242. Runs from August 26, 2025, to December 7, 2025.

“ars viva 2025 – Where will we land?” continues the long-standing tradition of the ars viva prize in highlighting emerging international artists whose practices push the boundaries of form, medium, and narrative. Hosted at Haus der Kunst, Munich, the exhibition situates itself at the intersection of personal history and collective futures, bringing together works that question the fragility of belonging, the instability of cultural memory, and the shifting grounds of our social realities. By foregrounding urgent artistic voices, the exhibition does not offer definitive answers but instead frames a space of exploration and uncertainty—asking not only where we land as individuals, but also how we arrive together.

Sonia Gomes’s Raio de Sol showcases vibrant assemblages and suspended textile sculptures that explore themes of identity, history, and transformation. The exhibition is on view at Fiesta Lille 3000, Lille, France, from September 6 through November 10, 2025.

 All About Love, the first major exhibition in France dedicated to Mickalene Thomas, showcases over two decades of her vibrant and multifaceted work, celebrating Black femininity, power, and love. Les Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse, 76 allées Charles de Fitte - 31300 Toulouse, France Runs through November 9, 2025.

Les Abattoirs presents Mickalene Thomas: All About Love, the first major exhibition in France dedicated to the pioneering American artist Mickalene Thomas. On view from June 13 through November 9, 2025, this exhibition marks the final stop of an international tour that included The Broad in Los Angeles, The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, and the Hayward Gallery in London. The exhibition showcases over two decades of Thomas's vibrant and multifaceted work, encompassing paintings, collages, photographs, videos, and installations that celebrate Black femininity, power, and love.The title and themes draw inspiration from bell hooks's seminal text, All About Love, emphasizing love as a tool for healing and collective emancipation.

This is Firelei Báez’s first North American survey, presenting 30+ works spanning nearly two decades of her multidisciplinary practice. Originally shown at Boston’s ICA and Vancouver Art Gallery, this tour round completes at Des Moines 

Across the Universe highlights Jackson’s expansive body of work, centering on the intersections of systemic inequities, civic participation, and cultural memory. The exhibition contextualizes her practice within broader social and political histories, drawing on themes of voting rights, education, housing, and racial justice.

Source Notes marks a significant moment in Lorna Simpson’s artistic journey, highlighting a decade of her painting practice that extends her incisive explorations of identity and representation. Transitioning from her pioneering conceptual photography of the 1980s, Simpson's recent works incorporate screen-printed collages using imagery sourced from vintage Ebony and Jet magazines, as well as archives from the Associated Press and the Library of Congress. These found images—her "source notes"—are layered with washes of ink and acrylic on materials like fiberglass, wood, and clayboard, creating compositions where figures emerge and dissolve within abstract landscapes.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Lorna Simpson: Source Notes, the first exhibition to survey the artist’s painting practice comprehensively. On view from May 19 to November 2, 2025, this landmark showcase features over 30 works, including pieces from Simpson’s acclaimed Venice Biennale debut and her celebrated Special Characters series. The exhibition delves into themes of race, gender, identity, and history through Simpson's innovative fusion of figuration and abstraction. 

Curated by Ekow Eshun, this is a ticketed travelling exhibition anchored at the BMA as part of its “Turn Again to the Earth” initiative—exploring environmental justice, climate change, and colonial histories through art

ICA San Francisco presents Spotlight: Tau Lewis, a solo exhibition featuring the acclaimed Toronto-born artist’s monumental textile sculptures. The exhibition showcases repurposed fabrics and found materials crafted into intricate, layered installations that honor African diasporic traditions of creativity and resilience. Institute of Contemporary Art, San Francisco (ICA), 345 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA. Runs from May 16 -December 7, 2025

ICA San Francisco presents Spotlight: Tau Lewis, a solo exhibition featuring the acclaimed Toronto-born artist’s monumental textile sculptures. Running from May 16 through December 7, 2025, the show showcases repurposed fabrics and found materials crafted into intricate, layered installations that honor African diasporic traditions of creativity and resilience. These works channel ancestral memory and advocate for collective healing through labor-intensive artistry.

​The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute presents "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," an exhibition exploring the significance of Black dandyism in shaping identities across the Atlantic diaspora.This showcase delves into the evolution of Black sartorial elegance from the 18th century to contemporary fashion.Runs from May 10 to October 26, 2025.​

 Mildred Thompson: Frequencies, the most comprehensive solo museum exhibition Thompson, features approximately fifty works spanning four decades (1959–1999), including paintings, sculptures, etchings, drawings, assemblages, and musical compositions. Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, 61 NE 41st Street, Miami, FL 33137. Runs through October 12, 2025.

An immersive exhibition of Sonia Gomes’s sculptural works that combine textiles, found objects, and natural materials to explore identity, memory, and communal storytelling. Located at Storm King Art Center (1 Museum Rd, New Windsor, NY), this exhibition runs from May 7 through November 10, 2025.

Renowned contemporary artist Rashid Johnson presents a major solo exhibition featuring nearly 90 works, including paintings, sculptures, and installations. Johnson's art delves into themes of identity, race, and history, often incorporating materials like shea butter, black soap, and ceramic tiles to explore the complexities of the African American experience. 

"Adam Pendleton: Love, Queen" is a landmark exhibition showcasing new and recent paintings alongside a single-channel video work.  This marks Pendleton's first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C., emphasizing his unique contributions to contemporary American painting within the context of the museum's architecture and the National Mall's history. ​ Hirshhorn Museum, Independence Ave SW & 7th St SW, Washington, D.C.​   Runs through January 3, 2027. 

The Whitney Museum of American Art presents Four Ways of Being, a newly commissioned installation by acclaimed portraitist Amy Sherald. Known for her signature grayscale skin tones and vibrant backdrops, Sherald’s work explores identity, history, and representation. This series of four portraits captures subjects across generations and backgrounds, offering a meditation on presence, individuality, and the coexistence of past, present, and future. Runs through September 2025.

Manuel Mathieu: Pendulum features the eponymous Haitian-Canadian artist’s award-winning short film. The 11-minute film employs nonlinear storytelling and symbolic imagery to explore themes of freedom and the collective pursuit of liberation. It delves into the balance between historical legacy and an uncertain future, portraying a spiritual journey toward self-mastery and liberation. The exhibition will be at the Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110.  Runs through November 30, 2025.

Lessons of the Hour is a five-screen immersive video installation by Isaac Julien, reflecting on the life and ideas of 19th-century abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass. It is the first joint acquisition by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, co-curated by Saisha Grayson and Charlotte Ickes. This work underscores Douglass’s enduring influence and relevance in ongoing conversations around race, democracy, and visual culture.