Collages, paintings, and sculptures are showing adoration to the Black body and spirit this season.
Concepts like what it means to come of age across cultures, how personal narratives can shake collective comfort, the balance between being desired and marginalized, and who gets to be seen as a God are being investigated by colorful brush strokes, careful fabric assembly, and masterful sculpting. Artists are using meditative practice to express fresh ideas that have us rushing to the galleries around the country.
See 18 exhibitions we can’t wait to visit this fall below.
01
Showing Out: Fashion in Harlem – Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
This pop-up exhibition curated by Souleo is commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Harlem Institute of Fashion.
02
Mickalene Thomas: Beyond the Pleasure Principle – Lévy Gorvy
Thomas affords agency to those once reduced to “objects of desire” (including Jet pinup models), and inspires viewers to reconsider longstanding ideas about beauty, desire, and eroticism.
03
Onto Something, Yoyo Lander – The Know Contemporary
Lander’s beautiful portraits constructed of individually stained strips of paper present the softness of the Black body in loving fashion.
04
The Obama Portraits Tour – Brooklyn Museum
The famed touring portraits from Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley arrive at the historic institution this fall. Not on the East Coast? The Portland Art Museum has placed work from both the artists in conversation with one another on display as well.
05
Deana Lawson – Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston
The powerful photographer’s work is featured in a museum survey for the first time.
06
In Plain Sight – Fridman Gallery
This major exhibition from Dindga McCannon features pieces from five decades of her work.
07
Another Tradition: Drawings by Black Artists from the American South
The work of Thornton Dial, Nellie Mae Rowe, Henry Speller, Luster Willis, and Purvis Young is on display in this exhibition dedicated to focusing on how artists in the American South elevated their practices outside of space that did not welcome them.
08
Rock of Ages, Isaka Shamsud-Din – Portland Art Museum
The painter and muralist fuses folktales with intimate moments to tell stories about the great migration, brotherhood, love, and peace.
09
Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks – Delaware Art Museum
Fifty years after Percy Ricks’ Aesthetic Dynamics was first shown to the world the Delaware Art Museum is celebrating this occasion with a show that highlights its importance and grapples with how it was overlooked by art historians.
10
To Be Young: Coming of Age in the Contemporary – North Carolina Museum of Art
What it means to young, and who determines that is seen in images that reflect how coming of age rituals are connected to race, politics, and region.
11
Black Is Beautiful :The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite – Detroit Institute of Arts
The imagery that made our foremother fall in love with their melanin head to the motor city.
12
Thoughts Unseen, Thomas J Price -Hauser & Wirth
See “signifiers of Black womanhood,” including baby deified in this exhibition from the famed British artist.
13
Dave McKenzie: The Story I Tell Myself – Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
McKenzie disrupts viewers expectations of their surroundings with his body.
14
Less Is More, Knowledge Bennett – The KNOW Contemporary
The brilliance of the diamond dust in Bennett’s signature black paintings can only be appreciated in person.
15
The Black Hair Experience – The Black Hair Experience
This Instagram worthy immersive experience educates you about traditions and trends associated with Black hair using art installations you can engage with.
16
Young, Gifted and Black : The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art – Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois Chicago
Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff co-curated this exhibition which features work from “Derrick Adams, Caitlin Cherry, Bethany Collins, Deana Lawson, Kerry James Marshall, Jennifer Packer, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Mickalene Thomas, Chiffon Thomas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, and 40 others.”
17
The Future is Female – sk.ArtSpace
The 3rd annual exhibition aims to “amplify the black female and non-male identifying activist perspective.”
18
Immersive Van Gogh
The soothing projections and social distancing circles make this the perfect place to get log off.
