Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem

Exhibition Website

Jan 15 2019 - Apr 14 2019


With more than one hundred works by nearly eighty artists from the 1920s to the present, this is the first traveling exhibition to reflect the full breadth of the Studio Museum’s unparalleled permanent collection. The exhibition includes work by artists such as Romare Bearden, David Hammons, Norman Lewis, Wangechi Mutu, and Lorna Simpson, to expand understanding of modern and contemporary art by artists of African descent.

Founded in 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem is internationally known for its catalytic role in promoting the works of artists of African descent. The Artist-in-Residence program was one of the Museum’s founding initiatives, and gives the Museum the “Studio” in its name. Alumni of the Artist-in-Residence program include Chakaia Booker, Kerry James Marshall, and Kehinde Wiley, all of whom are included in this exhibition. The Artist-in-Residence program emphasizes both art and education, much like the Gibbes Museum’s Visiting Artist program that connects the artmaking process with the final product, helping to bring art to life for museum visitors.

Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem addresses relevant themes, including race, identity, power, wealth, and memory. The artists in this exhibition are powerful voices in contemporary art that encourage viewers to consider the world around them in new and thoughtful ways.


Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website                     

Juliana Huxtable, Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin'), 2015. Color inkjet print, 40 x 30 in. The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum Purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2015.8.1 © Juliana Huxtable / Courtesy the artist and American Federation of Arts

  • Various Media
  • International
  • Chakaia Booker
  • Kerry James Marshall
  • Kehinde Wiley
  • and others

Exhibition Venues & Dates