With the start of the new year, many events and exhibits are planned to take place in 2023 by museums and art centers nationwide.
Here are five upcoming exhibits dedicated to Black artists to mark down on calendars and visit.
- A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration: Scheduled to be held at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing at the Brooklyn Museum, the exhibit will run from March 03 to June 25, 2023. Featuring works by artists such as Larry W. Cook, Allison Janae Hamilton and Steffani Jemison, amongst others, the exhibit depicts the Great Migration with a twist. Instead of presenting it through a lens of trauma, the exhibit focuses on presenting it through a lens of self-determination, according to the Brooklyn Museum. Highlighting Brooklyn, “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration” also focuses on depicting the borough as a vital space during the historical era. To complement the exhibit, viewers are encouraged to share their personal stories through a “pod,” and a catalog will also be made available for sale.
- Art of the African Diaspora 2023: On display at the Richmond Art Center, the “Art of the African Diaspora Art exhibit is set to run from Jan. 18 to March 18 of this year. Featuring over 120 Black artists, the exhibit focuses on celebrating the works of people from the African diaspora. Dedicated to honoring the Black community and culture, the exhibit is a recurring one with roots extending as far back as 1989. Originally known as the “Colors of Black” exhibit, the idea was founded by artist Marie Johnson Calloway. The exhibit was then expanded and moved to the Richmond Art Center as The Art of Living Black exhibit before becoming what it is now known in 2018.
- Resting Our Eyes: From Jan. 21 to June 25, the “Resting Our Eyes” exhibit will be at home at the ICA San Francisco. Focused on celebrating contemporary art, the museum’s latest exhibit is dedicated exclusively to Black women. Curated by Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon, the work of twenty artists will work together to depict the everyday lives of Black women with a focus on leisure and adornment. “Resting Our Eyes” includes different mediums, such as photography, video, painting and sculpting, by artists like Lorna Simpson, Deborah Willis and Simone Leigh, amongst others.
- Visions in Black: Created by the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative (SBAC), the “Visions in Black” exhibit is one that exclusively features the people. On display from Feb 02 to Feb. 25, the exhibit promotes local Sarasota artists and encourages Black artists at school and professional levels to submit their works. The point of the exhibit is to celebrate the talent in the counties while also celebrating Black culture for Black History Month. The exhibit includes a competition that offers prize money; while those in first place are scheduled to get $700, those in second and third place are set to receive $500 and $300, respectively.
- Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures: On display from March 23, 2023, to March 2024 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” exhibit is dedicated to examining popular culture and its crossover with African American history. Featuring a variety of voices, the exhibit features not only artists but also the works of musicians, such as P-Funk and OutKast, and activists. Along with paintings by Afrofuturism-inspired artists, the typewriter of Octavia Butler, Nichelle Nichols’ Star Trek costume and the late Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther costume are part of the display.
