From Now: A Collection in Context

From Now: A Collection in Context is a dynamic, evolving installation drawn entirely from the Studio Museum in Harlem’s collection and installed throughout the building. Organized as a series of thematic exchanges that rotate over time, the exhibition creates a call-and-response across generations, including works such as Lorraine O’Grady’s Art Is… (1983/2009), and foregrounds the plurality of voices and concerns that shape artistic practices of African descent.

 

Juxtaposing nineteenth-century works with contemporary pieces, the exhibition places rarely seen objects alongside recent acquisitions and long-standing touchstones of the collection. In doing so, From Now reflects the Museum’s commitment—since its founding in 1968—to collecting and preserving the work of Black artists, while inviting continued engagement with the living history and future possibilities of the collection.