THE Studio Museum in Harlem REOPENS AS A FLAGSHIP for Black Art
The Studio Museum in Harlem has reopened after seven years of construction and renovation, marking a new chapter with exhibitions that celebrate its alumni and rich collection. Central to the reopening is From Now: A Collection in Context, featuring more than 200 works collected since the 1970s. Concentrated on two floors but installed throughout the museum, the exhibition showcases the breadth and depth of African American and Afro-Latinx artistic production, offering visitors both historical perspective and fresh insights with rotating works throughout the year.
A highlight of the exhibition is Lorraine O’Grady’s 40-image photographic series Art Is… (1983/2009), which captures the 1983 African American Day Parade. For the parade, O’Grady built a celebratory float equipped with empty gold-painted picture frames that she handed to the crowd, inviting marchers to become instant masterpieces. Displayed alongside seminal works from the museum’s permanent collection, O’Grady’s piece exemplifies the Studio Museum’s enduring mission to elevate visionary artists and illuminate histories that have long been overlooked.
Excerpted words written by Holland Cotter for The New York Times.
