The New Museum presents “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” conceived by curator, Okwui Enwezor. The exhibition brings together thirty seven whose works address black grief as a national emergency in the face of a politically orchestrated white grievance.
The press release for the exhibition notes artists such as Glenn Ligon,** Mark Bradford**,** Julie Mehretu**, Rashid Johnson, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, and many more “address the concept of mourning, commemoration, and loss as a direct response to the national emergency of racist violence experienced by Black communities across America.”
Take a sneak peak of the exhibition which is now open to the public. The curation was supported by advisors Naomi Beckwith, Massimiliano Gioni, Glenn Ligon, and Mark Nash. Images courtesy of the New Museum.
Glenn Ligon
b. 1960, Bronx, NY
A Small Band, 2015
Neon, paint, and metal support
Three components: “blues” 74 x 231 in (188 x 586.7 cm); “blood” 74 3/4 x 231 1/2 in (189.9 x 588 cm); “bruise” 74 3/4 x 264 3/4 in (189.9 x 672.5 cm); overall approx. 74 3/4 x 797 1/2 in (189.9 x 2025.7 cm)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment,
Exhibition Copy
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
All the Boys (Blocked 1), 2016
Archival pigment print and silkscreened panel mounted on gesso board
Diptych; each 31 3/8 × 51 in (79.7 × 129.5 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
All the Boys (Blocked 3), 2016
Archival pigment print and silkscreened panel mounted on gesso board
Diptych; each 31 3/8 × 51 in (79.7 × 129.5 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman
Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
Mourning, from the series _Constructing History, _2008
Archival pigment print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm) Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
Birmingham Rising, from the series _Constructing History, 2008
_Iris print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm) Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
The Endless Weeping of Women, from the series Constructing History, 2008
Archival pigment print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
The Capture of Angela, from the series _Constructing History, 2008
_Archival pigment print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
The Assassination of Medgar, Malcolm and Martin, from the series _Constructing History, _2008
Archival pigment print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm) Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Carrie Mae Weems
b. 1953, Portland, OR
Looking Forward/Looking Back, from the series
Constructing History, 2008
Archival pigment print
61 x 51 in (154.9 x 129.5 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Henry Taylor
b. 1958, Ventura, CA _Untitled, _2020 Acrylic on canvas
Two parts; Overall: 90 x 174 1/2 x 1 1/2 in (228.6 x 443.2 x 3.8 cm)
Left: 90 x 51 1/8 x 1 1/2 in (228.6 x 129.9 x 3.8 cm)
Right: 90 x 123 x 1 1/2 in (228.6 x 312.4 x 3.8 cm)
Courtesy the artist, Blum & Poe, and Hauser & Wirth
Daniel LaRue Johnson
b. 1938, Los Angeles, CA; d. 2017, New York, NY
_Freedom Now, Number 1, _August 13, 1963- January 14, 1964
Pitch on canvas with “Freedom Now” button, broken doll, hacksaw, mousetrap, flexible tube on wood
53.7 x 55.3 x 7.4 (136.6 x 140.5 x 18.9 cm) Museum of Modern Art, New York
Given Anonymously, 1965
Julia Phillips
b. 1985, Hamburg, Germany
Drainer, 2018
Ceramic, steel cable, and concrete
Height variable; concrete base 3 1/2 x 60 x 36 in (9 x 152.5 x 89 cm)
Marciano Art Foundation
Nari Ward
b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica
Peace Keeper, 1995; re-created 2020 Hearse, grease, mufflers, and feathers
144 x 116 x 264 in (365.8 x 294.6 x 670.6 cm) Courtesy the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York/Hong Kong/Seoul, and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Havana
Nari Ward
b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica
Peace Keeper, 1995; re-created 2020 Hearse, grease, mufflers, and feathers
144 x 116 x 264 in (365.8 x 294.6 x 670.6 cm) Courtesy the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York/Hong Kong/Seoul, and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Havana
Nari Ward
b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica
Peace Keeper, 1995; re-created 2020 Hearse, grease, mufflers, and feathers
144 x 116 x 264 in (365.8 x 294.6 x 670.6 cm) Courtesy the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York/Hong Kong/Seoul, and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Havana
Nari Ward
b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica
Peace Keeper, 1995; re-created 2020 Hearse, grease, mufflers, and feathers
144 x 116 x 264 in (365.8 x 294.6 x 670.6 cm) Courtesy the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York/Hong Kong/Seoul, and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Havana
Lorna Simpson
b. 1960, Brooklyn, NY
Night Light, 2019
Ink and screenprint on gessoed fiberglass 75 1/2 x 59 x 1 3/8 in (191.8 x 150 x 3.5 cm) Private collection
Ellen Gallagher
b. 1965, Providence, RI
Aquajujidsu, 2017
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on canvas 74 x 79 1/2 in (188 x 202 cm) Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Kerry James Marshall
b. 1955, Birmingham, AL
Untitled (policeman), 2015
Acrylic on PVC panel with plexiglass frame 60 x 60 in (152.4 x 152.4 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of Mimi Haas in honor of Marie-Josée Kravis
Diamond Stingily
b. 1990, Chicago, IL Entryways, 2016
Door with locks, bat
79 x 25 in (200.7 x 63.5 cm) Collection Dr. Gerardo Capo
Kevin Beasley
b. 1985, Lynchburg, VA
Strange Fruit (Pair 1), 2015
Nike Air Jordan 1 shoes (white and black), polyurethane resin, polyurethane foam, tube socks, shoelaces, rope, speakers, hypercardioid and contact microphones, amplifier, patch cables, and effects processors
68 x 24 x 17 in (172.7 x 61 x 43.2 cm)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Commissioned with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council with additional funds contributed by John Elkes, Younghee Kim-Wait, and Julia and Jamal Nusseibeh, 2014
Howardena Pindell
b. 1943, Philadelphia, PA
Autobiography: Water (Ancestors/Middle
Passage/Family Ghosts), 1988
Acrylic and mixed mediums on canvas 118 x 71 in (299.7 x 180.3 cm) Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund,
Julie Mehretu
b. 1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Black Monolith, for Okwui Enwezor (Charlottesville), 2017–20
Ink and acrylic on canvas
84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
Kravis Collection
Julie Mehretu
b. 1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Oceanic Beloved (A.C.), 2017–18
Ink and acrylic on canvas
60 x 72 in (152.4 x 182.9 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery
Tiona Nekkia McClodden
b. 1981, Blytheville, AR
THE FULL SEVERITY OF COMPASSION, 2019
Manual cattle squeeze chute, paint
104 x 68 x 97 in (264.2 x 172.7 x 246.4 cm) Courtesy the artist and Company Gallery, New York
Rashid Johnson
b. 1977, Chicago, IL
Antoine’s Organ, 2016
Black steel, grow lights, plants, wood, shea butter, books, monitors, rugs, piano
189 x 338 x 126 3/4 in (480 x 858.5 x 322 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Hank Willis Thomas
b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ
14,719, 2019
Embroidered stars on polyester fabric
Each: 320 x 31 in (812.8 x 78.7 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Jean-Michel Basquiat
b. 1960, Brooklyn, NY; d. 1988, New York, NY
Procession, 1986
Acrylic on wood
63 3/4 x 96 in (162 x 244 cm) Private Collection