The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled a new exhibition titled “Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics.” This exhibition explores the artistic connections among 60 artists from Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It is one of the first exhibitions to delve into nearly 25 years of work by Black artists.
“Imagining Black Diasporas” broadens the Pan-African exhibition narrative, which traditionally emphasized the Black Atlantic, by including artists working near the Pacific. The exhibition features a diverse range of artists across generations. Among them are established figures such as Igshaan Adams, Mark Bradford, Sanford Biggers, Nick Cave, Deana Lawson, Ibrahim Mahama, Abdoulaye Ndoye, Wangechi Mutu, Lorna Simpson, and Yinka Shonibare.
In addition to these renowned names, the works of emerging and mid-career artists like Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Josué Azor, Samuel de Saboia, Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, Chioma Ebinama, Chelsea Odufu, Zohra Opoku, and Alberta Whittle are also on display. Furthermore, Los Angeles-based artists including Edgar Arceneaux, Widline Cadet, Patrisse Cullors Awol Erizku and Paul Mpagi Sepuya contribute to this expansive showcase.
The exhibition is curated by Dhyandra Lawson who serves as Andy Song Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at LACMA.
