Photography and the black arts motion, 1955–1985

The National Gallery of Art presents Photography and the black arts motion, 1955–1985, an exhibition exploring the work of American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora photographers in creating and fostering a distinctly Black visible tradition and identification. The first presentation to research images’s position within the Black Arts Movement, a artistic initiative corresponding to the Harlem Renaissance in its scope and affect, which advanced concurrently to the civil rights and worldwide freedom actions, the exhibition reveals how artists developed methods to interact communities and encourage self-representation in media, laying a basis for socially engaged artwork practices that proceed at the moment. Photography and the black arts motion will probably be on view within the West Building from September 21, 2025, to January 11, 2026, earlier than touring to California and Mississippi.

Photography and the black arts motion brings collectively roughly 150 works spanning images, video, collage, portray, set up, and different photo-based media, a few of which have not often or by no means been on view. Among the over 100 artists included within the exhibition are Billy Abernathy (Fundi), Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Frank Bowling, Kwame Brathwaite, Roy DeCarava, Louis Draper, David C. Driskell, Charles Gaines, James E. Hinton, Danny Lyon, Gordon Parks, Adrian Piper, Nellie Mae Rowe, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, Jamel Shabazz, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems.

This expansive collection of work showcases the broad cultural alternate between writers, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and different visible artists of many backgrounds, who got here collectively through the turbulent many years of the mid-Twentieth century to grapple with social and political adjustments, the pursuit of civil rights, and the emergence of the Pan-African motion by artwork. The exhibition additionally consists of artwork from Africa, the Caribbean, and Great Britain to contextualize the worldwide engagement with the social, political, and cultural concepts that propelled the Black Arts Movement.

“Working on many fronts—literature, poetry, jazz and new music, painting, sculpture, performance, film, and photography—African American artists associated with the Black Arts Movement expressed and exchanged their ideas through publications, organizations, museums, galleries, community centers, theaters, murals, street art, and emerging academic programs. While focusing on African American photography in the United States, the exhibition also includes works by artists from many communities to consider the extensive interchange between North American artists and the African diaspora. The exhibition looks at the important connections between America’s focus on civil rights and the emerging cultural movements that enriched the dialog,” stated Philip Brookman, cocurator of the exhibition and consulting curator of the division of pictures on the National Gallery of Art.

“Photography and photographic images were crucial in defining and giving expression to the Black Arts Movement and the civil rights movement. By merging the social concerns and aesthetics of the period, Black artists and photographers were defining a Black aesthetic while expanding conversations around community building and public history,” stated Deborah Willis, visitor cocurator, college professor and chair of the division of images and imaging on the Tisch School of the Arts and founding director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University. “The artists and their subjects helped to preserve compelling visual responses to this turbulent time and their images reflect their pride and determination.”