After eight years of renovation, the Studio Museum in Harlem reopens in a new 82,000-square-foot building designed by David Adjaye. Rooted in Harlem’s architectural fabric and filled with light, the museum expands its gallery space while reaffirming its historic role as a cultural anchor celebrating Black art, history, and community.
After years of anticipation, the Studio Museum in Harlem will reopen on November 15 in a striking new seven-story building designed by Adjaye Associates. The inaugural exhibition honors the museum’s legacy, featuring the work of Tom Lloyd alongside highlights from its permanent collection, including works by Rashid Johnson, Lorraine O’Grady, and Faith Ringgold.
O’Grady receives a mention amongst artists Allan Sekula, Frederico Morais, Park Chan-Kyong, and Marcel Broodthaers. All artists, Heddaya contends, maintain a “writerly” approach that he likens to the art historical impulse to compare and contrast two forms alongside each other in a diptych format.
In a review of We Wanted A Revolution, Garcia considers the art exhibition as a corrective method for recentering Black women “on the forefront of form and the avant-garde,” and in doing so, she calls for revisions to the art historical canon’s sole emphasis on European male avant-gardists. The article takes a firm stance that the patriarchy cannot be taken down without simultaneously dismantling systemic racism.