MoMA PS1 opens Hard Art on Thursday, November 5, an exhibition about the legacy of abstract painting by Black artists in the United States from 1969 to the present. The museum, on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, lists 44 artists in the show, and admission is free.

What the show covers

The exhibition is organized by theme rather than by date. It pairs paintings from the 1970s with recent work in sculpture, video, sound and painting, and follows three generations of artists working in abstraction.

Who is in it

The artist list runs from painters who came up in the 1960s and 1970s to artists working now. Among them:

  • Painters including Sam Gilliam, Jack Whitten, Ed Clark, Frank Bowling, Howardena Pindell, Al Loving, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Joe Overstreet, Raymond Saunders, Mildred Thompson, Suzanne Jackson and Virginia Jaramillo.
  • Sculptors and artists working across mediums including Martin Puryear, Melvin Edwards, Senga Nengudi, Maren Hassinger, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Richard Hunt, David Hammons and Beverly Buchanan.
  • Artists of later generations including Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Glenn Ligon, Adam Pendleton, Torkwase Dyson, Jennie C. Jones, Rodney McMillian, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Caroline Kent, Eric N. Mack, Nikita Gale, Rindon Johnson, Aria Dean and Walter Price.

The full list also includes Hannah Black, Peter Bradley, Cynthia Hawkins, Daniel LaRue Johnson, Carolyn Lazard, James Little, Lorraine O'Grady, Andy Robert, SoiL Thornton and Charisse Pearlina Weston.

Who organized it

Hard Art is organized by Connie Butler, MoMA PS1's Agnes Gund Director, with curatorial associate Sheldon Gooch. Research assistant June Kitahara provided research and support for the project.

The museum is publishing an illustrated book alongside the show, with essays by Butler, Aria Dean, Jessica Bell Brown, Torkwase Dyson, Rindon Johnson and Erich Kessel, and an illustrated chronology of significant museum exhibitions compiled by Kitahara and Gooch.

Major support comes from the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional support from Art Bridges, the Black Arts Council of the Museum of Modern Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, among others.

A free museum

Admission to MoMA PS1 is free for everyone: adults, seniors, students and children. The museum credits Sonya Yu with making free admission possible. The exhibition joins the museum's other current presentations, which include Homeroom: Artists Against the Bomb.

Getting there

MoMA PS1 is at 22-25 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City. The E and M trains stop at Court Square-23rd Street, the 7 stops at Court Square, and the G stops at 21st Street, all within a few blocks. Check the museum's visit page for current hours before going.

The museum has not published a closing date for Hard Art, so there is time, but the opening week is the first chance to see it.

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