Kind of Blue by Claudette Johnson (2020) © Claudette Johnson. Courtesy of the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Andy Keate.
Philadelphia Museum of Art's newest exhibit, "The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure," features 28 Black and African diasporic contemporary artists who use figurative painting, drawing and sculpture to "illuminate and celebrate the nuance and richness of Black contemporary life."
The exhibit's title comes from an essay on desegregation by American writer and social rights activist James Baldwin.
According to the museum, the exhibition, curated by British writer and curator Ekow Eshun, highlights a sense of urgency around contemporary artistic expression.
Visitors can expect to reflect on more than 60 contemporary works encompassing three core themes: "Double Consciousness, Past and Presence, and Our Aliveness."
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"Double Consciousness" is a theory first introduced in 1897 by the African American sociologist W.E.B Du Bois and explores concepts of being, belonging and Blackness as a psychological state.
"Past and Presence" explores the absence of Black figures in many mainstream narratives and shows how artists have responded. "Our Aliveness" features assertions and celebrations of Black assembly and gathering, the museum said.
Artists include Michael Armitage, Claudette Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Amy Sherald. For the show’s U.S. premiere, additional artists working in Philadelphia, London, and New York have been added, including Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Robert Lugo, Danielle Mckinney, Deborah Roberts, and Arthur Timothy.
This new exhibit is a separately ticketed exhibition. Tickets are for timed entry every thirty minutes from 11:00 a.m. until an hour and a half before the museum closes each day.
Visitors have the option to take the audio tour of the exhibit and hear from Eshun and several featured artists about the stories behind the artworks. It's important to note that you must bring your headphones to listen to the tour on your mobile device.
The exhibit will be on display from Saturday, Nov. 9, through Feb. 9, 2025. For more information and to purchase your tickets, visit philamuseum.org.
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