Featuring one hundred works by nearly eighty artists from the 1920s to the present, Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem, on view January 23–April 10, 2021, surveys nearly a century of creative achievements by artists of African descent. This landmark initiative explores the vital contributions of these artists, proposing a plurality of narratives of Black artistic production and multiple approaches to understanding these works.
Such an ambitious, multifaceted project is uniquely possible through the use of The Studio Museum’s expansive and acclaimed collection. The Studio Museum is internationally known for its catalytic role in promoting the work of artists of African descent.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah is one of six venues in the United States to host Black Refractions. The UMFA is excited to help expand local audiences’ understanding and appreciation of these important artists and to explore the impacts of systemic racism on art as well as on museums’ role in society today.
This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Major support for Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem provided by Art Bridges. Sponsorship for the national tour provided in part by PURE. Support for the accompanying publication provided by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
The exhibition is curated by Connie H. Choi, associate curator, permanent collection at The Studio Museum in Harlem. It was organized for Salt Lake City by Whitney Tassie, senior curator and curator of modern and contemporary art at UMFA.
More information: umfa.utah.edu
