Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage
Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage is the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to exploring collage by contemporary Black American artists such as Mark Bradford, Kerry James Marshall, Tschabalala Self, and Kara Walker. Featuring nearly 60 works by 49 artists, this exhibition celebrates the broad variety and complexity of Black identity in art. Building on a technique that has roots in European and American traditions, the diverse, intergenerational group of artists have created innovative works with pieces of paper, photographs, fabrics, and/or other salvaged materials. The bold compositions, created with an array of experimental techniques, offer poignant expressions of human experience, including fragmentation and reconstruction, shared history and memory, cultural hybridity, gender fluidity, and notions of beauty.
Featured Artists
Derrick Adams
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Radcliffe Bailey
Sanford Biggers
McArthur Binion
Brittney Boyd Bullock
Mark Bradford
Tay Butler
Zoë Charlton
Andrea Chung
Jamal Cyrus
M. Florine Démosthène
Derek Fordjour
Genevieve Gaignard
Lauren Halsey
Kahlil Robert Irving
Tomashi Jackson
Rashid Johnson
Yashua Klos
YoYo Lander
Kerry James Marshall
Rod McGaha
Lester Julian Merriweather
Helina Metaferia
Wardell Milan
Joiri Minaya
Troy Montes-Michie
Devin N. Morris
Wangechi Mutu
Narcissister
Rashaad Newsome
Lovie Olivia
Ebony G. Patterson
Howardena Pindell
Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Deborah Roberts
Lanecia A. Rouse
Tschabalala Self
Devan Shimoyama
David Shrobe
Lorna Simpson
Nyugen E. Smith
Paul Anthony Smith
Shinique Smith
Mickalene Thomas
Kara Walker
Didier William
Kandis Williams
IMAGE: Wardell Milan, Pulse. That’s that Orlando moon, 808 club bass. That’s that keep dancing, that’s that never stop, 2022, Charcoal, graphite, oil, pastel, pastel acrylic, cut-and-paste paper on hand dyed paper; 72 1/2 x 53 3/8 in., The Collection of Michael Hoeh, New York, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York © Wardell Milan
Related Events
Artists in the Studio
Artist interviews produced by the Frist Art Museum. View additional artist interviews from the Frist Art Museum
Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Archetype of a 5 Star, 2018
Derek Fordjour, Airborne Double, 2022
Brittney Boyd Bullock, No It Ain’t, Yes It Is, 2023
Exhibition Catalogue
More than 50 artists are represented in the book’s 140 color images, with some creating original artworks for this project. In addition to scholarly essays, the publication contains short biographies of each artist written by Fisk University students.
This exhibition is organized by the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN.
The presentation at The Phillips Collection is made possible by The Frauke and Willem de Looper Fund, with significant support from Julie and Jon Garcia.
Additional support is provided by Robert Berish and Barbara Brown, and Reid Walker.
Support for the national exhibition tour is provided by generous grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
