How might American art be experienced at this moment?
In case you missed it, our American Art galleries have undergone a transformative reinstallation. Toward Joy reorients the ways that the Brooklyn Museum exhibits—and audiences rediscover—this acclaimed collection. Black feminist and BIPOC perspectives act as through lines in this vast presentation of more than 400 works.
Victoria von Blaque, an entertainer and cofounder of the House of Transcendence, is one of the ballroom and drag artists who wrote a special wall label for Toward Joy. Here they “spill the T” about the history of seated portraits, which have been tied to nation-building, positions of power, and white Americans’ attempts to exert control over the historical record.
From the top: Installation view, Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art. Brooklyn Museum, opens October 4, 2024. (Photo: Thomas Barratt)
Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art is organized by Stephanie Sparling Williams, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of American Art; Caroline Gillaspie, Assistant Curator of American Art; Catherine Futter, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator of Decorative Arts; Liz St. George, Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts; Nancy Rosoff, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, Arts of the Americas; and Dare Turner, Curator of Indigenous Art; with Grace Billingslea and Michael Gibson-Prugh, Curatorial Assistants, Arts of the Americas and Europe.
This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Leadership support for this exhibition is provided by Tracey and Phillip Riese. Major support is provided by American International Group, Inc., Saundra Williams-Cornwell and W. Don Cornwell, Pfizer, Inc., and the Council for African American Art. Generous support is provided by Lizanne Fontaine and Robert Buckholz, the Hasso Philanthropic Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Nkonye Okoh.
