The Black Biennial: New Beginnings
Gelman Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design Museum
March 10th-April 22nd, 2022
New Beginnings recognizes the power of starting anew and acknowledges the need for errant pathways into the museum world. By centering Black subjectivities and stories, the exhibition grapples with the question of representation in the gallery and the museum world's renewed, yet superficial, interest in the work of artists from Africa and the African diaspora. The Black Biennial pivots from the traditional, large-scale, and often, exclusive biennial framework, to one of intimacy, vitality and inclusiveness.
In an attempt to deconstruct the formality of museum spaces, New Beginnings invites visitors to participate in an interactive experience that underscores the importance of radical imagination, feeling, and uninhibited critique. The featured artists come from all walks of life, yet, underscore the local Black experience's complexity and dynamism. Their embrace of interdisciplinary techniques and approaches to artmaking poses a direct challenge to dominant practices of sociocultural and aesthetic compartmentalization. The exhibition weaves together Black cultural forms to complicate how we understand “Black art” and what it means to be a Black artist in Providence, RI.
New Beginnings is one step toward a more critical and inclusive future for museum spaces. United by a collective mission, the artists and curators present multiple visual stories to reaffirm the ways we create new visions for ourselves in real time.
Curators: Melaine Ferdinand-King & Rey Londres
Design: Zoë Pulley & Jada Akoto & Nailah Golden
Featured Artists: Njari Anderson, Ryan Cardoso, Bob Dilworth, Jarett Key, Qualeasha Wood, Renée Elizabeth Neely-TANNER, Anique Jordan, Bahati Nkera, Angel Cherman, Ziare Greene, Felicia Denaud, Helena Miller, Amadi Williams, Betelhem Abechu, Sahara Clemons, Kiara Joyce, Jaylen Hickson, Kai Akinloye-Brown, Addie Kae Mingilton, Gregory Parks, Ashley Raye Harris, Nicholas Austin-Wakefield, Isaiah "Prophet" Raines, Raymonii Cowan, Dauan Chappel, The Haus of Glitter, Jahi Lendor, Valentine Amari, AMKMQ, Niko Tolentino, Ezra Cassius pickens rich, Gala Prudent, Celeste Jackson, Xavier Sylvia-Jackson, Madison Tom, Natiana Alexandra Fonseca, Claudia Morris, John Johnson, Jason E. Smith, Onaje Grant-Simmonds, Jonathan Sangster, Jaquan Jones, Jenni Oughton, Dorian Epps, MacKenzie/Kenzie, Ciara Moore, Nafis White, Leiyana Simone Pereira, Janice Lardey, Sapphina Roller, Danasha Kelly, Jamil Fatti, Jeffrey McCready, Kamari Smalls, Jackey Robinson, Esther Akintoye, Abenda Sohn, Vitoria Byrne, Chancellor Joyer, Katie Commodore, Shannon Carratini, Marin Griffith, PZay/Isaiah Aladejobi, Fisayo Quadri, Jahi Kijo Lendor, Vessna Scheff, Josiah Gill, Edwige Charlot, McDonald Wright, James Greene, Karen Harris, Ire Asojo, Kamari Carter, Jo Sanders.
