Hard Art

MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave, 11101, New York City

November 5, 2026 – December 5, 2026

Hard Art is a major exhibition examining the legacy of abstract painting by Black artists in the US from 1969 to today. Featuring over forty artists, it juxtaposes historical paintings by practitioners who came to prominence in the 1970s with recent conceptually driven practices incorporating sculpture, video, sound, and painting. Organized thematically, the exhibition traces three generations of artists including Frank Bowling, Mark Bradford, Peter Bradley, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ed Clark, Melvin Edwards, Jennie C. Jones, Joe Overstreet, and Raymond Saunders, alongside works by Aria Dean, Torkwase Dyson, Nikita Gale, Suzanne Jackson, Rindon Johnson, Caroline Kent, Carolyn Lazard, Eric N. Mack, Charisse Pearlina Weston, and SoiL Thornton. Cross-generational conversations emphasize abstraction's enduring relevance in shaping the current political imaginary.