Derek Fordjour (American, born 1974). Blue Horn, 2017. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, cardboard, and carved newspaper mounted on canvas, 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Tiffany Hott, 2019.31. © Derek Fordjour. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Derek Fordjour (American, born 1974). Blue Horn, 2017. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, cardboard, and carved newspaper mounted on canvas, 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Tiffany Hott, 2019.31. © Derek Fordjour. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Shinique Smith (American, born 1971). Gravity of Love, 2013. Ink, acrylic, paper, and fabric collage on wood panel, 84 × 84 × 21/4 in. (213.4 × 213.4 × 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Alfred T. White Fund, 2013.29.1. © Shinique Smith. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
mounir fatmi (Moroccan, born 1970). Maximum Sensation, 2010. Fifty skateboards, plastic, metal, textile, 5 × 8 × 3111/16 in. (12.7 × 20.3 × 80.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Purchase gift of Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia and John and Barbara Vogelstein, 2010.67. © Mounir Fatmi. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Byron Kim (American, born 1961). Sunday Painting 2/18/07, 2007. Acrylic and gouache on canvas mounted on panel, 14 × 14 in. (35.6 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Contemporary Art Council in honor of Eugenie Tsai and Patrick Amsellem, 2011.37.1. © Byron Kim/Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York/SHANGHAI. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Jack Whitten (American, born 1939). Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison), 1994. Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas, 58 × 52 in. (147.3 × 132.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum; William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, 2014.65. © Jack Whitten
Karon Davis (American, born 1977). Nicotine, 2016. Plaster, cloth, oil paint, synthetic hair, clothing, wire, shredded bills, coffee cup, wood, mirror, cigarette, 501/2 × 501/4 × 31 in. (128.3 × 127.6 × 78.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Purchase gift of Beth Rudin DeWoody, 2018.2
Jonathan Lyndon Chase (American, born 1989). Loose Chain, 2020. Spray paint, glitter, plastic diamond, and acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.4 × 91.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum; 2020.29. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Arthur Jafa (American, born 1960). Still from akingdoncomethas, 2018. Single-channel video (color, sound): 1 hour, 41 min. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Contemporary Art Committee and William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, 2018.22. © Arthur Jafa
Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaican, born 1981). Still from ...three kings weep…, 2018. Single-channel video (color, sound): 8 min., 34 sec. Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. © Ebony G. Patterson. (Three-channel version: Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Contemporary Art Committee and purchase gift of Carla Chammas and Judi Roaman, 2019.11)
Diedrick Brackens (American, born 1989). when no softness came, 2019. Cotton and acrylic yarn, 96 × 96 in. (243.8 × 243.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Purchased with funds given by The LIFEWTR Fund at Frieze New York 2019, 2019.12. (Photo: courtesy of Various Small Fires L.A.)
The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time
May 14, 2021–April 10, 2022
The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time draws examples from our contemporary art collection to contemplate the profound disruption that occurred in 2020. Borrowing its title from an aeronautical term that refers to the pull of the current that is left in the wake of a large and powerful object, the exhibition examines the placement and displacement of power that runs through American history and continues today. In 2020's slipstream, the confluence of the devastating effects of the pandemic, civil unrest across the United States, a contested presidential election, and unchecked climate change will continue to shape conversations about the state of the nation and world. The exhibition seeks to hold space for individuals to find their feelings of fear, grief, vulnerability, anger, isolation, and despair—as well as joy, determination, and love—reflected in art.
Centering artists of color, The Slipstream features works by multiple generations of artists from the 1960s to the present day. The artists included in the exhibition are Yuji Agematsu, Kelly Akashi, Emma Amos, El Anatsui, Sanford Biggers, Nayland Blake, Diedrick Brackens, Mark Bradford, Kathy Butterly, Jonathan Lydon Chase, Mel Chin, Ed Clark, Karon Davis, John Edmonds, mounir fatmi, Derek Fordjour, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Aaron Gilbert, Arthur Jafa, Virginia Jaramillo, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Michael Joo, Titus Kaphar, Nina Katchadourian, William Kentridge, Byron Kim, Simone Leigh, Ellen Lesperance, Hew Locke, Whitfield Lovell, Rick Lowe, Dindga McCannon, Hugo McCloud, Zanele Muholi, John Little Sun Murie, Ebony G. Patterson, Elle Pérez, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Deborah Roberts, Tschabalala Self, David Shrobe, Amy Sillman, Laurie Simmons, Taryn Simon, Shinique Smith, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Alma W. Thomas, Tourmaline, Jack Whitten, Fred Wilson, and Sugiura Yasuyoshi.
More than sixty artworks are on view, organized in seven sections around themes such as collective power, family ties, spiritual well-being, relationships to nature, and the simple rituals of daily life. Each of these works embodies strategies for staying grounded, gathering strength, and considering paths into the future.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Nick Cave: Truth Be Told was on view on the Museum’s plaza May 28–November 14, 2021.
The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time is curated by Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, with Joseph Shaikewitz, Curatorial Assistant, Arts of the Americas and Europe, Brooklyn Museum.
Leadership support for this exhibition is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.