Fictions is a survey of recent work by nineteen emerging artists of African descent who live and work across the United States. The artists in the exhibition engage with a variety of media—including video, photography, drawing and sculpture—with some combining multiple artistic practices to create large-scale installations. The works in Fictions investigate questions at the core of The Studio Museum in Harlem’s mission to be the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally and internationally, and for work inspired by Black culture. They draw inspiration from diverse sources—such as everyday objects, childhood memories, current and historic events, and the body—often creating parallel or alternate narratives that complicate fact, fiction and memory. 

The exhibition is the fifth in a series of emerging artist exhibitions presented by the Studio Museum, following Freestyle (2001), Frequency (2005–06), Flow (2008) and Fore (2012–13). Like its predecessors, Fictions illustrates the diversity and complexity of artistic practices by artists of African descent. Tracing the artistic developments since Fore, Fictions emphasizes the development of narrative content in contemporary art over the past five years. From the personal to the political and the everyday to the imagined, Fictions examines the stories that form the foundation of these artists’ practices.

Artists in Fictions

Paul Stephen Benjamin (b. 1966, Chicago, IL; Lives and works in Atlanta, GA)
Krista Clark (b. 1975, Burlington, VT; Lives and works in Atlanta, GA)
Michael Demps (b. 1976, Detroit, MI; Lives and works in New Haven, CT)
Genevieve Gaignard (b. 1981, Orange, MA; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Nikita Gale (b. 1983, Anchorage, AK; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Allison Janae Hamilton (b. 1984, Lexington, KY; Lives and works in New York, NY)
Matthew Angelo Harrison (b. 1989, Detroit, MI; Lives and works in Detroit, MI)
Texas Isaiah (b. 1986, Brooklyn, NY; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Patrick Martinez (b. 1980, Los Angeles, CA; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Walter Price (b. 1989, Macon, GA; Lives and works in New York, NY)
Christina Quarles (b. 1985, Chicago, IL; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Deborah Roberts (b. 1962, Austin, TX; Lives and works in Austin, TX)
Sherrill Roland (b. 1984, Asheville, NC; Lives and works in Morrisville, NC)
Amy Sherald (b. 1973, Columbus, GA; Lives and works in Baltimore, MD)
Devan Shimoyama (b. 1989, Philadelphia, PA; Lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA)
Sable Elyse Smith (b. 1986, Los Angeles, CA; Lives and works in Richmond, VA)
Maya Stovall (b. 1982, Detroit, MI; Lives and works in Detroit, MI)
Jazmin Urrea (b. 1990, Artesia, CA; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA)
Stephanie Williams (b. 1981, Washington, D.C.; Lives and works in Washington, D.C.)

Fictions is organized by Connie H. Choi, Associate Curator, Permanent Collection, and Hallie Ringle, Assistant Curator.

Lead sponsor of Fictions

Exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem are made possible thanks in part to support from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Council. Additional support is generously provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.