Young, Gifted and Black: Largest Public Showing in NYC

The Lehman College Art Gallery opens the 2020 season this Wednesday to show “Young, Gifted and Black,” an exhibition of 50 contemporary works of new and emerging artists that explore themes of race, class, politics and human dignity through various mediums, including painting, drawing, portraiture, sculpting, multimedia, metalworks and new materials.

“African American artists are enjoying a surge of unprecedented influence with their work being highly-sought after by both private collectors and museum curators around the world,” said Lehman College Art Gallery Executive Director Bartholomew Bland. “The show will help art lovers discover groundbreaking new artists and re-examine the early works of those more established, like Mickalene Thomas, Kerry James Marshall and Kara Walker; it captures a very exciting moment.”

The show is curated by writer and critic Antwaun Sargent and artist and curator Matt Wycoff from the private art collection of Bernard Lumpkin and his husband, Carmine Boccuzzi. Lumpkin, whose father is Black and mother is Jewish, began building the collection nearly a decade ago after long talks with his ailing father about family history, identity and racial activism.

“My style of collecting grew out of my new focus and special attention to emerging artists,” said Lumpkin, a former producer at MTV News and a graduate of Harvard and Yale.

After New York City, the exhibition will travel for several years to university galleries and small museums in Pennsylvania, Illinois, South Carolina, Texas and California.

The reception is on Wednesday, February 26 from 5–8 p.m. The exhibition runs through May 2 at the College’s Art Gallery at 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West in the Bronx. The gallery’s hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

FEATURED ARTISTS in “Young, Gifted and Black”

Derrick Adams, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Kevin Bealey, Nayland Blake, Jordan Casteel, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Caitlin Cherry, Bethany Collins, Cy Gavin, Alteronce Gumby, Allison Janae Hamilton, David Hammons, Kenyatta A. C. Hinkle, Lonnie Holley, Tomashi Jackson, Angie Jennings, Rashid Johnson, Deana Lawson, Glenn Ligon, Eric N. Mack, Kerry James Marshall, Troy Michie, Wardell Milan, Narcissister, Arcmanoro Niles, Clifford Owens, Jennifer Packer, Adam Pendleton, Christina Quarles, Andy Robert, Latoya Ruby-Frazier, Jacolby Satterwhite, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Gerald Sheffield, Lorna Simpson, Sable Elyse Smith, Vaughn Spann, Henry Taylor, Chiffon Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, William Villalongo, Kara Walker, Nari Ward, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Wilmer Wilson IV and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.