The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Londong-based designer Grace Wales Bonner has been selected to curate the 16th iteration of the museum’s “Artist’s Choice” series. Titled “Artist’s Choice: Grace Wales Bonner—Spirit Movers,” the exhibit will feature 50 works of art from from MoMA’s collection, including work by Terry Adkins, Moustapha Dimé, Agnes Martin, Man Ray, Betye Saar, and David Hammons, among others.
The exhibit includes David Hammons’s “Afro Asian Eclipse (or Black China),” on display for the first time at MoMA. The pieces features a scroll adorned with geometric patterns crafted from tufts of hair collected by the artist from barbershop floors. A reference to Duke Ellington’s album “The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse,” this piece underscores the intersections between Afro-Atlantic and Afro-Pacific cultures.
Commenting on the effort in a press release, Bonner said, “It is an immense honor to engage with the artists and works in MoMA’s collection, and I wish to extend my deepest thanks to the museum for allowing me the space to create so freely.”
According to press, Bonner aimed to highlight the “rich tapestry of Black cultural and aesthetic practices, drawing inspiration from the diverse styles, experiences, forms, and sounds of the African diaspora.” Bonner has selected artists she views as “Spirit Movers,” individuals who evoke multiple histories, inspire contemplation, and forge new connections between individuals and places.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a book featuring 80 works of art from the museum’s collection and archives, along with images, poems and text by Black authors including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Bonner’s exhibit will be available to view at MoMA from November 18, 2023, to April 7, 2024 at MoMA’s street-level galleries at 11 W 53rd Street in New York.
