The Studio Museum in Harlem has announced that it will open its new home on Manhattan’s West 125th Street in autumn of next year.
The institution has been closed since 2018 for the expansion project. In its new building, the Studio Museum in Harlem will offer extensive exhibition, education and programme spaces, as well as improved public amenities.
Its inaugural exhibition will present the work of American sculptor Tom Lloyd, who was featured in the museum‘s opening show in a rented loft on Fifth Avenue in 1968.
The exhibition will display Lloyd’s electronic sculptures, wall-mounted sculptures made from found metal parts, and works on paper created in the 1970s and 1980s.
First show to display Tom Lloyd works
Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, said: “Through the life and career of Tom Lloyd, whose solo exhibition inaugurated our museum in 1968, we reencounter an artist who was years ahead of his time in both his ideals and artistic practice.
“This exhibition is joined by a breadth of remarkable works from our collection which will be presented in our other incredible galleries.”
Founded by a diverse group of artists, community activists, and philanthropists, the museum is known for its role in promoting the work of artists of African descent.
The Studio Museum’s permanent collection includes around 9,000 artworks by the likes of Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Jordan Casteel, Barkley L. Hendricks, Seydou Keïta, Norman Lewis, Lorraine O’Grady and Faith Ringgold.
Studio Museum increases fundraising goal
Other artists of African descent to feature across the museum when it debuts include Houston E. Conwill, David Hammons and Glenn Ligon.
“Taken in its entirety, our collection traces, as few institutions can, a history of creativity by artists of African descent that we will continue to nurture far into the future,” Golden added.
Ahead of opening, the museum has surpassed its fundraising goal and is now extending it from $250 million to $300m.
Images courtesy of the Studio Museum in Harlem
