Mapping Black Identities

Taking inspiration from Mia’s recent acquisition of Frank Bowling’s map painting False Start (1970), “Mapping Black Identities” challenges the notion of Black identity as monolithic. Championing the diverse experiences of artists from America, Africa, and the diaspora, this exhibition seeks to amplify underrepresented voices and create connections around the concept of Blackness in contemporary art across time and place.

Mapping is a colonial practice tied to painful histories of conquest and domination. Here, mapping functions as a powerful way to reclaim spaces—such as the museum—that have traditionally excluded or overlooked work by Black artists.

IC: Frank Bowling, England, 1934 False Start, 1970 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas Minneapolis Institute of Art, The John R. Van Derlip Fund, 2018.56 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art