Brooklyn and Its Many Art Venues
A big draw near the summer’s end will be “The Obama Portraits Tour,” from August 27 through October 24. The Brooklyn Museum will be one of five museums to exhibit the renowned portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. The museum will also host a few events and talks as part of this showing.
The Obama Portraits Tour will be on view for just eight weeks, from August 27 to October 24, 2021. Access to the exhibition is not included with a general admission ticket and requires a separate exhibition ticket, which must be reserved in advance online. To reserve a date and time, please visit https://my.brooklynmuseum.org/. The Obama Portraits tickets include general admission to the Museum.
Brooklyn, New York may not be the epicenter of the art world, but sometimes it seems to come close. And this summer there are several museums in Brooklyn that are exhibiting works by African-American and Pan African artists.
Check the websites provided here for up to the minute details, and enjoy the virtual shows and talks, as well as the growing number of in-person exhibitions, performances and more.
Let’s take a look at some of the intriguing offerings at Brooklyn’s cultural institutions:
The Brooklyn Museum – www.brooklynmuseum.org
“The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time” (through March 2022)
With over 60 pieces on view, this exhibition “centering artists of color” is a revealing look at art from the 1960s through today. There are seven thematic sections and all will make you think carefully about the role of art and everyday life.
“John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance” (through August 8)
The Black Queer experience has center stage at this photography exhibition, a series of portraits and still lifes. Edmonds reflected on some pieces already within the Museum’s collection to create works. It’s a surprisingly intimate collection of works.
The Permanent Collection also contains works created by members of the African American community.
BRIC – www.bricartsmedia.org
BRIC (Brooklyn Information and Culture) is an organization that sponsors a wide variety of arts and social events, arts exhibitions and courses (some one-day, some several sessions long). One of their signature series is the Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. This season includes: rapper-poet KAMAUU, Adeline and NESTA. Saturday, August 7th the Haitian-American singer Tiga Jean-Baptiste is part of a Family show at 3.30PM. Both these shows will take place at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Also at the Bandshell on August 5th is the film “Wattstax”, about the 1972 Watts Summer Festival. August 12th there will be a concert by legendary band The Roots, and on August 13, Skip Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, will perform.
BAM – www.bam.org
Music, film, dance, theater and much more is on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; it’s one of NYC’s premier arts and entertainment hubs. This year their reach will be more contained than in previous years, but they still have many fine offerings. Among the superb films they are showing are Questlove’s vintage concert movie “Summer of Soul”, on various dates and times. There is DanceAfrica visual art from Omar Victor Diop, with several stunning portraits. And in the Fall there will be many more debuts of interest.
MOCADA – www.mocada.org
This is the 20th anniversary of MOCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, and they are staging meaningful exhibitions such as “Artists in School: I Am”, a youth virtual exhibition; “Theda Sandiford: Hidden in Plain Sight” which includes virtual and public exhibitions by this Carribean-American artist; and on July 23rd “The Living Altar Ritual Event.”
Weeksville Heritage society – www.weeksvillesociety.org
The Weeksville Heritage Center is a fascinating slice of history and culture in the heart of Brooklyn. Weeksville was one of the biggest free Black communities in the United States prior to the Civil War, and showcases the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. The visitor center and the houses have been renovated greatly and school groups as well as individuals can visit.
The “Black Joy Is Radical” exhibit by Jazmine Hayes is on the fence of the space, easily accessible for all. The house tours are still suspended due to Covid restrictions, but you can view them online, as well as past and present art installations.
Pioneerworks – www.pioneerworks.org
Make it over to Red Hook to see our friend Alex Harsley’s photography and video programs “The First Light From Darkness,” through August 22. Longtime New Yorker Harsley was featured in a recent ROUTES article that should convince you to see this amazing and humbling show.
Also at Pioneer Works, in the garden, is Coby Kennedy’s “Kalief Browder: The Box”, a haunting piece of artwork.
“The Forever Museum Archive” by Onyedika Chuke is actually at nearby Governors Island, sponsored by Pioneer Works, and is a must-see this summer. “Govs Island” is the backyard in the river that we all adore.