Current Exhibitions at the KIA

Showcasing works in a touring exhibition that reflects the breadth of The Studio Museum's significant permanent collection. Rather than aiming to construct a single history of "black art," the exhibition emphasizes plurality, including multiple approaches to and reflections on art created by artists of African descent. With works in all media from the 1930s to the present, the collection includes a wide range of well-known artists including Romare Bearden, Chakaia Booker, Elizabeth Catlett, Thornton Dial, David Hammons, Titus Kaphar, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Lorna Simpson, Kehinde Wiley, and Fred Wilson. The KIA is the only Midwest venue for this exhibition, on tour while the Studio Museum raises its new building.

Supporting artists is part of the KIA mission, and this exhibition seeks to highlight the diversity of creativity and forms that Black artists are working and experimenting with right here in Michigan, and to offer our audiences an understanding of the breadth and depth of their talent and contribution to the cultural richness of our region. Where We Stand features nine Michigan artists working in sculpture, photography, painting, ceramics, and printmaking--emerging artists and veterans in their field who address issues as diverse as the environment, the criminal justice system, the human body, and concepts of beauty.

Resilience is an important exhibition that offers a fresh perspective on our growing collection of more than 100 masterly works by Black artists. This exhibition demonstrates to our community the KIA's 95-year long history and commitment of collecting influential and diverse art. Centered around social justice, Resilience highlights the common threads that connect us all as human beings, in an effort to open the door to change. Visitors will see work by Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Frank Bowling, Grafton Tyler Brown, Robert Duncanson, Samuel Levi Jones, Jacob Larwrence, Edmonia Lewis, Whitfield Lovell, Richard Mayhew, Lorna Simpson, Merton Simpson, Hughie Lee-Smith (shown), Henry Tanner, and Philemona Williamson.

Moon's large-scale watercolor works are painted in the style of mid-20th century American Action painters like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. He layers, drips, and splatters his watercolors, taking advantage of the fluid and translucent nature of watercolor, the speed of the medium's drying time, and its hazy, airy nature. Moon's compositions explore the representation of elements with a visual tension created through color, gloss, luster, and texture, focusing attention over the entire surface. He has been featured in eight solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions throughout Korea. Based in Paris, Moon is represented and exhibited by galleries in Paris and New York.

Sunghyun Moon, Afternoon (detail), 2016, watercolor. Courtesy of Waterfall Gallery.