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LONG ISLAND CITY, New York, March 19, 2026—MoMA PS1 announces Hard Art, a major exhibition that examines the legacy of abstract painting by Black artists in the US from 1969 to today. Opening on November 5, 2026, the exhibition features over forty artists and juxtaposes historical paintings by practitioners who came to prominence in the 1970s with recent conceptually driven practices that incorporate sculpture, video, sound, and painting. Organized thematically, the exhibition traces the legacy of three generations of artists including Frank Bowling, Mark Bradford, Peter Bradley, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ed Clark, Melvin Edwards, Jennie C. Jones, Joe Overstreet, and Raymond Saunders, alongside new and recent works by Aria Dean, Torkwase Dyson, Nikita Gale, Suzanne Jackson, Rindon Johnson, Caroline Kent, Carolyn Lazard, Eric N. Mack, Charisse Pearlina Weston, and SoiL Thornton, among others. Together, these cross-generational conversations emphasize the enduring relevance and increasing urgency of abstraction in shaping the current political imaginary.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication featuring essays by Connie Butler, Hannah Black, Jessica Bell Brown, Torkwase Dyson, Rindon Johnson, and Erich Kessel, among other contributors, as well as an illustrated chronology of significant museum exhibitions by June Kitahara and Sheldon Gooch.
Organized by Connie Butler, The Agnes Gund Director, with Sheldon Gooch, Curatorial Assistant. Exhibition research and support is provided by June Kitahara, Research Assistant.
ARTISTS
Hannah Black (b. 1981)
Frank Bowling (b. 1934)
Mark Bradford (b. 1961)
Peter Bradley (b. 1940)
Beverly Buchanan (b. 1940)
Barbara Chase-Riboud (b. 1939)
Ed Clark (b. 1926)
Aria Dean (b. 1993)
Torkwase Dyson (b. 1973)
Melvin Edwards (b. 1937)
Nikita Gale (b. 1983)
Sam Gilliam (b. 1933)
David Hammons (b. 1943)
Maren Hassinger (b. 1947)
Cynthia Hawkins (b. 1950)
Richard Hunt (b. 1935)
Suzanne Jackson (b. 1944)
Virginia Jaramillo (b. 1939)
Jennie C. Jones (b. 1968)
Rindon Johnson (b. 1990)
Daniel LaRue Johnson (b. 1938)
Caroline Kent (b. 1975)
Carolyn Lazard (b. 1987)
Glenn Ligon (b. 1960)
James Little (b. 1952)
Al Loving (b. 1935)
Mary Lovelace O’Neal (b. 1942)
Eric N. Mack (b. 1987)
Tiona Nekkia McClodden (b. 1981)
Rodney McMillian (b. 1969)
Julie Mehretu (b. 1970)
Senga Nengudi (b. 1943)
Lorraine O’Grady (b. 1934)
Joe Overstreet (b. 1933)
Adam Pendleton (b. 1984)
Howardena Pindell (b. 1943)
Walter Price (b. 1989)
Martin Puryear (b. 1941)
Andy Robert (b. 1984)
Raymond Saunders (b. 1934)
Mildred Thompson (b. 1936)
SoiL Thornton (b. 1990)
Charisse Pearlina Weston (b. 1988)
Jack Whitten (b. 1939)
SUPPORT
Generous support is provided by Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida.
Significant support is provided by Susan and Larry Marx, and Jay Ptashek and Karen Elizaga.
Additional support is provided by Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Press Kit
Images
Peter Bradley, Circle of Fifths, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 66 ¼” × 131″; 67½” × 132¼” (framed), © Peter Bradley. Courtesy the artist and Karma
Raymond Saunders. Untitled. 2000–2010. Mixed media on board. 96″ x 26″ x 1 ½.” Collection of Karen Elizaga and Jay Ptashek.
James Little. Challenge of the Will. 1979. Signed, titled and dated verso. Oil on canvas and linen. 54” x 68,” 137.2 x 172.7 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Petzel, New York Photographer: Thomas Barratt
Maren Hassinger. The Veil Between Us. 2007/2018. Twisted and knotted New York Times newspapers, twine, wire, rope and steel. 78″ x 360.” Installation view of The Spirit of Things at Art + Practice, Los Angeles, CA, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. Photographer: Joshua White, Los Angeles, CA.
SoiL Thornton. What Is Sexuality, Is The Scale Infinite Similar To A Line. 2017. Acrylic paint, metallic paint, copper wire, galvanized steel wire, plexi glass on cotton and foam with wood frame. 111″ x 96 ” x 11.” Collection of Karen Elizaga and Jay Ptashek
Mildred Thompson. Magnetic Fields, 1991. Oil on canvas. Triptych; overall: 70 ½ x 150 in (179.1 x 381 cm) © The Mildred Thompson Estate. Courtesy Galerie Lelong
Hannah Black. “The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window” (5). 2023. Oil and spray paint on canvas. 70 x 55 cm, 27 1/2 x 21 5/8 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Arcadia Missa, London. Photography: Tom Carter.