July 18, 2023 |
Lauded London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner is set to curate an exhibition at New York’s famed MoMA. Entitled Artist’s Choice: Grace Wales Bonner – Spirit Movers, the 50-piece display will take place at the museum’s street-level galleries from November 18 2023 through to April 7 2024. Bonner, who founded her eponymous label in 2014, will be undertaking the 16th instalment of the MoMa’s Artist’s Choice series – a program that harks back to 1989 with notable alum such as Amy Sillman and Yto Barrada.
Having already taken the fashion world by storm, this step in Bonner’s ascension to cultural polymathy is hardly a surprise. Renowned for her sublime tailoring, the sartorial innovator initially specialised in menswear before broadening her scope to womenswear in 2018, forging collaborations with industry giants like Dior and Adidas along the way. Often praised for her ability to communicate notions of identity and expression, enlisting Bonner’s artistic perspective is a perfect fit for MoMa, which itself is known for a dedication to progressive ideas and creative education.
The work selected by the creative will focus on artworks that highlight Black cultural and aesthetic practices, drawing inspiration from the multifaceted sounds, styles and experiences of the African diaspora. According to Bonner, the title ‘Spirit Movers’ encompasses the multiple histories that will be explored, reified by a variety of artistic disciplines ranging from wood carving to photography. The exhibition will feature multi-generational artists from around the world, including Terry Adkins, Moustapha Dimé, Agnes Martin, Man Ray, Betye Saar and Artist’s Choice contributor David Hammons. Bonner’s directional duties will be supported by specialists in painting and sculpture, curator Michelle Kuo and assistant Dana Lilijegre. The showcase will be accompanied by a catalogue associating the displayed works with seminal texts from Black authors including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni and Langston Hughes.
This is not the first time Bonner has tried her hand at curation, who organised her first institutional exhibition in 2019 – a multi-sensory exploration of mysticism in Black history entitled A Time For New Dreams at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
Speaking on the upcoming presentation, Bonner stated, “It is an immense honour to engage with the artists and works in MoMA’s collection, and I wish to extend my deepest thanks to the museum for allowing me the space to create so freely.” Discussing her hopes for the outcome, she noted “I hope the exhibition and associated publication resound with the spirit of the contributing artists and continue to conjure new dreams and new visions.”
Stay tuned for more info via the MoMa’s Instagram here.
Photography courtesy of Museum of Modern Art
