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Caribbean Transitions

June 11–August 7, 2022
Curated by Keith Morrison

Read the exhibition catalog online, featuring an essay by curator Keith Morrison. Purchase during open hours or by emailing museum@american.edu. $30 each plus taxes and shipping, if applicable.

Nari Ward, Black Sweat, 2019. Shoelaces, shipping barrel. Shoelaces stitched into stacked halves of shipping barrel. The negative space between the shoelaces reads, "Black Sweat"

Nari Ward, Black Sweat, 2019. Shoelaces, shipping barrel, 74 x 44 in. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, and London.

Pepon Osorio, Lonely Soul, 2008

Pepón Osorio, Lonely Soul, 2008. Wooden crutches, fiberglass, wood, Styrofoam, resin, pins, wheelchair wheels, 106 x 83 x 77 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Edouard Duval-Carrie, Beasts of Burden, 2021. Aluminum, acrylic, and glitter glue. A person on their hands and knees in the water.

Edouard Duval Carrié, Beasts of Burden, 2021. Aluminum, acrylic, and glitter glue, 8 x 8 ft. Courtesy of the artist.

This exhibition explores the character, complexity, and originality of art by Caribbean American artists as they expand the art of the North American continent. The 20 artists in the exhibition are respected internationally, and many are represented in major museums in the United States and abroad. They are painters, printmakers, photographers, video makers, and installation and performance artists. Most of the artists were born in the Caribbean and migrated to the US; some were born in the US to Caribbean parents; others live in the Caribbean and exhibit worldwide. Their histories come from Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and the US.

These artists reveal unique relationships between the Caribbean and the US in ways that expand and enrich a wider understanding of American art and culture. The Caribbean is the historic fulcrum of the cultures of the Americas and the art in this exhibition exemplifies that importance. The themes the artists explore vary greatly, and they were selected for the quality of their work while being mindful of their differences. Some of the artists’ work developed from international challenges they perceived while in the Caribbean, or, in other cases, challenges they realized in Europe and or the US.