ANTHONY GRANT, DEVIN N. MORRIS, SHAN WALLACE, Wickerham & lomax and Isaiah Winters

Curated by Teri Henderson

Black Collage: Aesthetic Legacies articulates a profound argument: the collage aesthetic is not merely a "cut-and-paste" technique, but the preeminent method of cultural production for Black artists in the 21st century. This exhibition moves beyond viewing the medium as simple assemblage to position it as a critical methodology—a gesture inherent to Black life.

The physical act of layering serves as a potent metaphor for the diasporic experience. It is a process of reconciling fragmented histories, cultures, and identities to construct new, non-linear worlds. Through the work of four artists—Isaiah Winters, Anthony Grant, SHAN Wallace, and Devin N. Morris—we witness the active reclamation of agency and narrative, and one collaborative duo, Wickerham & Lomax, where their very act of partnership, blending disparate voices, perspectives, and visual vocabularies—becomes a meta-metaphor for the process of assemblage central to the Black diasporic experience and its influence on contemporary art. 

To honor the singular voice of each maker, this exhibition is organized by artists. Rather than fragmenting their work into rigid thematic categories or pigeonholing their practices, this layout invites you to observe the nuances of each artist’s technique. However, as you move through these distinct sections, a powerful aesthetic continuity emerges. Despite their unique approaches, these artists share a parallel methodology and a shared lineage of reconstruction. 

This layout also encourages you to interrogate and expand your own definition of what collage is and how the capacious possibilities of this gesture are inherent to black life. For these makers, collage is a shared dialect.

While the artists are presented individually, these conceptual currents flow through the gallery, connecting their work like a shared dialect:

The Vernacular of Collage: Establishes a foundational lexicon of fragmentation. This theme analyzes the shared aesthetic principles that characterize the Black collage aesthetic, establishing it as a distinct mode of communication.

Time Travel & Black Temporality: Disrupts linear timelines to blend past and present, illustrating the non-static nature of Black existence on Earth.

Visual Rhythm: Explores the deep, improvisational connections between collage and Black musical traditions, specifically jazz and sampling.

The Politics of Style & Adornment: Highlights fashion, adornment, and beauty as acts of cultural resistance and representation.

Ritual and Sacred Space: Honors ancestors and establishes communication with the divine. Here, the act of creating a collage is, in itself, a transformative ritual.

These themes are the connective tissue of the show. They demonstrate that these artists are utilizing an embodied visual language—a way of speaking that transcends time, space, and location.

This physical space is an extension of Black Collagists (@blackcollagists), a digital archive founded in 2020 by Teri Henderson to highlight the work of Black artists who use a collage aesthetic globally.