The May 2025 Cherry Basket is ripe and ready for picking! This series shares noteworthy art exhibitions with an emphasis on Black artists. I hope you find something sweet ❤️ 🍒
New York
- What: A two-person exhibition featuring artists Eden Seifu and Carolyn Oberst, A New Sacred reinterprets Christian imagery, iconography, and notions of power through the personal and political. Seifu references Ethiopian Christian influences alongside the surreal and theatrical, creating ethereal scenes that explore the sublime. Alternatively, Oberst’s environmentalist series The Crosses We Bear, a response to her contempt for environmental devastation, repurposes the cross as a symbol of both suffering and urgent action, depicting endangered species, deforestation, and oil spills. The artists come together not only to create an intergenerational dialogue but to unexpectedly reinvent the symbols and tropes that many of us have seen firsthand.
- Who: Carolyn Oberst & Eden Seifu
- Where: Storage (52 Walker Street, 4th Floor | New York, NY)
- When: March 14th – May 3rd
The Things Left Unsaid | NXTHVN Cohort 6
- What: Presented by James Cohan and national arts model NXTHVN, which empowers artists and curators, The Things Left Unsaid is a group exhibition featuring new work by NXTHVN’s Cohort 06 Studio Fellows. Curated by Curatorial Fellow Rigoberto Luna, the show includes works spanning from mixed media installations to process-based paintings using repurposed objects and more. Through their work, the artists reflect on the ways our personal experiences impact our understanding of history, culture, spirituality, and memory.
- Who: Baris Göktürk, Kwamé Azure Gomez, Patrick Henry, Kristy Hughes, Christopher Paul Jordan, Reeha Lim, and Napoles Marty, Curatorial Fellow Rigoberto Luna
- Where: James Cohan (291 Grand St | New York, NY)
- When: May 8 – June 21
- What: Elizabeth Colomba’s latest solo exhibition highlights her recent body of paintings that allude to mythological, historical, and allegorical themes with Black women at the forefront. Rooted in the style of the Old Masters, Colomba’s work is also a critical intervention of the Western art historical canon, integrating figures who typically aren’t depicted in this painting style. The Black women centered on her canvases are shown with dignity and self-possession, prompting the viewer to consider portrait’s role in shaping identity and how Black people have been conditioned to be seen. The exhibition punctuates the artist’s growing institutional recognition, with her work on view at The Met and The Park Avenue Armory.
- Who: Elizabeth Colomba
- Where: Venus Over Manhattan (99 Gansevoort Street | New York, NY)
- When: Opened April 15
Los Angeles
- What: Brenna Youngblood’s R.A..D…I..O., presents nine new paintings alongside earlier assemblage and photographic works. She parses through American material culture, finding a way to investigate its complexity and explore how meaning is fractured and reassembled. Her distinct style, inspired by California’s rich history of assemblage and abstract expressionist artists, combines bold, found objects alongside painterly abstraction. In R.A..D…I..O., visitors will see everyday objects like gloves, snack boxes and coat hangers divorced from their original context and applied to her mixed-media paintings. Youngblood also includes photography in her newer pieces – both original photos taken by her and images sourced online.
- Who: Brenna Youngblood
- Where: Roberts Projects (442 South La Brea Ave | Los Angeles)
- When: March 29 – May 10
- What: Awol Erizku: X is the debut solo museum exhibition of the Los Angeles conceptual artist known for bridging the gap between African and Black American cultures. Through new and past works, the show explores the legacy of human rights activist Malcolm X and includes photography, sculpture, works on paper, film, archival material, and a decades-spanning soundtrack. The exhibition showcases Erizku’s style of “Afro-esotericism,” which brings together ancient mythology, diasporic tradition, and contemporary culture while shedding light on expanded contours of Black spirituality, self-definition, and image-making.
- Who: Awol Erizku
- Where: California African American Museum (600 State Dr. | Los Angeles)
- When: March 26 – September 7
London
- What: Known for sculptural compositions that comment on excess and accumulation, Kayode Ojo’s An angel is just a messenger, is the artist’s debut solo exhibition in the UK. With objects sourced from fast-fashion and e-commerce platforms, he reflects on the fragility and impractical beauty of the items we browse, scroll, and acquire across online retailers. The show also includes pieces from an ongoing photo series taken in nightlife settings that capture their opulence and eroticism. In An angel is just a messenger, we get a close look at Ojo’s process of sourcing and collecting.
- Who: Kayode Ojo
- Where: Maureen Paley (60 Three Colts Lane, London | W1B 4BT)
- When: April 25 – May 31
- What: SELAH is the largest exhibition to date by photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Moses, showcasing over 70 photographs and 10 films across fashion, music, and sports. The show also features a debut short film, The Last Hour, which follows a protagonist’s search for redemption through solitude. Informed by his British-Nigerian background, Moses’ imagery is known for its rich palette, emotional depth and minimal contextual details, which comment on themes surrounding memory and personal history.
- Who: Gabriel Moses
- Where: 180 Studios (180 The Strand, London | WC2R 1EA)
- When: March 28 – July 27