Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility
Installation view, Going Dark: TheContemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 20, 2023–April 7, 2024. Photo:Midge Wattles © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
On October20, 2023, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presented the opening of Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, a major exhibition predicated on a duality: works of art that present the figure, yet obscure it in some way, thus existing at the “edge of visibility.” The exhibition asserts that these experimentations in figuration across media—painting, photography, drawing, prints, sculpture, video, and installation—articulate pressing questions around what it means to be seen, not seen, or erased in society. On view from October 20, 2023, through April 7, 2024, the exhibition features 28 artists and fills all six ramps of the museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda.
Installation view, Going Dark: TheContemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 20, 2023–April 7, 2024. Photo:Midge Wattles © Solomon R. GuggenheimFoundation
The artists in this exhibition “go dark” through a range of formal moves, including, but not limited to, literal darkening by way of shadowing or other lighting techniques; paint selections; reversing or otherwise concealing the body; and post-production tools like “chroma-keying.” Going Dark suggests that these approaches to the figure allow for engagement with urgent and ongoing discussions around visibility in its social context: both invisibility and hypervisibility within public and private spaces, as well as within institutions, (art) history, popular media, social media, and more. Through revealing and concealing the body, Going Dark probes a key point of conflict in representation: both the desire to be seen and the desire for obscurity, especially as technology offers more opportunities for (and dangers in) exposure than ever before.
Installation view, Going Dark: TheContemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 20, 2023–April 7, 2024. Photo: Midge Wattles © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Going Dark features over 100 works of art by a multigenerational, multiracial group of artists, the majority of whom are Black and more than half of whom are women. Chronologically, the show proceeds from the mid-1980s, with paintings and photographs by Kerry James Marshall, Lorna Simpson, and Ming Smith, through to the present, with photography, sculpture and video works by Sandra Mujinga, Sondra Perry, Stephanie Syjuco, and others. Works from the late 1960s to early 1970s by David Hammons, Faith Ringgold, and Charles White offer earlier reference points for the contemporary history this show presents. Tiona Nekkia McClodden and WangShui debut new paintings, and American Artist presents a new site-specific installation.
Stephanie Syjuco, Block Out the Sun (Shadow), 2019-2022. Archival pigment print, 16 × 20 inches framed (40.6 × 50.8 cm). Courtesy the artist; Ryan Lee Gallery, New York; Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco; and Silverlens, Manila. © Stephanie Syjuco. Photo: Courtesy the artist; Ryan Lee Gallery, New York; Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco; and Silverlens, Manila
While focused on the social contexts of visibility, Going Dark also argues that this “semi-visible” figuration as a genre is one of art historical significance, intervening upon discourses of modernism and the monochrome. The works in the show move fluidly between figuration and abstraction, thus blurring the lines in that staid binary frame. Recognizing that making art at the limits of the visible requires new materials, tools, and processes, many of the artists featured in Going Dark inventively manipulate color and light to obscure both social and optical perception, challenging the very biology of how we see.
Installation view, Going Dark: TheContemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 20, 2023–April 7, 2024. Photo:Midge Wattles © Solomon R. GuggenheimFoundation
A robust catalogue has been published alongside the exhibition featuring newly commissioned essays by curators and scholars Jordan Carter, Ayanna Dozier, Ashley James, Key Jo Lee, Abbe Schriber, and Legacy Russell. Also included are creative responses to the concept of “going dark” by seven poets and graphic designers: Rio Cortez, Harmony Holiday, Marwa Helal, Kristian Henson, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, and Hassan Rahim, and Kevin Young. The book is designed by Fahad AlHunaif.
Artist List
American Artist
Kevin Beasley
Rebecca Belmore
Dawoud Bey
John Edmonds
Ellen Gallagher
David Hammons
Lyle Ashton Harris
Tomashi Jackson
Titus Kaphar
Glenn Ligon
Kerry James Marshall
Tiona Nekkia McClodden
Joiri Minaya
Sandra Mujinga
Chris Ofili
Sondra Perry
Farah Al Qasimi
Faith Ringgold
Doris Salcedo
Lorna Simpson
Ming Smith
Sable Elyse Smith
Stephanie Syjuco
Hank Willis Thomas
Wang Shui
Carrie Mae Weems
Charles White
Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility is organized by Ashley James, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, with Faith Hunter, Curatorial Assistant.
Support
Major support for Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
The Leadership Committee for this exhibition is gratefully acknowledged for its generosity, with special thanks to Amy and David Abrams, Glenstone Museum, Agnes Gund, Pamela Joyner and Alfred Giuffrida, Noel E.D. Kirnon, Arthur Lewis and Hau Nguyen, Amitha Raman, Jessica and Brian Robinson, ARTNOIR, Elisa Durrette and Ruth McFarlane, Marilyn and Larry Fields, Alteronce Gumby, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, Suzanne McFayden, Jack Shainman Gallery, and George Wells.
Support is also generously provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Henry Luce Foundation, The Kate Cassidy Foundation, The Mondriaan Fund, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, and Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York.
Additional funding is provided by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Photography Council and Young Collectors Council.
About the Solomon R. Guggenheim
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was established in 1937 and is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The international constellation of museums includes the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. An architectural icon and “temple of spirit” where radical art and architecture meet, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is now among a group of eight Frank Lloyd Wright structures in the United States recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
This large-scale exhibition features a multigenerational, multiracial group of artists who address pressing questions around what it means to be seen, not seen, or erased in society, through formal experimentations with the figure and will be on view until April 7th of 2024. To learn more about the museum, this exhibit, past exhibits, current exhibits, upcoming exhibits, and the Guggenheim’s activities around the world, visit here. The museum can also be found on YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram.
