Sanford Biggers, Khemetstry, 2017. Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
The Bronx Museum of the Arts is reopening on Wednesday, September 9th with Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch, a solo show featuring more than 50 quilt-based works by the artist, and José Parlá: It’s Yours, evoking the artist’s personal connection to the Bronx. Reserve your visit.
Sanford Biggers, Khemetstry, 2017. Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
For over two decades, Biggers has been developing a singular body of work that is deeply informed by African American history and traditions, and sustains a rich dialog with contemporary art on a national and international level, referencing urban culture, the body, sacred geometry, and American symbolism.
The title of the Bronx Museum exhibition, Codeswitch, refers to both the artist’s quilt series known as the Codex series and to the idea of code-switching itself, or shifting from one linguistic code to another depending on the social context. The Codex series includes mixed media paintings and sculptures done directly on or made from pre-1900 antique quilts. This process, like linguistic code-switching, recognizes language plurality, as the quilts signal their original creator’s intent as well as the new layers of meaning given to them through Biggers’s artistic intervention.
Sanford Biggers, Khemetstry, 2017. Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch is the first survey of quilt-based works by the New York-based interdisciplinary artist. The solo show features over 60 quilt-based works by the artist that seamlessly weave American history into a broader context of global traditions and styles.
Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch will be on view from September 9, 2020 extended through April 5, 2021 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
While celebrating Parlá’s roots in the hip-hop energy of the Bronx, this series of paintings addresses the suffering caused by redlining policies, the waves of displacement imposed by gentrification, and structural racism. It’s Yours encourages viewers to question ownership in New York’s rapidly changing neighborhoods. In addition to large-scale paintings in the museum’s gallery, the exhibition features Parlá’s sketchbooks and drawings from age ten to seventeen as well as site specific responses in the lobby and outdoors that seek to integrate the museum with the city.
José Parlá: It’s Yours will be on view from September 9, 2020 extended through April 5, 2021 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Take a look back and José Parlá on The Plaza at The Standard High Line.
The Bronx Museum of the Arts is located at 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, Bronx, NY.
As part of a safe reopening, our visiting process will look different. While The Bronx Museum remains free and open to the public, visitors and members must reserve timed tickets in advance and follow all safety guidelines.
In order to ensure that the health and safety of our visitors and staff is prioritized, the museum is operating at a significantly reduced capacity with limited ticketing and entry every 30 minutes. The museum’s new hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 1 PM to 6 PM, until further notice. Read more about our new safety guidelines and what to expect during your visit by clicking here. Reserve Timed Tickets. Reserve Senior Tickets.