Aaron Douglas’ “Into Bondage” (1936), from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Corcoran Collection, is included in the exhibit at LACMA. (photo © 2022 Heirs of Aaron Douglas/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents “Afro-Atlantic Histories,” an exhibition that charts the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies in the African diaspora running from Friday, Dec. 11, through Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.

Through a series of dialogues across time, “Afro-Atlantic Histories” features artworks produced in Africa, Europe and the Americas during the last four centuries to reexamine – from a global perspective – histories and stories of enslavement, resilience and the struggle for liberation. The exhibition comprises over 100 artworks and objects from the 17th to 21st centuries, expressing and analyzing Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe, and exploring the diverse visual cultures of the Afro-Atlantic, a place marked by the transatlantic slave trade and its brutal, forced movement of African peoples across the Atlantic Ocean.

Also called the Black Atlantic, a term coined by historian Paul Gilroy, it is a geographic area lacking precise borders, where the vast culture of the African diaspora was disseminated, sometimes merging with and transforming other cultures.

“Afro-Atlantic Histories” juxtaposes works to present evolving perspectives across time and geography through paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, time-based media and ephemera. The art ranges from historical paintings by Frans Post and Edouard Antoine Renard to contemporary works by Kerry James Marshall, Alison Saar, Hank Willis Thomas and Kara Walker.

LACMA’s exhibition is co-curated by Rita Gonzalez, the Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and department head of Contemporary Art, and Jose Luis Blondet, curator of special Initiatives, Contemporary Art.

“It is an honor to partner with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo and the National Gallery of Art to bring this momentous exhibition to the West Coast,” LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan said. “The many stories and perspectives explored in ‘Afro-Atlantic Histories’ are crucial to our understanding of the African diaspora’s resilience, creativity and power. Several additions to the Los Angeles presentation are drawn from LACMA’s strong collection of art by Black artists.”

“Afro-Atlantic Histories” in displayed in six thematic sections that explore varied narratives, encouraging new connections between historical and contemporary works and raising questions that inspire viewers to reconsider Afro-Atlantic histories.

The first section, Maps and Margins, focuses on the passage between Africa and the Americas and how artists have represented and reinterpreted histories. The terror of the slave system and struggles for freedom are the focus of Enslavement and Emancipation, a section with paintings by European artists who illustrate conditions of captivity and documents recording the sale of enslaved people, as well as works by contemporary artists who incorporate historic images of slavery in their practice.

The Everyday Lives section displays images of daily life in Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas, from the 17th century to the present, reflecting moments of labor and leisure in Black communities. Rites and Rhythms includes depictions of various types of music and dance as well as festivals, ceremonies and rituals. The Portraits section presents portraits of Black individuals from the 17th century through the present in a wide range of media. The final section, Resistance and Activism, takes its cue from histories of the pursuit of self-determination. Works on view reflect visual protest strategies in demonstrations, banners, textile,and performances that have circulated throughout the Black Atlantic and played a central role in activism.

LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. For information visit lacma.org.