Advanced RSVPs for this program are full. Any remaining seats will be made available night-of, first-come, first-served on a standby basis. To receive a standby ticket, visit Plestcheeff Auditorium starting at 6:15 pm. Standby tickets do not guarantee entry. A free simulcast will be available in Nordstrom Lecture Hall also on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hear from artists Mickalene Thomas and Kerry James Marshall during the opening celebration for “Figuring History: Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas” as they discuss the new exhibition and their artistic practices.

#FiguringHistory
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“Figuring History” brings together three generations of prominent contemporary American artists, whose work challenges a Western painting tradition that underrepresents people of color. The vibrant and monumental paintings by these artists offer bold perspectives on Black culture and representation. Presented together for the first time, the figurative paintings of Colescott, Marshall, and Thomas are shaped by distinctive historic events, unique in style, and united in questioning the narratives of history through Black experience.

Image: “School of Beauty, School of Culture (detail),” 2012, Kerry James Marshall, acrylic and glitter on unstretched canvas, 108 x 158 in., Birmingham Museum of Art, Museum purchase with funds provided by Elizabeth (Bibby) Smith, the Collectors Circle for Contemporary Art, Jane Comer, the Sankofa Society, and general acquisition funds, 2012.57, © Kerry James Marshall.