Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art

YBCA is thrilled to be the only West Coast venue for Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art, the first comprehensive survey of performance art by black visual artists from the United States and the Caribbean. The artists included in this exhibition have been using performance in their work for more than five decades, generating an incredible wealth of performance art that has been largely unrecognized until now. Radical Presence explores the history of black performance traditions within visual arts, beginning with Fluxus and Conceptual art in the 1960s all the way through present practices. This groundbreaking exhibition features video and photo documentation of performances, performance scores and installations, audience interactive works, as well as works created as a result of performances. Live performances will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition, including a special opening day celebration packed with nine performances.

The exhibition features work by three generations of artists including Derrick Adams, Terry Adkins, Papo Colo, Jamal Cyrus, Jean‐Ulrick Désert, Zachary Fabri, Sherman Fleming, Coco Fusco, Theaster Gates, Girl [Chitra Ganesh + Simone Leigh], David Hammons, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Lyle Ashton Harris, Maren Hassinger, Wayne Hodge, Satch Hoyt, Ulysses S. Jenkins, Shaun Leonardo, Kalup Linzy, Dave McKenzie, Jayson Musson aka Hennessy Youngman, Senga Nengudi, Tameka Norris, Lorraine O’Grady, Clifford Owens, Benjamin Patterson, Adam Pendleton, Pope.L, Rammellzee, Jacolby Satterwhite, Dread Scott, Xaviera Simmons, Sur Rodney (Sur), Danny Tisdale, and Carrie Mae Weems.