The Time Is Always Now Artists Reframe the Black Figure

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) announces details of 'The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure', on view from March 8 - June 29, 2025. 

Opening on March 8, 'The Time Is Always Now' features the work of 23 contemporary African diasporic artists from the United Kingdom and the United States, with a focus on works of art that depict and celebrate the Black figure from the perspective of Black artists. Museum director Valerie Hillings states, “We are thrilled to bring this exhibition to North Carolina. It is a powerful and thought-provoking experience celebrating the unique experiences, narratives, voices, and perspectives of a remarkable group of contemporary Black artists.” 

Curated by British writer and curator Ekow Eshun, 'The Time Is Always' Now takes its title from an essay on desegregation by American writer and social rights activist James Baldwin. Through their work in figuration, artists such as Michael Armitage, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Amy Sherald, Lorna Simpson, and more, illuminate the richness, joy, beauty, and complexity of Black life. Themes throughout the exhibition invite a shift in the dominant art historical perspective, from “looking at” the Black figure to “seeing through” the eyes of Black artists and the figures they depict. 

The NCMA is the final venue for this exhibition, previously on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery in London, its organizing institution. Bank of America is the national exhibition sponsor.