Rezime
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When Geoffrey Holder died in 2014, he left behind a trove of more than 250 paintings, 300 collages, countless drawings, sculptures, photographs, and designs, and an extraordinary library and archive.
This exhibition unfolds in a series of movements that present Holder’s mind as a universe, drawing in cultures from around the world that seeded his aesthetic toolkit, and fueled his kunstwöllen, or his will to create. The show serves as a small oculus into his bold, expansive and simultaneously tender oeuvre.
Entitled “Black Magic,” the show represents the first major museum survey of Geoffrey Holder’s work.
When we think of the words “black” and “magic” alone, both conjure beautiful associations with people, culture, style, miraculous happenings, the extraordinary and awe in the unexpected or seeming impossible. Together they may suggest the so-called ‘dark arts,’ bring up pejorative concepts of the “magical negro” or remind us of the unfettered celebration embodied by the term “Black Girl Magic!”
This exhibition seeks to reclaim the prismatic qualities of “Black” and “Magic” together through Geoffrey Holder’s eye. He openly and often spoke of the need for people to learn to hold on to “the magic,” expressing love for “magical places” and “magical people.” It was a word that encompassed so much more than what it has been reduced to. And come to express his way of recognizing a place, person or essence that possessed or embodied a certain indescribable power or Je ne sais quoi. As this exhibition demonstrates, for much of his career, it also applied to the subjects he painted, who for the most part were Black.
These paintings move beyond the initial seduction of their beautiful lines and color to gesture towards the fullness of black self-regard. This exhibition asks us to embrace its magic alongside its complexities through Holder’s eyes.
Image Credits (left to right)
Woman in Yellow, 1985 / Oil, pastel crayon and China marker on canvas / 48 × 36 in /// Waiting for the Dance, 2001 /Oil, pastel crayon and China marker on Masonite / 48 × 48 in /// The Dip, c. 1990 / Oil with varnish on board / 36 × 43 in /// Bathers, c. 1980 / Oil on canvas / 48 × 36 in /// Man in Black, 1991 / Oil on board / 16 × 12 in / Courtesy of Judy Robins /// Church Choir, n.d. / Oil, oil crayon and China marker on Masonite / 41⅜ × 31⅜ in /// Baptism, n.d. / Oil, oil marker and China marker on canvas / 60 × 36 in/// After Work I, 1993 / Oil on canvas board / 19½ × 23½ in /// Untitled, n.d. / Oil and oil crayon on canvas / 30⅜ × 24⅜ in/// Untitled (Nap), n.d. / Oil, oil crayon and China marker on Masonite / 24 × 36 in
All works, unless otherwise noted:
Courtesy of the Estate of Geoffrey Holder and James Fuentes Gallery
All works © 2026 Estate of Geoffrey Holder / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
When Geoffrey Holder died in 2014, he left behind a trove of more than 250 paintings, 300 collages, countless drawings, sculptures, photographs, and designs, and an extraordinary library and archive.
This exhibition unfolds in a series of movements that present Holder’s mind as a universe, drawing in cultures from around the world that seeded his aesthetic toolkit, and fueled his kunstwöllen, or his will to create. The show serves as a small oculus into his bold, expansive and simultaneously tender oeuvre.
Entitled “Black Magic,” the show represents the first major museum survey of Geoffrey Holder’s work.
When we think of the words “black” and “magic” alone, both conjure beautiful associations with people, culture, style, miraculous happenings, the extraordinary and awe in the unexpected or seeming impossible. Together they may suggest the so-called ‘dark arts,’ bring up pejorative concepts of the “magical negro” or remind us of the unfettered celebration embodied by the term “Black Girl Magic!”
This exhibition seeks to reclaim the prismatic qualities of “Black” and “Magic” together through Geoffrey Holder’s eye. He openly and often spoke of the need for people to learn to hold on to “the magic,” expressing love for “magical places” and “magical people.” It was a word that encompassed so much more than what it has been reduced to. And come to express his way of recognizing a place, person or essence that possessed or embodied a certain indescribable power or Je ne sais quoi. As this exhibition demonstrates, for much of his career, it also applied to the subjects he painted, who for the most part were Black.
These paintings move beyond the initial seduction of their beautiful lines and color to gesture towards the fullness of black self-regard. This exhibition asks us to embrace its magic alongside its complexities through Holder’s eyes.
Image Credits (left to right)
Woman in Yellow, 1985 / Oil, pastel crayon and China marker on canvas / 48 × 36 in /// Waiting for the Dance, 2001 /Oil, pastel crayon and China marker on Masonite / 48 × 48 in /// The Dip, c. 1990 / Oil with varnish on board / 36 × 43 in /// Bathers, c. 1980 / Oil on canvas / 48 × 36 in /// Man in Black, 1991 / Oil on board / 16 × 12 in / Courtesy of Judy Robins /// Church Choir, n.d. / Oil, oil crayon and China marker on Masonite / 41⅜ × 31⅜ in /// Baptism, n.d. / Oil, oil marker and China marker on canvas / 60 × 36 in/// After Work I, 1993 / Oil on canvas board / 19½ × 23½ in /// Untitled, n.d. / Oil and oil crayon on canvas / 30⅜ × 24⅜ in/// Untitled (Nap), n.d. / Oil, oil crayon and China marker on Masonite / 24 × 36 in
All works, unless otherwise noted:
Courtesy of the Estate of Geoffrey Holder and James Fuentes Gallery
All works © 2026 Estate of Geoffrey Holder / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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