The MCA began as a kunsthalle, a noncollecting museum dedicated to producing rotating exhibitions. In keeping with this origin, the museum has no permanent collection galleries; works from our collection often appear in special exhibitions. This section keeps visitors up-to-date on which collection works are currently on view. Ask a Visitor Services associate (wearing a "HI" pin) about where to find them in the museum.
Short This black and white vertical portrait portrays a dark-skinned person with two faces, one looking left and the other looking right, with palm-like fronds surrounding the figure.
Long The masculine person, shown from the torso up, is wearing a vertically striped button-down shirt, a herringbone vest, and a dark tie. The subject takes up the majority of the image, with their shoulders extending to either of the vertical edges. The two superimposed faces, slightly overlapping, have a similarly stoic expression. Both of the faces have heavy, dark eyebrows, a wide rounded nose, a closed, expressionless mouth, and are crowned by a dark, curly afro hair style. The upper left and bottom corners all appear lighter in tone, as if overexposed. Surrounding the figure are lush, palm-like plant fronds, both in the background and foreground. Some of the fronds obscure the person's shoulders on both sides of the image.
Short A photograph of a book open to a page featuring a close-up of Judy Garland. A magenta page flag marks the page and several others poke out from additional pages.
Short A teenage girl wearing a tank top and blue jeans stands beside a house and next to a tree with ripe oranges and a chain-link fence. She spits water at the camera and the mist makes a rainbow.
Short Three yellow sculptures of abstract human figures stand as if communicating with each other outdoors in an urban setting.
Long Three yellow and white forms are installed on an outdoor terrace. The forms resemble human bodies, yet they have no faces. The heads of the forms are created from coiled, hard textured material and the bodies are similarly constructed of coiled material, arranged into torsos, arms and legs. The scale of the figures is about double the size of an average person and the are arranged about a half of a figure length apart from each other. The figure on the left appears to have its head tilted to the sky, while the center figure faces to the right, where the third figure bends lightly towards the ground, hand upraised. The bright color of the figures contrasts with urban scene in the background: behind the figures a black fence, green leafy trees and tall gray buildings are visible. The sky is bright blue and the bright light of mid-day casts sharp shadows below the figures.
Short Framed photograph of a tan, rocky terrain with a sliver of lake visible at the horizon and, at the top half of the image, a grey-blue sky with diffuse clouds
Long A black and white photograph of a blurred, gaunt face and the faded outline of the subject's neck and shoulders. The blurring produces a ghostly outline that issues from the subject. Both apparition and subject stare directly at the viewer; two parallel, white lines connect their eyes.
Short The Washington Monument and its smooth reflecting pool are centered in this black-and-white photograph. An arm extends, holding a card with cut-outs that match the shape of the monument's obelisk.
Long This black and white photograph centers on the Washington Monument and smooth reflecting pool that reflects and inverts the monument. On the left side of the frame, an arm extends, holding a horizontally-oriented card against the sky to the left of the monument. A cut out in the bottom center of the card matches the shape and size of the peak of the obelisk; the top of the card extends upward as the positive mirror of the negative cutout below.
Short A black-and-white photograph shows an outstretched arm, hand holding a twelve-inch ruler up to a mountainous and wooded landscape above a sign labelling the distant mountain range.
Short A hole in the shape of a curvy human form with raised arms and bent elbows is dug into wet sand. Bright red pigment fills and spills out of the human-shaped hole.
On viewRashid Johnson, The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Marcus), 2010
