Past Exhibitions

November 23rd

The Human Zoo by Kent Monkman

Experience the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s latest acquisition: The Human Zoo (2015) by Cree artist Kent Monkman (b. 1965).

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Kent Monkman, The Human Zoo, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Museum Purchase. 2022.7a-e

August 17, 2023 - January 7, 2024

Black American Portraits

Black American Portraits reframes the history of portraiture to center Black American subjects, sitters, and spaces. The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture to envision themselves in their own eyes.

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Renee Cox, 'The Signing', 2017, digital chromogenic print, 36 1/2 × 99 1/4 × 3 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Amar Singh, © Renee Cox, digital image courtesy of the artist

July 8, 2023 - August 20, 2023

Faces and Spaces: Narrative Painting inspired by the style of Harmonia Rosales

This inaugural exhibition for Inspired Aging features narrative paintings inspired by the recent exhibition 'Harmonia Rosales’ Master Narrative.' These works are created by Memphians aged 55 and better who took part in the first Inspired Aging course at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

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Opening May 20

In the Moment: Art from the 1950s to Now

Contemporary art can capture the political and cultural essence of our time while contemplating and transcending our everyday realities. As time passes, this art connects us with the defining spirit of an era, becoming a visual record of a moment.

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Rashid Johnson, 'Seascape "Milestones"', 2022 Oil on linen; 95 × 122 in. From the collection of Pitt and Barbara Hyde

May 12th - July/August 2023

Sense-ational!: The Art of the Five Senses

Explore how artists convey sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch in their masterpieces. This interactive exhibit will highlight art from Memphis’s art collection ranging from floral watercolor to Cubist prints.

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Walter I. Anderson (American (active in Mississippi), 1903 - 1965), Floral Decorative, 1951, Watercolor, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery purchase, funds provided by the Memphis Park Commission, the Brooks Fine Arts Foundation and Mrs. Walter I. Anderson, 69.7.2

February 15th - April 30th

Art Builds Creativity

This dynamic exhibition features artwork created by the Memphis-area students who participated in the 2022-23 Art Builds Creativity (ABC) program.

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January 27 - October 29, 2023

Tommy Kha: Eye is Another

This site-specific, photography-based installation by artist Tommy Kha explores themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place and is presented as part of the inaugural, state-wide Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art organized by Tristar Arts.

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Tommy Kha, 'Eye is Another', 2022-23, Inkjet prints on Photo Tex, dimensions variable

New Acquisition

Memphis on the Mississippi (Ode to Tom Lee)

To further build Memphis' Art Collection, the Brooks has commissioned the Memphis-based artist Carl E. Moore to create a work inspired by our soon-to-be new location Downtown on the banks of the Mississippi River.

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Carl E. Moore, 'Memphis on the Mississippi (Ode to Tom Lee)', 2022. Acrylic on canvas.

September 30 - October 21

Brooks Outside: Evanescent

Come explore this immersive, outdoor light and sound experience inspired by the beauty, fragility, and transience of the natural world.

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June 24 – September 11, 2022

Another Dimension: Digital Art in Memphis

While digital art has existed since the 1960s, it has experienced increasingly mainstream interest in recent years. Due in part to our shift toward virtual environments during the Covid-19 pandemic, this rise in interest from artists to collectors has also been fueled by the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

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Kenneth Wayne Alexander II, 'Tower of Babel', 2021. Digital video. Courtesy of the artist.

June 10 - January 9, 2023

Monika Grzymala

Grzymala’s work challenges the very definition of drawing and the nature of categorizing artworks - where does drawing end and sculpture begin? What are drawings made from, and how do we experience them?

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Monika Grzymala, Line, London, 2016

Through February, 2023

Henry Ossawa Tanner: The Thankful Poor

This work is one of the artist's last known “genre” paintings—images that depict everyday or ordinary domestic scenes—before he transitioned almost exclusively to religious scenes.

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Henry Ossawa Tanner, American, 1859 - 1937, 'The Thankful Poor', 1894, oil on canvas

March 15 - June 5

Paradise Lost: Albrecht Dürer's Stolen Eden

In the 1970s, a woodcut by one of the world's greatest printmakers, the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, was stolen from the Brooks. This print, the Expulsion of Adam and Eve, was part of a complete set of thirty-six illustrations and a title page known as the Small Passion.

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Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471 - 1528 'The Expulsion From Paradise' (detail), from the Small Passion (1511), ca. 1510, Woodcut, Museum purchase with funds provided by the Estate of W. H. Foote

February 14 - Fall 2022

Faig Ahmed: Secret Garden

Faig Ahmed, the internationally celebrated artist from Azerbaijan, is known for transforming the visual language of traditional eastern carpets into contemporary, sculptural works of art.

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February 4 - May 15

Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds

Created in 1966, Warhol’s Silver Clouds consists of a room full of floating metallic balloons. The balloons are inflated with a proprietary mixture of air and pure helium, enabling them to float mesmerizingly in the space between the floor and the ceiling.

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Silver Clouds, 1966. Andy Warhol, Mixed Media Installation.

February 4 - May 15, 2022

Andy Warhol: Little Red Book

The decidedly unglamorous snapshots of everyday life contained in the Little Red Books demonstrate Warhol’s compulsive desire to capture, collect, and organize his world.

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(L) Andy Warhol, American, 1928 – 1987, Carroll Mallory, August 1972, Dye diffusion transfer print (Polaroid) 4 1/4 × 3 5/16 in. (10.8 × 8.4 cm), Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 2014.4s (R) Andy Warhol, American, 1928 – 1987, Claude Picasso, August, 1972, Dye diffusion transfer print (Polaroid) 4 1/4 × 3 5/16 in. (10.8 × 8.4 cm), Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 2014.4q

MCA at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

For eighty-four years, the Memphis College of Art (MCA) offered rigorous arts education to students from across the country and around the world. To celebrate the illustrious history of the college, in 2025 the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will open an exhibition with works by faculty, administrators, and graduates.