In Our Time: Eleven Artists + W.E.B. Du Bois

IN OUR TIME: ELEVEN ARTISTS + W.E.B. DU BOIS

Curated by Loretta Yarlow

September 26–December 20, 2025

Opening reception: Thursday, September 25, 6–8 pm

Angel Abreu/Studio K.O.S.
Derrick Adams
Radcliffe Bailey
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Theaster Gates
Jenny Holzer
Julie Mehretu
Ann Messner
Jefferson Pinder
Mickalene Thomas
Carrie Mae Weems

More than 60 years after the death of W.E.B. Du Bois, “In Our Time: Eleven Artists + W.E.B. Du Bois” turns to a selection of leading artists to reflect on the legacy of one of the most profound and influential African American intellectuals of the 20th century and on the impact that Du Bois has had on their work. The artists included in this exhibition offer aesthetic contributions through today’s lens to the re-examination of Du Bois’ role as a public intellectual, civil rights activist, cultural critic, sociologist, historian, environmentalist, poet, novelist, and playwright.

These artists’ research-based, socially-engaged methods attest to a meaningful approach to artistic creation. Works range from photography, painting, sculpture, and works on paper to video and installations—all motivated by Du Bois’ poetic writing, his early anticipation of women’s suffrage, environmental movements, his warnings against nuclear proliferation, and other modern afflictions. Others have found inspiration in the groundwork he laid for movements in public dissent; others still show how the problems Du Bois wrote about a century ago are still with us, and in certain cases more urgent than ever. The results of their meaningful work are both personal and universal.

Pratt Manhattan Gallery

144 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

212. 647. 7778

Gallery Hours:

Monday–Saturday, 11 AM–6 PM

Pratt Manhattan Gallery’s program is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.