Past Exhibitions

Part I: September 20 - December 15, 2024 | Part II: December 20, 2024 - April 6 2025

Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper

More than just a surface on which to paint, draw, or sketch, paper can be a dynamic art form that encourages collaboration and welcomes spontaneity. 'Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper' explores the shape-shifting quality of paper—how it can transform from pulpy fiber into vibrant works of art through hand papermaking.

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Beth Campbell, 'Endless Outcomes', 2017. Abaca, pigmented linen and cotton on handmade paper, 18 x 14 3/4 in. (45.7 x 37.5 cm). Gift of Dieu Donné, New York in honor of Nancy and Edwin Barnett.

September 2024 - January 2025

Andrea Morales: Roll Down Like Water

'Roll Down Like Water' features sixty-five photographs spanning a decade of work by the Memphis-based, Peruvian-American photographer Andrea Morales. Through her captivating images of the South in moments of turbulence, stillness, darkness, and beauty, Morales charts new paths in sustainable journalism, while reflecting upon identity, community, and the power of storytelling.

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Andrea Morales, Kaylin McCain and Jakayla Davis wait for their grandmother to sign up for the Affordable Care Act at Impact Baptist Church in Frayser, a Memphis, Tennessee, neighborhood, in February 2015.

Part I: November 17, 2023 – December 1, 2024

Thomas Jackson: Chaotic Equilibrium

Pennsylvania-based artist Thomas Jackson (b. 1971; Philadelphia) harnesses the wind and lightweight fabrics to create ethereal works of art that blur the boundaries between landscape photography, sculpture, and kinetic art.

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Thomas Jackson, 'Chaotic Equilibrium'. Photo Credit: Lucy Garrett.

Ongoing

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

Ongoing

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.

Ongoing

Art of the African Diaspora

As conversations around the African Diaspora shift and evolve, so too will this display, aided by the museum actively acquiring works that reflect these varied, global experiences.

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Ongoing

Power and Absence

This reimagining of the Schilling Gallery explores the representation of women in Europe from around 1500 to 1680, known as the Renaissance and Early Baroque period. Most of the works in this room have been made by men.

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Sofonisba Anguissola, 'Self-Portrait', 1560, oil on wood panel, Memphis Park Commission Purchase, 43.11

No exhibitions were found

On view through January 2, 2021

A Journey Towards Self-Definition

This exhibition brings together paintings, photographs, textiles, and sculpture by mainly self-taught African American artists from the museum’s permanent collection, spanning from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.

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‍Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006, The Fontanelle Family: Beddie With Her Children Kenneth, Richard, Norman Jr., And Ellen at The Poverty Board in New York, 1968, Gelatin silver print, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art;

October 26 - January 19, 2020

Photography in Memphis

Photography in Memphis is both a celebration of and a reckoning with the history of the city through the work of 56 photographers. Spanning 1849 to today, the images capture places you’ve been, the people you know or wish you knew, and the events you experienced or were sorry you missed.

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David Horan American, b. 1958 Ed Harris from the Drummer Portrait Series, 2017 Digital photograph, Gicleé print Collection of the artist © David Horan

February 22 – September 27, 2020

Native Voices, 1950s to Now

Contemporary Indigenous art comes front and center in Native Voices, 1950s to Now: Art for a New Understanding. The exhibition features over 70 artworks from the 1950s to today, including paintings, photography, video, sculptures, performance art, and more, all created by Indigenous U.S. and Canadian artists.

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January 25 - February 23

2020 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards

The Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards is an annual juried student exhibition presented by the Brooks and Brooks Museum League. As an affiliate of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards honors exemplary art by students in seventh through 12th grades.

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2019 Senior Division First Place Senior Personal Vision Award, National American Visions Nominee Lanyce W., Felon, Arlington High School

On view through January 12, 2020

Claire Van Vliet: Illustrating Babel

In The Tower of Babel: An Anthology, 1975, Claire Van Vliet (American, born Canada, b. 1933) observes the human condition by examining the origin of language. This unbound book of seventeen lithographs and one woodcut – on display for the first time – is shown alongside two prints by Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945).

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Claire Van Vliet American (b. Canada), b. 1933 Illustration for The Great Wall and The Tower of Babel by Franz Kafka from The Tower of Babel: An Anthology, 1975, lithograph, 6/100, Gift of Isabel Ehrlich Goodman and Charles F. Goodman 90.19.22f

On view through October 27, 2019

Ernest C. Withers: Baseball Photographs

With baseball as the focus, from Little League through the Negro Leagues, this exhibition examines African American identity and representation as captured through the lens of noted Civil Rights-era photographer Ernest C. Withers.

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Ernie Banks, Larry Doby, Matty Brusher, and Jackie Robinson with a Young Fan, Martin's Stadium, Memphis, 1948-1949. Gelatin silver print, printed from original negative in 1999. Ernest C. Withers.

On view through October 27, 2019

Albrecht Dürer's "Small Passion" Series

Albrecht Dürer (b. Nuremberg, 1471- 1528) has long been recognized as one of the most influential artists of the European Renaissance and one of the finest printmakers in the history of art.

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Albrecht Dürer German, 1471-1528 Fall of Man from the Small Passion, 1510 Woodcut Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; Gift of Madonna Circle 60.20.1

On view through September 29, 2019

Play Station

Embark on a hands-on exploration of the basic visual components that make up a work of art; line, color, texture, and form. Through every day play, four interactive stations encourage careful observation, imaginative art making, and sensory awareness in all ages. On your mark, get set... PLAY!

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Lucio Pozzi, American (b. Italy), b. 1935. Saint on the Wall and Falling Dog, 1987

November 22, 2024 - January 2025

Starry, Starry, Winter Garden

For the museum’s inaugural Winter Art Garden, Memphis-based artist Greely Myatt uses found objects including metal scraps, neon, and discarded signage to create Starry, Starry – an illuminated starscape on the museum’s plaza. Teasing the boundaries of sculpture through the use of flat forms, Myatt ponders and plays with line and light.

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Big Star, 2023. Photography by Selavie Photography

Part II: December 4, 2024 – April 28, 2025

Thomas Jackson: Chaotic Equilibrium

Pennsylvania-based artist Thomas Jackson (b. 1971, Philadelphia) harnesses the windto create ethereal works that blur the boundaries between landscape photography,sculpture, and kinetic art.

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Thomas Jackson, Tulle no. 045, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 2022

March 19, 2025 - September 7, 2025

Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides

In her first solo museum presentation, Calida Rawles envisions water as a space for Black healing. Merging hyperrealism, poetic abstraction, and water's cultural and historical symbolisms, Rawles creates unique portraits of Black bodies submerged in and interacting with bright and mysterious bodies of water.

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Calida Rawles, 'Towner for Life', 2024 acrylic on canvas 72 x 102 inches 182.9 x 259.1 cm © Calida Rawles Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London. Photo by Marten Elder

May 22, 2025

Suchitra Mattai: with abundance we meet

'with abundance we meet' is an installation made of ‘fruit’ ('phala' in Hindi) sculptures by the artist Suchitra Mattai that are ripe with possibilities, conjuring wombs and fertility spirits.

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Suchitra Mattai, 'phala' (fruit), 2023. 15 components comprised of vintage saris, rope, and chain, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California; Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.

March - December 2026

Remembering the Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020

For eighty-four years, the Memphis College of Art offered a rigorous arts education to students from across the country and around the world. Through this exhibition of ninety faculty, administrators, and graduates, 'Remembering the Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020' reflects on the school’s historical impact and celebrates its continued legacy regionally and beyond.

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