UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

March 2026 Solo exhibition at Jonathan Carver Moore. San Francisco, CA
February 2026 Value Test: Brown Paper. The Zora Neale Hurston Museum. Eatonville, FL
January 2026 Drawn From Life. Sausalito Center for the Arts

SELECT PAST EXHIBITIONS

Root Division’s 24rd Annual Benefit and Exhibition

Root Division. 1131 Mission St, San Francisco, CA

October 9 – 23, 2025

First of a limited edition of seven, A Woman Misses Her Lover (2019) from my Afro-futurist screen-print series was shown at Root Division for their annual Auction Exhibition. All proceeds from the sale of this work were donated to Root Division.


Dive Barn 2

Off Hours. Hopland, Mendocino County, CA

October 11, 2025

Curatorial project Off Hours (Katherine Jemima Hamilton, Shaelyn Hanes, and Ebti) collaborated for the second year with the Henderson family to host Dive Barn 2, a single day arts and music festival activating a small hundred and fifty year old sheep farm. I delivered two performances, the first being Informational Walk, and the second being Serenade. The artist cohort included Manuel Calderón, Reniel R. Del Rosario, Hudson Hatfield, Helia Pouyanfar, Kelley O’Leary, Kevin Lopez, Dana Morrison, Selby Sohn, Sylvia Hughes-Gonzales, Kiran Sahgal, Joel Lithgow, and Ingrid Henderson. Food and beverages were provided by the Henderson family, and the graphic design and merchandise were designed by Quality Time.

For more information, visit Dive Barn’s Website.


Ritual and Resistance

TnT ART Lab. 67 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA

October 5, 2025

Bradley McCallum and Natasha Becker invited me to perform as part of TnT ART Lab’s inaugural exhibition Ritual And Resistance. I conducted my vocal improvisation work Serenade as an offering to the people, space and neighborhood along side a brilliant cohort of artists: Nanci Amaka, Helina Metaferia, Trina Michelle Robinson, Lava Thomas and Jasmine Narkita Wiley.

Read the press release here


Atlanta Art Fair

Jonathan Carver Moore. Pullman Yards, Atlanta, Georgia
September 24–28, 2025

I exhibited four new paintings from Value Test: Brown Paper at Atlanta Art Fair with Jonathan Carver Moore gallery along side work by Adrian Burrell, Carrie Ann Plank and Adana Tillman.


Arrival Art Fair

Jonathan Carver Moore. North Adams, Massachusetts
June 13 – 15, 2025

Jonathan Carver Moore gallery participated in Arrival Art fair, presenting works by Tania Banegas, Adrian L. Burell, Asad Faulwell Demond Melancon, Collen Mfazwe, Anoushka Mirchandani, Lulu Mhlana, Sipho Nuse, Adana Tillman and myself.


EXPO Chicago

Jonathan Carver Moore. Chicago, Illinois
April 24 – 27, 2025

Myself and Nibha Akireddy made our debut at EXPO Chicago Art Fair, exhibiting with Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery in booth 419.


Beautiful Scars

Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery. San Francisco, California
March 20 – April 12, 2025

Beautiful Scars was curated by Mashonda Tifrere of ArtLeadHER and included Chantal Hildebrand, Helina Metaferia, Maya Seas, Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow, Tahirah Rasheed, Tania Banegas, Yoyo Lander and myself. Read more here.


Archives Yet to Come

Berkeley Art Center. Berkeley, California
February 8 – May 4, 2025

Featuring seven artists—Lynse Cooper, Lindsey Filowitz, Jy Jimmie Flora Gabiola, Mary Graham, Nneka Kai, Charles Lee, and Qadir Parris—working across sentimental and familial archives, social practice, and time-based media, the show presents a reimagining of memory. These artists build unique aesthetic languages to reinterpret documents, photographs, and enduring artifacts, exploring how their meaning shifts over time and contributing to the ever-evolving process of collective memory – Hannah Waiters, Curator

Learn more about the exhibition
Download curatorial statement


Here and Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows

Sausalito Center for the Arts. Sausalito, California
January 8 – February 1, 2025

Curators Catherine Merrill, and Susan Kirshenbaum will be bringing the figure show back to Sausalito Center for the Arts this coming January. New work from the Kin series and Value Test: Brown Paper will be exhibited. Artists include Joseph Abbati, Doug Andelin, Adam Caldwell, Sandy Frank, Tebby George, Mary Graham, Isidoro, Susan R. Kirshenbaum, Calvin Lai, Kim Larson, Catherine Merrill, Stephan Namara, Diane Olivier, May Shei, and Sandra Speidel.

Learn more about the exhibition.


The Black Woman Is God: We See Us

The Marlowe Gallery. San Francisco, California
December 5, 2024 – March 28, 2025

A piece from my Afro-Futurist screen-print series was included in The Black Woman Is God: We See Us, a group exhibition curated by Karen Seneferu for The Marlowe Gallery. Closing reception and artist talks took place on Friday March 28, 2025 at 6PM.


Bold Face

Wessling Contemporary f.k.a. Radian Gallery. San Francisco, California
November 7 – December 14, 2024

Williams (2022) and Cuffe (2024) from the series Value Test: Brown Paper were included in Bold Face, a portrait exhibition at Radian Gallery exploring the bold, the resilient and the impossible to ignore. Artists included, Joseph Abbati, Mike Goldberg, Mary Graham, Tim Guan, KC Ho, Pamela Mooney, Myke Reilly, and Phe Ruiz. Learn more.


Almost Public / Semi-Exposed 9: Free Songs

Artists Television Access. San Francisco, California
December 12, 2024

In the spirit of awakening a sense of wonderment, I performed made up/improvised songs about people walking by on the street accompanied by fellow musicians Phillip Laurant, Maya Nixon, and Zekarias Musele Thompson.

Almost Public / Semi-Exposed 9 was Artists’ Television Access’s ninth annual performance festival taking place in their window gallery. Other artists activating the space this year included Jenell Del Cid, Paul Donald, Zeus Fondanarosa, Quinn Ray Keck, Hannah Fhaye Oliver, Selby Sohn, and MILO. Learn more about the festival.


Re-Education–An Evening of Togetherness

Grey Area. San Francisco, California
October 26, 2024

I performed in the Togetherness Ensemble once again, contributing vocals for a Re-Education. Assembled by Zekarias Musele Thompson the Ensemble that evening consisted of twenty-one artists, performers and musicians delivering an improvised musical composition in three movements. Read more about the performance.

Presented by Soundwave NEXT and Working Name Studios. Participating performers, Salimatu Amabebe, Matt Brownell, Gabriele Christian, Roco Córdova, B Dukes, Christopher Robin Duncan, Mary Graham, Cat Lauigan, Phillip Laurent, Amina Malika, Micah Morris, Maya Nixon, Jasmine Nyende, Martin Perna, Justin (Hongry) Robinson, Benjamin Rodgers, Joel St. Julien, Zekarias Musele Thompson, David Wilson, Josh Wismans, and Gaia WXYZ.


Stand-IN

di Rosa Center for Contemporary Arts. Napa, California
October 26, 2024

Stand-IN was an activation of Nathan Lynch‘s exhibition, We Are Speaking at the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Arts taking place on October 26th. Seven actors and performance artists–myself included–were tasked with delivering a historic speech or text by embodying the original deliverer. I chose to embody the Black Panther Party in both it’s past and contemporary contexts by reading out the 10 Point Program written in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.

Performers included Zabrina Aleguire, Mary Graham, Ben Lunch, Nathan Lynch, Steuart Pittman, Aisha Rivera, and Jasmine Mengjiao Zhang.


Art Auction 2024 – Root Division’s 23rd Annual Benefit and Exhibition

Root Division | San Francisco, CA. October 8 – 24, 2024

Syphax from Value Test: Brown Paper was featured in Root Division’s annual benefit auction exhibition running from October 8th through 24th. Bidding closed after the live auction event on October 24th.


An Assemblage of Spirits: Exploring Place and Identity in the Bay

Black (Space) Residency. San Francisco, California
October 5 – October 6, 2024

I exhibited Forten (2024) from Value Test: Brown Paper in this pop-up exhibition put together by Black (Space) Residency for Nexus, the first annual Bay Area Black Art Week. Curated by Trina Michelle Robinson. Artists included, Erica Deeman, Mary Graham, Charles Lee, Ron Moultrie Saunders, Mansur Nurullah, Shylah Pacheco Hamilton, and Trina Michelle Robinson.


The Take Back

The Marlowe Gallery. San Francisco, California
August 30 – September 28, 2024

Two works from Value Test: Brown Paper were included in this group exhibition co-curated by Osaze Seneferu and Brio Taylor III. Artists included, Cencere Baker, Tiphereth Banks, Akaysha Calhoun, Bryan Dominguez, Derick Davies, Jimmie Gabiola, Yosef Gebrej, Mary Graham, Cariesha Newton, Anthony Rodriguez, Malo Rosalia, Osaze Seneferu, Brio Taylor III, and Khushi Thakkar.

The continuum of gentrification and urban removal across the country has motivated us to organize an exhibition at Marlowe Gallery that intentionally resists the historical erasure of Black people and people of color. Our exhibit is designed to communicate and connect with young artists of color that share their interests, creating a strong feeling of unity amongst diverse groups. – Curatorial statement


Collecting Across the Diaspora – MoAD Benefit Auction 2024

Museum of the African Diaspora. San Francisco, California
May 16 – May 30, 2024

Ward from the series Value Test: Brown Paper was included in the Museum of the African Diaspora’s 2024 benefit auction hosted by Artsy. Click here to view all works in the auction. Bidding closed on May 30, 2024.


Value Test: Brown Paper

Museum of the African Diaspora. San Francisco, California
March 27 – May 19, 2024

In February my work was selected for an exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora as part of their Emerging Artists Program. I had the incredible honor of putting together my first solo show in collaboration with the chief curator Key-Jo Lee and the museum’s very welcoming team. That the work made it’s museum debut at MoAD and that I had the opportunity to witness it’s resonance first hand through the opportunities the Emerging Artists Program facilitated was incredibly humbling, and continues to fill me with a deep sense of satisfaction and gratitude.


ARTIST ACTIVATION AND RECEPTION

On Sunday, April 7th I hosted an artist activation and conversation surrounding Value Test: Brown Paper. Learn more about the event here. As guests entered the gallery, they were greeted with spoken word vignettes, as four commissioned artists delivered original compositions in response to themes of color, colorism, class, family origins and Black history. While researching for the project, I conducted informal interviews with scholars, artists and mentors about their response to “the paper bag test” as a phenomenon, as well as their own lived experiences with color and colorism. In exhibiting the work, and continuing to discuss it, many volunteered their own stories; a response that was deeply moving to me that I sought to encapsulate through shared poetry.

Dr. Jacqueline Francis and I began our conversation during the second half of the afternoon, welcoming attendees to share their own stories and become part of the dialogue.


HUES

The Office of Senator Scott Wiener. San Francisco, California
February 22 – March 30, 2024

Work from Value Test: Brown Paper was included in Hues, a show curated by Joseph Abbatti for Senator Scott Wiener’s Office in the State of California Building in San Francisco. The show brought together Black artists from across the Bay Area, and additionally featured artists from NIAD and Creativity Explored.

Participating artists included Ajuan Mance, André Renay, Chonto, Jermaine Jackson Jr., Mary Graham, Najee Tobin, Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen, Sharon Virtue, Taylor Smalls, and Tiffany Conway, Adrianna Simeon, Joseph JayD Green, Laron Bickerstaff, Vincent Jackson, Samedi Djeimguero, Joseph Omolayole, Tranesha Smith-Kilgore, Gerald Wiggins, Daniel Green, Nita Hicks, Eric B. Boysaw, Raven Harper, Dorian Reid, and Halisi Noel-Johnson.


Third Generation: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Today

Sausalito Center for the Arts. Sausalito, California
January 5 – January 28, 2024

Works from Value Test: Brown Paper and Kin were included in this show at the Sausalito Center for the Arts, curated by Catherine Merrill, and Susan Kirshenbaum.

Participating artists included Joseph Abbati, Douglas Andelin, Madelyn Covey, Jane Fisher, Mary Graham, Isidoro, Susan R. Kirshenbaum, Catherine Merrill, Stephen Namara, Diane Olivier, Sharon Paster, Fernando Reyes, Alex Rosmarin, Randall Sexton, May Shei, Sandra Speidel, Peter Steinhart, Charles H. Stinson. Download the press release here.


Masmine at the Peacock Lounge

The Peacock Lounge & Resipiscent. San Francisco, California
December 12, 2023

Jasmine Mengjiao Zhang and I performed as part of our experimental vocal project Masmine on December 14th at the Peacock Lounge for a show put together by Resipiscent. Others performing that evening included ++(…)!, Beast Nest, and Sung Kim. Click here to watch the official set recordings.


Open Studio at Black [Space] Residency

Black [Space] Residency. San Francisco, California
April 28 – April 29, 2023

In April I was chosen to be Artist in Residence at BSR, and held an informal open studio at the conclusion of my time. Given a month in their Minnesota Street Project studio, I was able to expand my Value Test: Brown Paper series.


you can hear the wind from beneath the floorboards

Root Division. San Francisco, California
November 2 – November 30, 2022

Co-Curators Shaelyn Hanes and Katherine Jemima Hamilton invited me to exhibit pieces from Portraits of My Ancestors, and Kin. for a “haunting” group exhibition at Root Division. Exhibiting artists included, Tiago Da Cruz, Ebti, Gordon D Fung & Ernest Strauhal, Heesoo Kwon, Namita Paul, Trina Robinson, Nicole K. Shaffer, Thorne, Hannah Waiters and wei.


Thesis Exhibition: Kin

Isabelle Percy West Gallery. California College of the Arts, Oakland, California
April 20 – April 22, 2022

Pulling together three bodies of work – Kin, Calling, and Portraits of My Ancestors, my thesis exhibition served as a meditation upon our origins both as individuals, and as members of a deep shared history, as it asked these questions; Where do we come from? Where will we go? How will we continue to remain?

The thesis exhibition was one of the last to take place at California College of the Art’s historic Oakland campus before its doors were closed, and all remaining classes were officially transferred to it’s San Francisco campus.


Letters from Dogpatch

Institute of Contemporary Art. San Francisco, California
April 1 – April 2, 2022

Curated by Kim Anno and Susanne Cockrell, Letters From Dogpatch brought together artists from California College of Arts’ Masters of Fine Arts program to conduct performances, film screenings and workshops over the course of two days.

Artists included Carolina Cuevas with Ingrid Henderson, Praytush Swarup, Manasa Thimmiya, Eman Alami, Zijing Han, Mary Graham, Nancy Du, Nivedita Rajendra, Bocheng Liu, Kierstyn Cadiente Laiti-Blattner, and Hannah Fhaye Oliver.


Land of Broken Dreams; The Artist’s Role In Society

The Park Avenue Armory. New York, New York
December 10, 2021

Graham segment begins 02:12:24

Professor Lonnie Graham and I had the distinct honor of being invited to participate in Carrie Mae Weems‘ monumental exhibition, concert and lecture series Land of Broken Dreams. I was asked to introduce Professor Graham’s talk, The Artist’s Role In Society, via serenade.


Seen X Unseen

Wessling Contemporary fka Radian Gallery. San Francisco, California.
December 5 – December 16, 2020

I was invited by The Invisibility Collective to exhibit as part of their inaugural exhibition Seen X Unseen at Radian Gallery. Founded during COVID, Invisibility Collective members met monthly over Zoom to discuss what it meant to occupy an invisibilized or marginalized identity, to be seen and not seen.

Artists included Collective members Lonnie Graham, Susan R. Kirshenbaum, Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen, Samira Shaheen, and Angela Tirrell as well as invited artists Sophia Green, Rell Rushin, Sawyer Rose, John Stone, Christopher M. Tandy, Nancy Willis and myself.


Andromeda Re-Imagined: A Sanctuary In Deep Playa

Burning Man. Black Rock City, Nevada
August 26 – September 1, 2019

Andromeda Re-Imagined: A Sanctuary in Deep Playa was a multi media project originally exhibited at Burning Man, in Black Rock City Nevada in 2019. In keeping with the event’s theme that year, Metamorphosis, Andromeda Re-Imagined sought to reinterpret the original myth of Andromeda to be a tale of personal growth and female empowerment.

Participants included John Marx, architect/lead artist; Brian Poindexter, producer/visionary; Derrick Roorda, Burohappold Structural Engineer, consultant; Mary Graham, artist; Mischell Riley, artist.


Art Advocacy Speaks

The Spinning Plate Gallery. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

September 8 – September 25, 2016

Artist John Stone and I collaborated on an installation piece for the exhibition Art Advocacy Speaks. Our work The Nine honored the victims of the Charleston Church Massacre that had occurred a year prior. My drawings of the victims hung on the wall behind a bible resting on a small table. Passages admonishing violence and exalting peace were highlighted, its pages bookmarked with images of assault weapons and bullets. See event announcement here.


A Conversation at the Table

The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

April 8 – September 16, 2006

Culminating in an exhibition at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Lonnie Graham’s A Conversation at the Table was a collaborative project engaging over 50 Philadelphia artists as they created community oriented works addressing three essential aspects of our humanity: the mind, body, and spirit. I was invited to participate–my piece Political Fruit engaged the house-less residents at St. John’s Hospice as I presented them with gifts of fruit wrapped in hand screen-printed silk scarves.

Participating artists and organizations included, The Clay Studio, Kimberly Camp, Amy Sarner Williams, Rachel Robbins, Mary Barrett, Emily Haworth Booth, Leroy Johnson, Carolyn Guss, Cari Freno, Mary Martin, John Stone, Sharif Bey, Clarissa Sligh, Blaise Tobia, Virginia Maksymowicz, Hana Iverson, Andrea Poulsen, Taller Puertorriqueño, Gustavo Boada, Anabelle Rodriguez, the Asian Arts Initiative, Rana Sindhikara, Rodney Camarce, Magda Martinez, Alison Park, Linda Saroem, Annie Seng, Ian Sindhikara, Sovansuny Uy, Sophie Sanders, Mary Ann Davis, Davistudio, Renee Kredell, Fukuko Imai, Criseeda J. Seals, Robert Martin, and Tara Tallman. Read about the exhibition here.