Brooklyn Museum

12/05/2023

Ready to give DIY artistry a try? 💥 ✍️

If you’re feeling inspired by the wide-range of self-published work on display in Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, do as Miranda July says and visit the zine cart in our lobby where you can take a zine, leave a zine, or make a zine.

Neta Bomani even created a simple-to-follow guide to create your own zine—from concept and style to content and audience. Get your guide in-person (while supplies last) or get the digital version at the link in our bio.

The cart will be around through March 31, 2024 while the exhibition is open.

12/03/2023

Explore ancestral remembrance through ritual, movement, and meditation.

The holidays can lead us to miss loved ones. Remember them on December 16 in A Sacred Circle: Ancestral Altars and Embodied Movement, an immersive workshop inspired by María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold. Tour the exhibition with curator, Carmen Hermo and join healing practitioner, Lake E., in embracing diasporic practices of altar-making, self-reiki, and dance.

Save your spot: https://bit.ly/47Kfy1f

📷 Campos-Pons Symposium: Behold, 09/16/2023. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Naeem Douglas/Souls in Focus)

12/02/2023

Have you ever wanted to conduct an orchestra? Here’s your chance! 🎵

Our friends at Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra are raffling a chance for one lucky winner to conduct SLEIGH RIDE by Leroy Anderson at the upcoming concert on December 10 at 2 pm at the Museum.

Check out the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra's Instagram account for further instructions or get your tickets for this performance here: https://bit.ly/3RorbWh

📷 Photo by Kolin Mendez

12/02/2023

We’re big fan(zine)s of yours!

Do you know there are over one thousand zines and artworks by over one hundred artists featured in Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines? 🤯

Learn more and plan your visit to : https://bit.ly/ZinesBkM

📷 (on Instagram): , , ,

12/01/2023

It’s getting chilly out there Brooklyn! ❄️

It’s time for indoor activities, and we’ve got something for everyone. Create art inspired by our collection, explore herbalism, tour our exhibitions, and help spread holiday cheer. Save your spot for these programs, and more: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

11/28/2023

‘Tis the season to share the toy! 🧸

Our fourth annual toy drive is in full-swing this holiday season. Stop by the Admissions Desk to drop off new, unwrapped toys for children ages 0–14 in the designated bins through December 14.

Then join us on December 17 from 12–3 pm, pick up gifts for your little loved ones while supplies last. This program is free and open to the public in partnership with the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President and Grandma’s Hands.

Get more details about donations and the giveaway: https://bit.ly/40OSyvu

Thank you to our partners at Camp Stores for their generous donation and support in this year's toy drive.

📷 Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Rahj Mason)

11/28/2023

Homeboy Beautiful (1979) by Joey Terrill 🗞️

“I combined the concept of magazines like House Beautiful, Los Angeles, and Cosmopolitan that catered to an upper to middle economic class with the sensibility of Chicano gang culture,” Terrill said of his work on Homeboy Beautiful. “It was tongue-in-cheek and used humor to ridicule both the consumerist bent of those LA lifestyle magazines while also pointing out the macho, self-destructive violence and inherent homophobia found in the barrio.”

See more of Joey Terrill ’s work, including zines and paintings, as part of on view now.

📄 Joey Terrill. Homeboy Beautiful, no. 2 (detail), 1979. Collection Philip Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons. © the artist and Ortuzar Projects, New York. (Photo: David Vu)

11/27/2023

Opening February 10, 2024… Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.

As musical artists and cultural icons in their own right, Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys share a philosophy when it comes to their personal art collection: “artists supporting artists.” This approach has led the Deans to bring together a group of multigenerational, Black diasporic giants of the art world. In this exhibition, see the work of over 100 of these giants, including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Hassan Hajjaj, Barkley L. Hendricks, Lorna Simpson, and Amy Sherald.

Get ready to discover The Dean Collection and get to know more about the creative lives and inspirations of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.

🖼️ Derrick Adams (born Baltimore, Maryland, 1970). Woman in Grayscale (Alicia) [left] and Man in Grayscale (Swizz) [right], 2017. Giclée print, each 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm). The Dean Collection, courtesy of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. © 2023 Derrick Adams Studio. (Photo: Glenn Steigelman)

11/26/2023

Prepare for an abundant new year! 🌺

Join herbalist and spiritual practitioner Lauren K. Rincon on December 10 for a transformative and empowering workshop. Drawing inspiration from María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold, learn about traditional uses of plants for spiritual cleansing, protection, and prosperity rituals. Tap into the healing power of nature while connecting with your inner self, to come away empowered.

Save your spot to explore your spiritual journey and set intentions for 2024 through the link in bio.

🖼 María Magdalena Campos-Pons (born Matanzas, Cuba, 1959). Secrets of the Magnolia Tree, 2021. Watercolor, ink, gouache, digital printing on paper on three panels, 132 × 90 in. (335.3 × 228.6 cm) overall. Museum of Modern Art, New York; Latin American and Caribbean Fund and gift of Ronnie Heyman, 2022. © María Magdalena Campos-Pons. (Photo: courtesy of the artist)

11/25/2023

A five-floor feast of inspiration! ✨🖼️

From Spike Lee’s personal collection, multimedia explorations by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, work on film by Suneil Sanzgiri, and subcultures galore, see what’s currently on view and plan your visit at the link in our bio.

📷 (on Instagram): .mindset, .tiaree, , .rah, ,

11/23/2023

We see your tupperware and raise you this turkey-shaped container! 🦃

If you look closely, you can see how the artist focused greatly on the details of the feathers. Also, the eyes are made of faceted red stones, to evoke the red skin that surrounds the eyes of many turkey species.

This object from our Decorative Arts collection was made in the early 19th century, possibly in Mexico. The bird resembles the Ocellated Turkey, that lives in the Yucatán Peninsula.

🖼️ Container in the Shape of a Turkey, early 19th century. Silver alloy and red stones, 10 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 8 5/8 in. (27.3 x 19.1 x 21.9cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Charlotte R. Stillman, 55.36.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 55.36.4_PS6.jpg)

11/22/2023

Did you know Spike Lee is a left-y?

It’s also true that he writes the first draft of scripts for his films completely by hand. For the first time, as part of Spike Lee: Creative Sources, these leather-bound scripts for films like Do The Right Thing, She’s Gotta Have It, Bamboozled (and more), are on view!

Watch this full interview on YouTube and plan your visit to through February 4, 2024.

11/18/2023

Yo! Brooklyn, we’re feeling the love as we head into the holiday season. We’re grateful for galleries filled with family, friends, neighbors, and newcomers.



📷 (on Instagram): , , , , , .a.assin

11/17/2023

Now Open… Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines. 📖

Punk, skateboarding, queercore, Riot Grrrl. Subcultures delight in this first-ever historical survey of zines produced by artists in North America over the last fifty years. As you walk through the exhibition, you'll notice how the format changes over the years along with the diversity of networks and genealogies associated with zines from 1969 to today.

Celebrate opening weekend with us during the , co-hosted by Printed Matter, Inc., this Sunday from 11 am–6 pm. The fair will explore new and historical zines with over 60 invited exhibitors including self-publishing artists and collectives, archives and libraries, and rare and out-of-print dealers.

Plan your visit to the fair, which is free and open to the public, and explore .

📷 Photos by Matthew Carasella



Printed Matter’s Sunday Zine Fair is an event organized and hosted by Printed Matter, Inc. The Brooklyn Museum does not endorse or approve the content of any zines included as part of Printed Matter’s event.

11/16/2023

Before there was “girl dinner” there was The Dinner Party created by Judy Chicago. 🍽️

With our new audio guide, The Dinner Party Today, feast on the details of this installation with artists, writers, and thinkers as they reflect on the artwork’s legacy and the women it represents.

In this episode, Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director of the New Museum, discusses Judy Chicago's legacy and that of Christine de Pisan, a medieval writer and intellectual represented in The Dinner Party. Fittingly, the first comprehensive New York museum survey of Chicago’s work—Judy Chicago: Herstory—is on view at the New Museum, and includes line drawings for all 39 plates featured in The Dinner Party.

Listen to The Dinner Party Today on Spotify and plan your visit to Judy Chicago: Herstory on view through January 14, 2024.

📷 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

11/15/2023

Co-presented by Dia Art Foundation and New York Live Arts as part of Performa Biennial 2023.

Tomorrow Dia Art Foundation and New York Live Arts present the New York premiere of Boy mother / faceless bloom, a stage work by Juni One Set, a collaboration of Senga Nengudi, yuniya edi kwon, and Haruko Crow Nishimura & Joshua Kohl of Degenerate Art Ensemble. The work is presented in conjunction with the long-term exhibition of Nengudi’s work on view at Dia Beacon, as part of Performa Biennial 2023.

🔗:

Dia Art Foundation and New York Live Arts present the New York premiere of Boy mother / faceless bloom, a stage work by Juni One Set, a collaboration of Senga

11/15/2023

Did you know about this Korean tradition? ✍️

These glazed ceramics from the Joseon dynasty, called epitaph plaques, are part of a Korean tradition wherein a close friend or family member of someone who died would memorialize their loved one by recording the details of their life including: their most well-known accomplishments, family lineage, and even their personality traits.

Watch the full episode on YouTube and explore more from our Arts of Asia and the Islamic World on the second floor of the Museum.

The Object Deep Dive series was made possible with support from the Freeman Foundation.

11/14/2023

Join the Columbia University School of Arts on November 16 for a lecture by renowned visual artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons on the occasion of her solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, 'Behold.'

The exhibition features works of photography, immersive installation, painting, and performance, and spans nearly four decades of the artist's work.
Campos-Pons will be introduced by Visual Arts Professor David Antonio Cruz.

Learn more and register here

🔗: https://www.lenfest.arts.columbia.edu/fall-2023-events/mara-magdalena-campos-pons

11/14/2023

Prince…Toni Morrison…the Brooklyn Dodgers… Spike Lee’s personal collection really has something for everyone.

Join Zavier for our next ASL Tour of Spike Lee: Creative Sources on December 16. Trace the inspiration of the influential and prolific filmmaker through his personal art collection, including instruments, historical photographs, movie memorabilia, and more!

Save your spot: https://bit.ly/3ud2t23

11/12/2023

Happy Diwali! 🕯️

The Hindu festival of lights celebrates the ability to overcome. While not specifically about , this painting captures some of the spirit of the holiday, with music and candlelight bringing warmth to an evening.

We hope your holiday is filled with family and friends, light, and music.

🖼️ An Evening’s Music. Northern India, late 18th century. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, sheet. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Siesel, 76.187 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

11/11/2023

Behold… the start of a new weekend to rest and recharge! ✨

If you’re looking for ways to fill your days, check out the multimedia, sensorial work on display in María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold.

Learn more at the link in our bio and share your visit with us using .

📷 (on Instagram): , , , , .manisworld,

11/11/2023

Spike Lee invited us to his studio, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks in Fort Greene, where the filmmaker shared stories with us from being on set, how he fixed a feud with Frank Sinatra, and much more.

Full interview coming November 20. Subscribe to our YouTube channel or plan your visit to : https://bit.ly/bkmyoutube

11/09/2023

If you were looking for a *sign* that you should join our next ASL Tour… this is it!

On November 18, join Joyce for an ASL Tour of María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold. Explore migration, motherhood, labor, and community through Campos-Pons’s photography, painting, and immersive installation.

Save your spot: https://bit.ly/3MmwK4L

11/09/2023

Would we recognize ourselves unbroken?

Shot on 16 mm film in India and Portugal, “Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?)” is a new two-channel video created by Suneil Sanzgiri. It reimagines histories of transnational solidarity and interventions against the Portuguese empire. Combining original interviews and a script written by poet Sham-e-Ali Nayeem with CGI animation, altered archival footage, and excerpts from anti-colonial cinema, Sanzgiri recounts stories of resistance and their ongoing relationship to the present. The film’s score was composed by Amirtha Kidambi and Booker Stardrum.

View the full film as part of Suneil Sanzgiri: Here the Earth Grows Gold through May 5, 2024.

🎥 Suneil Sanzgiri (born Dallas, Texas, 1989; active in Brooklyn, New York). Still from Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?), 2023. Two-channel video projection, 16 mm to digital (color, sound): 34 min. Courtesy of the artist

11/08/2023

Seven photographs, echoing the seven orisha powers.

Arranged in an H shape, representing home (hogar, in Spanish), this work was made once María Magdalena Campos-Pons was able to return to Cuba and reunite with her mother after 11 years away. Titled “Replenishing,” the work makes connotations of watering, irrigation, and fulfillment title an image of physical reconnection and rejuvenation.

Campos-Pons always knew of her connection to Africa and Yoruba culture—symbolized here through colorful African beads linking the hands, bodies, and lives of the artist and her mother. "This moment of physical reconnection also gestures to the knowledge and growth passed between generations—the labor of love and legacy.

🎨 María Magdalena Campos-Pons (born Matanzas, Cuba, 1959). Replenishing, 2001. Composition of seven Polaroid Polacolor Pro photographs, framed: 29 × 25 in. (73.7 × 63.5 cm) each. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami; museum purchase with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council. © María Magdalena Campos-Pons. (Photo: courtesy of the artist)

11/05/2023

Take back some time this Sunday. 🕰️

Not just because you deserve it, but because it’s the end of . It’s also the perfect excuse to share this “Ball” wall clock, sometimes called the “Atomic” clock, from our collection.

An icon of mid-twentieth century American design, this design was the star of a line commissioned by the Howard Miller Clock Company to update its collection for a new, postwar generation of consumers. The rods and spheres evoking the structure of the atom introduced a modern scientific note into home or office interiors.

See it on view in the fourth floor in the Decorative Arts and Design galleries.

🖼️ Irving Harper (American, 1916-2015). "Ball" Wall Clock, 1948-1969. Painted birch, steel, brass. Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 2000.101.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

11/04/2023

Spreading love the Crooklyn Museum way! 🫶

Between brownstones and bodegas, Soul Train and street games, Spike Lee: Creative Sources is being brought to life! Shop the Crooklyn Capsule Collection, iconic pieces from Spike Lee and designer Tré Seals, in-person or online: https://bit.ly/3FJCC47

📷 (on Instagram): , , ,

11/03/2023

Join BRIC artists Adama Delphine Fawundu and Jenny P***k for a tour and discussion of their work in our fall Gallery and Project Room exhibitions. Free coffee will be provided.

B-side: (Broken) Memory and Remix features photography, painting, and sculpture and explores remix as a crucial method of creation within the Hip-Hop genre. In Homeward Bound, P***k blends the language of interior design with powerful imagery – transforming domestic objects into symbols of borders and prisons to address the effects of state-sanctioned violence, mass incarceration, and immigration detention in the United States and abroad.

🔗: https://bricartsmedia.org/event/coffeeandconversation/

11/01/2023

Feliz Día de los Muertos!💀🏵️

Seeing as the Day of the Dead is an opportunity to honor those who have passed, this sculpture serves as a reminder of human mortality and the importance of preparing for a good death through prayer and virtuous deeds. It features the female Angel of Death, Doña Sebastiana. Larger versions of these death carts were pulled by penitent brothers during Holy Week processions of the Los Hermanos Penitentes Society.

This sculpture is over 100 years old and is made from carved wood and cottonwood sticks lashed together with hide.

🖼️ Los Hermanos Penitentes Society. Death Cart, 1890-1910. Wood, hide, hair, pigment. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1997.70. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

11/01/2023

We’re serving up a feast of fun in November! 🍗

Get cozy and join us for a Spike Lee movie night, dance the night away at our Salsa Party, and hear Elliot Page in conversation with Raquel Willis during Brooklyn Talks.

Save your spot for these exciting programs: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

10/30/2023

Hold your horses… Monet to Morisot: The Real and Imagined in European Art closes in two weeks?!? 🐴

Here, a soldier in Emperor Napoleon's cavalry leads his horse downhill, looking back at a dark, ominous sky. The composition's repeated diagonals-the outstretched legs of man and horse, the sword, and the slope of the rough terrain heighten the scene's physical and psychological tension. This painting is a study for a larger painting (housed at the Louvre) that Théodore Géricault exhibited at the 1814 Salon in Paris, after Napoleon had been deposed and exiled to Elba earlier that year.

Visit the exhibition, featuring nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artworks from our collection, through November 12.

🖼️ Théodore Géricault (French, 1791–1829). The Wounded Cuirassier, study, 1814. Oil on canvas, 21 3/4 × 18 1/8 in. (55.2 × 46 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Anonymous gift, 43.81. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

10/29/2023

Look behind the lens of the captivating work of Suneil Sanzgiri. 🎥

On November 5, take a tour of the newly opened exhibition led by Sanzgiri himself. Inspired by his family’s legacy of resistance in Goa, India, under Portuguese occupation, the artist, researcher, and filmmaker explores anti-colonialism and diasporic identity by asking what it means to witness from afar. In this tour, Sanzgiri highlights new work that combines archival footage, animation, interviews, and poetry to tell the stories of mutual struggle in India and Africa against Portuguese colonialism during the 1960s and 1970s.

🎟 https://bit.ly/3RWWU1n

📷 Matthew Carasella

10/29/2023

It’s not easy pulling focus from an iconic impressionist painting by Claude Monet or the triumphant, large-scale work of Kehinde Wiley, but our visitors manage. 😍

Share your visit with us using for a chance to be reposted by us!

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10/28/2023

Flying into Halloweekend like… 🦇🌝

Did you know bats are considered to be lucky in some Asian cultures? This is because the written symbol for “bat” has the same pronunciation as "happiness." Consequently, bats are frequently found in artwork in both China and Japan, like in the Japanese print shown here. The full moon is also viewed as a lucky occurrence, making this combination of motifs very good luck!

🖼️ Takahashi Biho (active ca. 1890-1930). Bat in Moon, ca. 1905. Color woodblock print on paper, 9 1/4 x 9 9/16 in. (23.5 x 24.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Dr. Eleanor Z. Wallace, 2007.32.4 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2007.32.4_IMLS_PS3.jpg)

10/28/2023

FYI: We will close early today at 2 pm. 📣

If you purchased timed tickets for the afternoon on Saturday, October 28, look for an email in your inbox about rescheduling and refund options.

Early voters, you will still be able to access your polling site. Check nycvotes.org for the latest polling information.

📷️ Selvon Ramsawak

10/27/2023

Now Open… Suneil Sanzgiri: Here the Earth Grows Gold. 🌱

“Who is doing the forgetting, and who is doing the remembering?” asks Sanzgiri.

In his first solo museum exhibition, Sanzgiri uses a speculative and poetic approach to storytelling. Through his work, the artist likens memory and diaspora thinking to the ocean—fluid and ever evolving.

Sanzgiri’s work throughout the exhibition considers how lived experience and memory—particularly those bound up with the fight for liberation—are often erased by those who maintain official state histories.

The artist would like to thank Sham-e-Ali Nayeem who wrote the script for the film and Amirtha Kidambi and Booker Stardrum who wrote the score for the film.

Visit through May 5, 2024. Entry is included with general admission.

📷 Photos by Matthew Carasella

10/26/2023

“My hands are the only territory I know.” 🤲

Baño Sagrado (Rite of Initiation, Sacred Bath), excerpted here, is an early collaboration with Neil Leonard in which Campos-Pons interprets Yoruba-derived rituals of cleansing and explores the energies of Yemayá and Oshun in her body and life, drawing on African proverbs surrounding challenges of exile, immigration, and in*******al love.

In this scene from the 31-minute single-channel video, the artist cups water in her hand, which acts as a screen showing shimmering waters in Baracoa, where three ships of armed Spanish settlers first landed in Cuba in 1492, beginning their genocide of Indigenous people and campaign of colonial violence.

See the film in currently on view on the fourth floor through January 14, 2024.

🎥 Video by María Magdalena Campos-Pons (born Matanzas, Cuba, 1959) with sound by Neil Leonard (born Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1959). Still from Baño Sagrado (Rite of Initiation, Sacred Bath), 1991. Single-channel video transferred from Super 8 film (color, sound): 31 min., 37 sec.; sound: composition for alto saxophone, bells, clay flute. Courtesy of the artists. © María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard. (Photo: courtesy of the artists)

10/25/2023

Let’s start this season off on the right foot. No, literally. 💃

Salsa Party is back, y’all! The new season begins on November 9 at 6 pm. On the second Thursday of every month through March, join us for dance-filled evenings hosted by Balmir Dance.

You can expect a demonstration led by professionals, live music, social dancing, and performances by Brooklyn’s best Latin dance teams.

🔗 https://bit.ly/407PTwW

📷 Henry Danner for Souls in Focus, Kolin Mendez

10/24/2023

Allow us to introduce you to our Arts of Asia and the Islamic World.

Did you know you can explore the collections with insightful (and might we add soothing) commentary from curators and artists, like Oscar yi Hou?

Bring your headphones and listen for free by downloading the app on your smartphone.

10/23/2023

Spike Lee and crew on the set of “Crooklyn” in 1994. 🎞️

Lee directed and produced “Crooklyn” as well as co-writing the film with his siblings Joie Susannah Lee and Cinqué Lee. The semi-autobiographical plot is set in Bed-Stuy, making just one beloved example of our borough becoming an honorary character in Lee’s films portrayed through distinctive panoramas, vignettes, and narratives about other significant figures who have called Brooklyn home.

“Da People’s Republic of Brooklyn” remains a touchstone for the director.

Visit to dive deeper into the world of Spike Lee! Plan your visit: https://bit.ly/SpikeLeeBkM

📷 Behind the scenes of Crooklyn (Spike Lee, 1994, 115 min.). (Photo: © David C. Lee)