The Time Is Always Now
Artists Reframe the Black Figure
March 8–June 29, 2025
Featuring 23 contemporary African diasporic artists, The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure celebrates the Black figure from the perspective of Black artists, illuminating the richness, joy, beauty, and complexity of Black life.
Exhibition ticket includes admission to both The Time Is Always Now and Grace Hartigan (opening April 12)
Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 6, for members and Thursday, February 20, for the public
Free for Members
$20 Adults, $17 Seniors age 65 and older, $12 Students (ages 7–22), free for children 6 and under
The title of the exhibition, The Time Is Always Now, references an essay on desegregation by American writer James Baldwin (1924–1987). Organized around three themes—double consciousness, the persistence of history, and our aliveness—the exhibition showcases works by artists including Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Lubaina Himid, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Amy Sherald.
This collective assertion and interest in figuration and representation, examining both the presence and absence of the Black figure in art history, transcends geographical boundaries. Through their work these artists invite a shift in the dominant art historical perspective from “looking at” the Black figure to “seeing through” the eyes of Black artists and the figures they depict.
Plan Your Visit
The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is on view in East Building, Level B, Meymandi Exhibition Gallery.
More information on parking and Museum hours
- Free for members and children 6 and under
- $20 Adults
- $17 Seniors age 65 and older
- $12 Students (ages 7–22)
Exhibition Store
Wednesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm
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- Amy Sherald, She was learning to love moments, to love moments for themselves (detail), 2017, oil on canvas, 54 1/8 × 43 in., © Amy Sherald, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; Photo: Joseph Hyde
- Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Marchioness, 2016, charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper, 83 × 66 in., © 2024 Toyin Ojih Odutola, Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Titus Kaphar, Seeing Through Time 2, 2018, oil on canvas, 92 × 72 in., © 2024 Titus Kaphar, Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian; Photo: Christopher Gardner
Exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, and presented by the North Carolina Museum of Art. Support for this exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
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