Tom Lloyd and apprentices in the artist’s studio in Jamaica, Queens, c. 1968. Photo by Reginald McGhee. Courtesy The Studio Museum in Harlem Archives.

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD)

Code Switch: Distributing Blackness, Reprogramming Internet Art

On View: May 2-August 10

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48201)

Time:

Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm (Thursdays and Fridays 11am–8pm) | Public Programs to be announced

The first of its kind internationally, Code Switch: Distributing Blackness, Reprogramming Internet Art is a multi-sited exhibition exploring and redefining the history of “Black data,” centering and celebrating contributions by artists of African descent to the rapidly advancing field of new media art and digital practice. Drawing its title from André L. Brock’s groundbreaking text Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures (2020), the exhibition explores the relationship between Black cultural production and the legacy of computation as a mode of machinic engagement and creative inspiration. This exhibition will take on two components—the first part, a historic archival timeline as presented by The Kitchen in collaboration with The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Fall 2024 (October 15–December 19, 2024); the second part, a contemporary group show, to take place Spring 2025 (April 25–September 7, 2025) in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD).

Code Switch: Distributing Blackness, Reprogramming Internet Art is organized by Legacy Russell, Executive Director & Chief Curator, and Angelique Rosales Salgado, Curatorial Assistant, with contributed research by Tsige Tafesse, 2023-2024 Curatorial Fellow and Kyla Gordon, (2024-2025 Curatorial Fellow, The Kitchen; and by Jova Lynne, Co-Director and Artistic Director, and Isabella Nimmo, Associate Curator, MOCAD. Exhibition design by Pacific.

Funding Support and Credits

The Kitchen’s programs are made possible in part with support from The Kitchen’s Board of Directors, The Kitchen Global Council, Leadership Fund, and the Director’s Council, as well as through generous support from The Amphion Foundation, Inc., Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Cowles Charitable Trust, The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Marta Heflin Foundation, Lambent Foundation Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New Music USA, The Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Ruth Foundation For The Arts, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Simons Foundation, and Teiger Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts; and in part by public funds from the Manhattan Borough President, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The Kitchen acknowledges the generous support provided by the Collaborative Arts Network New York (CANNY). As a coalition of small to mid-sized multidisciplinary arts organizations, CANNY is committed to strengthening the infrastructure of arts nonprofits throughout New York.

For more information about CANNY, please visit https://can-ny.org/.