To Begin Again Artists

Sweeping survey of 20th- and 21st-century art featuring work by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Francis Alÿs, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jordan Casteel, Paul Klee, Glenn Ligon, Oscar Murillo, Faith Ringgold, and more 

Childhood, a subject of universal significance and personal experience, provides a compelling framework for understanding the past and imagining the future. To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood investigates the influence of children and childhood on visual artists from the early 20th century to today. While artists have long been inspired by children—by their imagination, creativity, and unique ways of seeing and being in the world—the field of art history has largely undervalued the influence of children and the subject of childhood. Through vibrant works of art, this exhibition illustrates the diverse experiences of childhood and engages childhood as an intellectual query into language and learning. The six thematic sections of To Begin Again explore how artists have grappled with timely issues of self-expression, creativity, power, care, labor, and learning through their engagement with childhood.

“Children are the ways the world begins again and again.”

—June Jordan