“Sculpture is not a self-declaration but a voice of and for my people,” said Richard Hunt. “Over all a rich fabric; under all about the dynamism of the African American people.” Hunt was born in Chicago in 1935. He was a descendant of slaves who were brought from West Africa to the port of Savannah, Georgia. Hunt’s mother was a beautician and librarian, so as a child he was a reader. As a teenager he started to do carvings in his bedroom, and in the 1950s he was winning prizes at art school. In 1971, Hunt was given an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art; he would become known as the foremost African-American abstract sculptor of the 20th century. Hunt died in 2023, at 88. This is his largest survey to date. —Elena Clavarino
Arts Intel Report
Richard Hunt: Pressure
Richard Hunt, From the Ground Up, 1989.
When
Until Mar 29, 2026
Where
Etc
Photo: Nathan Keay © The Richard Hunt Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York