Dorrance Galleries
Main Building
This exhibition features 28 Black and African diasporic contemporary artists who use figurative painting, drawing and sculpture to illuminate and celebrate the nuance and richness of Black contemporary life.
Curated by British writer and curator Ekow Eshun, The Time Is Always Now takes its title from an essay on desegregation by American writer and social rights activist James Baldwin. It highlights a sense of urgency around contemporary artistic expression, while acting as a reminder that Black artists exist within an always-evolving artistic lineage.
The more than 60 contemporary works featured in this exhibition unfold around three core themes: Double Consciousness, Past and Presence and Our Aliveness. Double Consciousness, a theory first introduced in 1897 by the African American sociologist W.E.B Du Bois, explores concepts of being, belonging and Blackness as a psychological state. Past and Presence explores the absence of Black figures in many mainstream narratives and shows how artists have responded. Our Aliveness features assertions and celebrations of Black assembly and gathering.
Traveling to the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Black and African diasporic artists in this exhibition work in the U.S. and the U.K. They include Michael Armitage, Claudette Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Amy Sherald. For the show’s U.S. premiere, additional artists working in Philadelphia, London, and New York have been added, including Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Robert Lugo, Danielle Mckinney, Deborah Roberts, and Arthur Timothy.
Enhance your experience of The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure by taking the audio tour during your visit. Hear from organizing curator Ekow Eshun and several featured artists about the stories behind the artworks.
Please make sure to bring your headphones to listen to the tour on your own mobile device. For the best experience, download the free Smartify app on your iOS or Android mobile device.
The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is a separately ticketed exhibition. Tickets are for timed entry every thirty minutes from 11:00 a.m. until an hour and a half before close each day. Your timed ticket is for entry to the exhibition queue; entry wait times may be extended during higher volume moments, which include the first hour that the exhibition is open and weekends.
Virtual Queue
We are using a virtual queue system to manage the high demand for access to the exhibition space. To avoid visitors standing in a long physical queue, this virtual system allows guests to join a digital queue through their smartphone when they first arrive at the museum. Here are the steps:
If you don’t have a smartphone, no problem! Connect with one of our Visitor Services staff members and we can set you up with a time to return for entry.
Member Benefits
Members receive unlimited access to Mary Cassatt at Work with their membership card, no tickets required. Member guest tickets must be booked in advance.
Dorrance Galleries
Main Building
Get a sneak peek at works in the exhibition
This exhibition is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is made possible by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Art, Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions, Amachie K. Ackah and Carra Cote-Ackah, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, Ms. Hope R. D'Oyley-Gay, Jaimie and David Field, Arthur M. Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, Ms. Jennifer Rice and Mr. Michael Forman, Katherine Sachs, Vesna Todorović Sacks and Howard J. Sacks, Karen Goodman Tarte, Robbi and Bruce Toll, and the African American Collections Committee.
All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler; Robert Hayes; Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.
The organizing curator is Ekow Eshun, guest curator for the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the supporting curator is Sarah Howgate, Senior Curator of Contemporary Collections at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In Philadelphia, the exhibition is curated by Erica F. Battle, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art, with Yocari De Los Santos, Constance E. Clayton Fellow.