Nari Ward: We the People

MCA Denver reopens with the exhibition Nari Ward: We the People which urgently reflects upon many of the themes currently being discussed in the public sphere. Nari’s work has consistently highlighted some of the most gruelling aspects of American culture, including racism and power as well as national identity and immigration. The pieces on show (a selection of sculptures, paintings, videos, and large-scale installations spanning Ward’s career) resonate now, more than ever.

Since the early 1990s, Ward has produced his works by accumulating humble materials and provocatively repurposing them. His approach evokes a variety of folk traditions and creative acts of recycling from Jamaica, where he was born, as well as the material textures of Harlem, where he has lived and worked for the past twenty-five years. Ward also relies on research into specific histories and sites to reveal the crossovers between geographically and culturally disparate communities and to explore the tension between tradition and transformation

Nari Ward: We the People is organised by the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and is curated by Gary Carrion-Murayari, Kraus Family Curator; Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director; and former New Museum Associate Curator Helga Christoffersen