Arthur Jafa examines Black history and modern violence
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Arthur Jafa presented his largest exhibition to date, “I Am Tony,” at the New Museum in New York, displaying work beyond his well-known video art.
The exhibition explores themes Jafa often revisits, including Black music, religion, American cinema, and the internet. One installation, “Allegiance” (2026), features a large-scale image of 19th-century Black schoolchildren performing a salute resembling a “Sieg Heil,” which the artist presents as a historical American patriotic gesture that gained new meaning in 20th-century Europe.
Jafa also exhibited “Rwanda, 1999” (2026), a wallpaper-sized photograph he took at the Murambi Genocide Memorial in Rwanda five years after the 1994 genocide. The image shows the bloodstained clothing of victims spread across the wall. The artist arranged the work to encourage viewers to consider connections between historical violence and current events, such as the conflict in Gaza.
The New Museum show includes Jafa’s signature ironic humor, contrasting solemnity with low culture, and aims to push the boundaries of assemblage and collage in contemporary art.
