The most agreed-upon date for the birth of hop-hop is August 11, 1973, when DJ Kool Herc hosted a back-to-school block party in the Bronx, and partiers heard the beginnings of what would become phenomenon so global, it’s difficult to encapsulate. But beginning this month, the Saint Louis Art Museum is going to try.
The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century opens August 19 and runs through January 1, 2024. St. Louis will be the second stop for the exhibition, which was created in partnership with the Baltimore Museum of Art. It opened at the BMA in April to much fanfare. “Critical where it could have been hagiographical, concise where it might have been muddled, and generous when it might have been exclusive, it is full of terrific art,” Sebastian Smee of the Washington Post wrote after the opening.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
The Culture, curated locally by SLAM’s associate curator of modern and contemporary art Hannah Klemm and audience development manager Andréa Purnell, is an exhibition that relies as much on its host cities as it does on the work of celebrated international names. Alongside pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, and Kehinde Wiley, St. Louisans may recognize the names Damon Davis, Yvonne Osei, and Aaron Fowler. They’ll also be introduced to some leading creatives from Baltimore, such as photographer Devin Allen and multidisciplinary artist Joyce J. Scott.
“The collaborative effort with the BMA has been so exciting to explore,” says Purnell. “There’s such similarities, of course, between our two cities, but the nuances that make us all our own are really coming to light…As a curatorial team, we made the decision to focus on our local scene as it relates to our contemporary artists, both in Baltimore and in St. Louis, so it’s an opportunity to see lots of folks shine in both of the cities.”
The exhibition will highlight several larger themes under the umbrella of hip-hop, including the relationship between capitalism, commodification, and racial identity; connections to feminism, appropriation, and misogyny; and the genre’s impact on the art world and the art market.
Klemm hopes The Culture will expand visitors’ definitions of what contemporary art can be. “One of the things that surprises me all the time is that people don’t always love contemporary art when it’s a part of our lives. It’s a part of everything we do. And I think this show really took that to heart… It’s really a moment to see how contemporary art and popular culture coexist.”
