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Lava Thomas

@lavathomas

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“Lineage” opens at Jessica Silverman September 10. @jessicasilvermangallery

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Lava Thomas, “Lineage”
by Julie Zigoris

Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Continuing through October 24, 2026

Artwork: Lava Thomas, “Mr. Charles H. Arthur (Determination),” 2022, graphite and conté pencil on paper.

The story at the core of “Lava Thomas: Lineage” begins with Thomas’ portrait of her great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Arthur, whose likeness she crafted from a photograph attached to a deposition. Born free to an enslaved father, Arthur had the first legal Black marriage in Wise County, Texas.

Read the full review at SquareCylinder: 🔗 Link in bio
#SquareCylinder #JessicaSilvermanGallery #LavaThomas #Lineage #JulieZigoris #SanFrancisco #BayAreaArt #ArtCriticism #ContemporaryArt

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Ted Barrow on the work of Lava Thomas and Sadie Barnette at Jessica Silverman in San Francisco

patreon.com/beratethebirds

@tedbarrow
@lavathomas
@sadiebarnette
@jessicasilvermangallery

1. Sadie Barnette
“DOTS 6”
2026

2. Sadie Barnette
"DOTS 3"
2026

3. Lava Thomas
"Mr. Charles H. Arthur (Determination)"
2022

Links in bio.

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MoAD’s 2026 AFROPOLITAN Ball

📸: Drew Altizer, Mahelly Ferreira, Dave Ortega

SF Events, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco Ferry Building, MoAD Vanguard Award, Bay Area Art, SF/Bay Area Black Art Week, Drew Altizer Photography, Dewey Crumpler

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What a moment!! @obamafoundation ❤️

Tears, laughter, reflection, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I’m still trying to find the words to describe what it felt like to walk through the magnificent Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

I had the extraordinary privilege of attending President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, and so many of those emotions came rushing back. The hope. The pride. The belief in what was possible.

The architecture, the incredible ART, the stories, the intention behind every detail. A powerful reminder of what it means to dream boldly, lead with purpose, and create something that will inspire generations.

And the timing! I was in Chicago to officially launch @ibestwines in Illinois, another milestone in my entrepreneurial journey. It made this experience even more meaningful.

A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful Erica Hubbard ( @ehubbs37 ) for so graciously hosting us.

And to President Barack Obama ( @barackobama ) and First Lady Michelle Obama (@michelleobama ) thank you for your vision, leadership, grace and for continuing to remind us of the power of hope, possibility, and legacy.

I left inspired, emotional, and incredibly grateful.

Some experiences stay with you forever. This was one of them. ❤️

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Scroll to see a round-up of Awardee exhibitions closing in October!

-@yugezhou @todayartmuseumtam through October 7
-@mequittaahuja @marylandinstitutecollegeofart through October 11
-@sadiebarnette @jessicasilvermangallery through October 24
-@lavathomas @jessicasilvermangallery through October 24
-@phungxion @luisdejesuslosangeles through October 24
-@brendanfernandes @moniquemeloche through October 24
-@samantha_bittman @roundaboutsnow_ through October 25
-@leverettstudio @berggruengallery through October 29

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#nexusblackartweek 🖤 Wow, what a way to end our Black Art Week visit to San Francisco. We finally made it to Jessica Silverman Gallery today to view Lava Thomas’s Lineage show. Absolutely beautiful, and timely, work. While it’s a deep exploration into Lava’s family tree, the images certainly resonated with me personally as a descendant of African American Texas roots. 🖤 Excellent exhibition catalogue, too. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

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One for the ages! This past Saturday, October 3, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) (@moadsf) brought together artists, cultural leaders, and supporters at San Francisco’s Ferry Building for the 2026 Afropolitan Ball, raising over $1 million to support the museum’s exhibitions, programs, and mission to center artists of the African diaspora.

The evening honored Bay Area artist Dewey Crumpler (@deweycrumpler) with the inaugural MoAD Vanguard Award, recognizing his lifelong dedication to artistic vision, cultural leadership, teaching, and mentorship. Performances by Michael Wayne Turner III (@sirmichaelwayne) and the Ashley Jemison Quartet (@ashleyjsax), a live auction, and dancing with DJ Jihaari (@djjihaari) rounded out the celebration.

The Ball marked the culmination of the most expansive Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week (@nexussfbay) to date, a celebration of the artists and communities shaping contemporary art across the region and beyond.

Stay tuned as we share more from an unforgettable week.

📸: Afropolitan Ball 2026. All images courtesy of MoAD. Photography by Mahelly Ferreira and Drew Altizer for Drew Altizer Photography (@drewaltizerphotography).

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🖤 💛 The @moadsf Afropolitan Ball was a beautiful reunion amongst the San Francisco Bay Area arts community, and the culminating event for @nexussfbay Black art week. I was invited as a guest of @tntartlab, where I gave a talk / performance alongside artist @shiniquesmith as part of Nexus this past weekend. The gala honored OG artist @deweycrumpler, who I had the pleasure working alongside with when we both taught at the San Francisco Art Institute some years ago.

The Museum of African Diaspora @moadsf has supported my work since I was in their emerging artist program in 2016-2017, and again during my 2024 solo show, curated by @keyjolee. Though I only lived in California briefly, the Bay Area, with its history of supporting political/socially engaged art and performance, has been a great hub for my practice. It was a joy to reunite with artists, curators, collectors, and arts workers across institutions who I have grown alongside professionally, and to meet a newer generation of emerging artists.

Congrats to @moadsf executive director @monettawhite and the entire MoAD team for a great gala!

🖤 💛

#moadsf #nexusblackartweek #artist #artgala #blackart

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Folks, it feels like Monetta @monettawhite brought the whole world together to kick off MOAD NEXUS: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week! 🎨✨
Thrilled to join fellow leaders, creators, and advocates as we launch a week dedicated to elevating Black art, expanding representation, and driving equity in our cultural institutions.
Looking forward to connecting throughout the week and diving into critical conversations, including our upcoming panel, Art eXodus: Creative Collecting, where we’ll share strategies for collectors to acquire artwork, advocate for artists of color, and foster lasting structural change in the art world.
Let’s celebrate the rich creativity, history, and future of Black art in the Bay Area and beyond! I’m so excited about my talk!

#MOADNexus #BlackArtWeek #ArtExodus #ArtAdvocacy

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Some moments from this weekend celebrating art of the African Diaspora during @nexussfbay w/ @moadsf @artistasfirstresponder and more beautiful ones!

A big thank you and congratulations to all of the curators, administrators, artists, organizers, facilitators, installers, scholars, volunteers, makers, fixers, and collectors!

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Such a joy to celebrate Dewey Crumpler at the Afropolitan Ball with this wonderful table: my colleague Jeremy Stone, Marta Thoma Hall, Mari Robles of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Laetitia Coustar of Jessica Silverman Gallery. ✨
Nights like this remind me how much our arts community gives back when we come together. Congratulations to Dewey and the whole MoAD team!
Sonic Lineages is on view at MoAD through May 30, 2027. Don’t miss it.
#AfropolitanBall #MoAD #DeweyCrumpler #SonicLineages #BayAreaArt BlackArtWeek

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A MUST SEE before it closes October 18!

“Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” at the Oakland Museum of California is a spectacular retrospective celebrating five decades of work by one of the country’s most important and influential Black women artists.

Powerful, poetic, and visually stunning, the exhibition explores memory, identity, family, history, and belonging through Howard’s deeply personal yet monumental work.

I’ve also included a few images from the opening celebration on June 11, which made the evening especially memorable for me. It happened to be my birthday! 🎂✨

📍 Oakland Museum of California
📅 On view through October 18
@mildredhoward
@oaklandmuseumca

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