News / Titus Kaphar / Events

Titus Kaphar is the honoree of the 2024 Brooklyn Artists Ball, taking place on April 9 in New York. Kaphar—a Brooklyn Museum trustee and cofounder and president of the nonprofit arts hub NXTHVN—was selected for his innumerable contributions as both a trailblazing artist and a community-focused activist. The Artists Ball is the museum’s largest fundraiser, generating pivotal revenue in support of programming that spans special exhibitions and reimagined collection installations as well as educational programs for visitors of all ages.

April 5–6, 2024
Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center, New York
www.newdirectors.org

Exhibiting Forgiveness (2023), a film written, directed, and produced by Titus Kaphar, has been selected for New Directors/New Films 2024, a festival presented by Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art that showcases emerging directors working at the vanguard of cinema. Exploring family, generational healing, and the power of forgiveness, the motion picture follows a Black artist (André Holland) attempting to overcome the trauma of his past through painting; he is on the path to success when he is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father. In its New York premiere, Exhibiting Forgiveness will be screened on April 5 and 6, followed by question-and-answer sessions with Kaphar and Holland.

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Friday, April 28, 2023, 7pm
Metrograph, New York
metrograph.com

Join Titus Kaphar and director Derek Cianfrance on the opening night of Titus Kaphar Selects, a film program curated by the artist as part of a series copresented by Gagosian and Metrograph. The evening will include screenings of Kaphar’s short films Shut Up and Paint, an Oscar-shortlisted work in which he looks to the medium of film in the face of an insatiable art market seeking to silence his activism, and I Hold Your Love, a New Yorker documentary that explores the joys and injustices of Black motherhood. Following the screenings, the pair will speak about their respective practices and work, including Cianfrance’s 2010 film Blue Valentine, which also features in the program.

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April 28–May 11, 2023
Metrograph, New York
metrograph.com

Titus Kaphar has curated a selection of films as part of a series copresented by Gagosian and Metrograph. The program features seven films that have each served to validate feelings of joy, pain, fear, or sorrow for the artist, as well as two short films that he directed.

Kaphar explains, “Film is a uniquely powerful medium. Its ability to tap into our emotions is unlike anything else for me. This is not a top ten list. This is a decidedly subjective selection of films that, through their vulnerability and specificity, have made me feel less alone.”

Featured films include
The Babadook
Blue Valentine
Boyz n the Hood
Do the Right Thing
Drive My Car
I Hold Your Love
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Moonlight
Shut Up and Paint

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6–7pm
Gagosian Shop, New York

In celebration of their new book, Redaction, Titus Kaphar and memoirist, poet, and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts will sign copies, following a poetry reading by Betts. The volume documents the pair’s Redaction series, first presented in 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Bringing together poetry by Betts that draws upon redacted legal documents and Kaphar’s etched portraits of incarcerated individuals, the project exposes the ways in which the legal system exploits and erases the poor and incarcerated from public consciousness. Redaction was designed in close collaboration with Kaphar and Betts and also includes an introduction by Sarah Suzuki, associate director at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, the book will be available for purchase at the event.

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 6:30pm
New York Public Library
www.nypl.org

This event has been canceled.

Titus Kaphar and memoirist, poet, and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts will speak about their joint artistic and literary project, Redaction, which confronts the abuses of the criminal justice system, as well as discuss their exploration of history, incarceration, and race in America. Redaction unites their different mediums—visual art and poetry—to expose the ways in which the legal system exploits and erases the poor and incarcerated from public consciousness. The event will also air on the New York Public Library’s YouTube channel.

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Saturday, February 18, 2023, 7:30pm
Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
www.kennedy-center.org

Titus Kaphar will speak with Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of the Roots as part of the emcee’s Streams of Thought conversation series, in which cultural leaders share intimate discussions encompassing art, inspiration, and creative consciousness. The 2022 documentary short film Shut Up and Paint, directed by Kaphar and Alex Mallis, will also be screened during the event. The conversation series is presented by the Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture Program as part of For the Culture artist residency program and Culture Talks series.

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May 13–15, 2022
London
londongalleryweekend.art

As part of London Gallery Weekend, Gagosian will have extended hours at all London locations, including the Gagosian Shop in Burlington Arcade, where visitors can browse Richard Prince artist’s books, posters, and other merchandise as part of his Shop takeover. Visitors can view the exhibitions Cristina Iglesias at Davies Street, which opens on Saturday, May 14; Titus Kaphar: New Alte̲rs: Reworking Devotion at Grosvenor Hill, before it closes on May 15; and Damien Hirst: Natural History at Britannia Street.

A range of activities will be offered, including exhibition tours and drop-in drawing hours for visitors of all ages, in addition to treats from Connaught Patisserie and Treats Club. In its second year, London Gallery Weekend is a free annual event featuring over 150 of the city’s leading contemporary art galleries coming together to celebrate culture and creativity.

Friday, September 17, 2021, 12pm EDT

Titus Kaphar will be in conversation with art collectors Arthur Lewis and Hau Nguyen as part of the at home: Symposium at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. The trio will discuss Kaphar’s practice and the importance of supporting emerging artists, artists of color, and local art communities. The talk will be moderated by Abigail Lamphier, senior curatorial assistant at the Center. Focusing on “The Politics of the Portrait,” the three-part online symposium considers potential solutions and alternatives regarding the history, display, and making of portraits and the role of representation in today’s sociopolitical climate. To join the online event, register at yale.zoom.us.

Friday, July 16, 2021, 3pm EDT

Join Titus Kaphar and fellow artist Diana Pumpelly Bates for a conversation about Black creativity, artistic inspiration, and the importance of mentorship. This discussion, held in conjunction with the traveling exhibition The Black Index, will be moderated by exhibition curator Bridget R. Cooks. To join the online event, register at eventbrite.com.

Friday, September 4, 2020, 8:42am edt (1:42pm BST)

As part of this year’s FT Weekend Digital Festival, Titus Kaphar will speak with Jan Dalley about the driving forces behind his work, as well as his nonprofit arts incubator, NXTHVN, which harnesses the power of creativity and education to change lives. During the conversation, a Gagosian Quarterly video about NXTHVN will premiere.

Gagosian is partnering to host the arts program throughout the three-day virtual event. Recent Gagosian Quarterly films on Dan Colen, Theaster Gates, Jenny Saville, Sarah Sze, and Stanley Whitney, will be screened between the sessions. To join, purchase tickets at ftweekend.live.ft.com. 

Monday, July 13, 2020, 11–11:30am EDT

Joining from his arts incubator NXTHVN in New Haven, Connecticut, Titus Kaphar will speak with Zoé Whitley, director at Chisenhale Gallery in London, live on the Design Emergency Instagram account. The pair will discuss Kaphar’s cover and accompanying written piece for the June 15, 2020, issue of Time, as well the artist’s use of absence as a form of visual expression. Founded by Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn, Design Emergency is an initiative that explores design’s impact on and role in the covid-19 crisis. To watch the live conversation, visit Design Emergency’s Instagram.