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Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today
silhouette of two men swinging masks against a cloudy sky

April 18, 2024 to July 28, 2024

Formerly On view at MCASD

Taking the 1990s as its cultural backdrop, Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today is the first major group exhibition in the United States to envision a new approach to contemporary art in the Caribbean diaspora, foregrounding forms that reveal new modes of thinking about identity and place. Over 20 artists are featured in this exhibition, many of whom live in the Caribbean or are of Caribbean heritage.

Forecast Form is anchored in the concept of diaspora, the dispersal of people through migration both forced and voluntary. Here, diaspora is not a longing to return home but a way of understanding that we are always in movement and that our identities are in constant states of transformation. The exhibition uses the concept of weather and its constantly changing forms as a metaphor to analyze artistic practices connected to the Caribbean, understanding the region as a bellwether for our rapidly shifting times.

Background

The 1990s were a period of profound social, political, and economic transformation. From the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc to the rise of transnational trade agreements, the decade’s large-scale shifts ushered in an era of international connectivity and social upheaval. In the cultural sector, art exhibitions expanded and turned global, and dialogues around identity, especially by those who have suffered systemic oppression, were featured front and center in cultural debates. The forces of this pivotal decade also had a major effect on the production, circulation, and presentation of art from the Caribbean.

Artists on view

The exhibition’s artists include Candida Alvarez, Álvaro Barrios, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker, Christopher Cozier, Julien Creuzet, Peter Doig, Jeannette Ehlers, Tomm El-Saieh, Alia Farid, Rafael Ferrer, Denzil Forrester, Joscelyn Gardner, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Engel Leonardo, Daniel Lind-Ramos, Suchitra Mattai, Ana Mendieta, Lorraine O'Grady, Ebony G. Patterson, Keith Piper, Freddy Rodríguez, Zilia Sánchez, and Adán Vallecillo.

Content Warnings

Sensory note: People with photosensitive epilepsy or who may be susceptible to seizures should be aware of Maksaens Denis’s sculpture, which contains flickering, flashing, and strobing effects.

Content note: Several works in this exhibition contain mature content including challenging images and language of violence and suffering. Please use discretion while visiting these galleries.

Press

“A moving investigation of art from the Caribbean diaspora”
Vogue

“Conveys ... complexities [of the Caribbean diaspora] with rigor, beauty, and aplomb”
Art in America

“Disrupts a fraught lineage of exhibition-making”
Hyperallergic

Funders


Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today is organized by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Major support for this exhibition is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today
is curated by Carla Acevedo-Yates, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, with Iris Colburn, Curatorial Associate, Isabel Casso, former Susman Curatorial Fellow MCA Chicago now Associate Curator, MCASD, and Nolan Jimbo, Assistant Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is made possible with major support from Catherine and Robert Palmer and additional gifts to the annual operating fund.

Financial support is provided by the City of San Diego through the Commission for Arts and Culture.

Related Events

Members' Preview: Forecast Form

Free Public Opening: Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today

Artist Talk: Christopher Cozier

Axline Lecture: Daniel Lind-Ramos

Axline Lecture: Daniel Lind-Ramos

Related Press

Top: Christopher Cozier, "Gas Men" (still), 2014.