Jenkins Johnson San Francisco presents The avant-garde. Those ahead of their time, on view from Thursday, October 3 through November 23, 2024. This exhibition in tandem with Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week presented by the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD). Showcasing primarily Bay Area artists who have been game changers for decades with their practice spanning from abstraction to conceptual art, while simultaneously making great impacts within their communities. Featured are influential artists Dewey Crumpler, Violet Fields, JoeSam., Arthur Monroe, and South African artist Dr. Esther Mahlangu.

Dewey Crumpler is a Bay Area artist and educator known for creating surreal experiences that combine video, mixed media, sculpture, and traditional painting techniques. His work explores themes of race, capitalism, and oppression, transcending boundaries and engaging in deep cultural critique. For over three decades, Crumpler has been captivated by the tulip as a symbol of diaspora and commodification. Inspired by his visit to Amsterdam, Crumpler draws parallels between the global spread of tulips and the historical exploitation of Black bodies. The tulip, representing resilience, becomes a metaphor for the strength and endurance of African Americans. Crumpler’s work is currently on view in Dewey Crumpler: Life studies at the Dr. David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland. A retrospective exhibition at MOAD is planned for 2026, curated by Key Joe Lee.

Violet Fields is an African American artist and poet who has worked for over six decades, focusing on transformation and the human experience. Her practice is deeply inspired by spirituality, aiming to enlighten and uplift viewers as a positive force in the world. Fields’ practice is deeply inspired by her spirituality and seeks to enlighten and uplift the viewer to be a positive force in the world. Influenced by her mentor, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, her compositions feature irregular geometric shapes and lines in pale "sandstone colors" reflecting a personal introspection. Using layers of colored pencils, pastels, and paint, she reveals subtle textures in folded creased paper and canvas. Fields has been drawn to create work her entire life, her use of mixed media was originally a product of the poverty she experienced during childhood. Now later in her life, mixed media has become a conscious decision and Fields uses alternative materials to demonstrate the misrepresentation of value within society. Her work has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro, Stanford University, and Metal Haus Gallery in Oakland. Fields' art is also publicly displayed throughout Washington, Los Angeles, and extensively across Kaiser Permanente facilities in Northern California.

JoeSam. was a contemporary artist, educator, and activist celebrated for his vibrant, community-centered works addressing the condition of people of African descent. Incorporating objects like bicycle wheels, cigarettes, and plastic pipes with archival images and bold text, his art draws from California's streets and often subtly references Black history and culture without directly invoking trauma. JoeSam.'s politically charged pieces address significant events such as the Jonestown Massacre, the Rodney King beating, and the Charleston church shooting in South Carolina while focusing on the resilience of Black communities. His work has been commissioned by several public institutions, including the San Francisco Mission Police Station, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Rosa Parks Metro Rail Station, and the Sharks Ice Center in San Jose. He received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant, a Flintridge Foundation Award, and the Fleishhacker Foundation Fellowship Eureka Award. He also produced commercial art, including illustrations for The Invisible Hunters and album covers for Bobby McFerrin. Over four decades in San Francisco, JoeSam. Built close relationships with Bay Area artists such as Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Robert Colescott and Dewey Crumpler.

Dr. Esther Mahlangu is a globally celebrated artist and cultural ambassador of the Ndebele Nation. Known for her bright, bold, geometric paintings, Mahlangu's work draws on traditional Ndebele techniques passed down through generations of women. Without the use of rulers or prior sketches, she creates intricate designs using a chicken feather brush, prioritizing straight lines and balance as taught to her by her grandmother. Her art not only honors the Ndebele heritage but also serves as a reflection of the resilience and creativity of Black women. Mahlangu gained international acclaim as the first African woman to participate in the BMW Art Car Collection in 1991, alongside artists like David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. This iconic "Art Car" has been exhibited at institutions such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the British Museum, cementing Mahlangu’s place in art history. Her works are in museums including Centre Pompidou, Paris; Iziko Museum, Cape Town, SA; and Brooklyn Museum, NY. This Fall, she has a retrospective at Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, and a mural will be unveiled at the Serpentine Gallery. She is currently in the 60th Venice Biennale and at High Museum of Art.

Arthur Monroe was an Abstract Expressionist painter, educator, and activist deeply connected to the Beat Movement of the 1950s. Known for his labor-intensive process, Monroe often spent years on a single painting, treating his artistic journey as a scientific inquiry. His works reflect his dedication to abstract expressionism, influenced by mentors like Hans Hofmann and peers such as Norman Lewis, Franz Kline, and Jackson Pollock. Monroe's involvement with influential cultural figures, including Charlie "Bird" Parker, Thelonious Monk, and LeRoi Jones, further enriched his artistic vision. After moving to California in the 1950s, Monroe became a central figure in the Beat Generation. In 1975, he transformed the Oakland Cannery into a legal live-work space for artists, pioneering similar spaces throughout the region. His papers from 1950-2019 were acquired by the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art in 2019. His recent retrospective Arthur Monroe: A tower to carry was held at the Sonoma Valley Art Museum in 2024, and he has an upcoming exhibition in Tucson, Arizona.