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A groundbreaking multimedia exhibition
Edges of Ailey

Edges of Ailey is the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences, and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931–1989). This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life.  

The Johnson Collection has four pieces on loan to this groundbreaking multimedia show. See Loïs Mailou Jones's Africa (1935), Bill Traylor's Untitled (Man in a Blue House), Clementine Hunter's Cane River Baptism (Circa 1950–1956), and Samella Lewis's Migrants (1968)This exhibition runs from September 25, 2024, until February 9, 2025. 

“I’m Alvin Ailey. I’m a choreographer. I’m a Black man whose roots are in the sun and the dirt of the South.”
Exhibition
Who was Alvin Ailey?
"Alvin Ailey was an incomparable dancer, a forward-facing visionary, and one of the most significant choreographers of the 20th century. Born on January 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas where he grew up with his mother, working in cotton fields and witnessing the river baptisms at their local church—experiences that would later inspire some of his most memorable ballets. It was after moving to Los Angeles that he experienced concert dance for the first time, and changed the course of his life. In 1958, Ailey founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to uplifting the African American experience while enriching and preserving the legacy of modern dance. The creation of his masterpiece Revelations in 1960 cemented his reputation as a choreographer of unique vision, with the ability to transcend racial barriers and connect deeply to people’s humanity." —Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation
What is the Whitney Museum of American Art?
"The Whitney is the only museum dedicated to American art and artists. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney founded the Museum in 1930, taking a bold stand for American artists who were often overlooked. Today, the collection features works by over 4,000 artists, including luminaries like Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, and Faith Ringgold. Their signature exhibition, the Whitney Biennial, is the longest-running survey of American art, where artists test boundaries, spark conversation, and shape culture." — Whitney Museum of American Art, About Us

Ailey's Influences through Visual Art

"The works in this exhibit are arranged by themes that shaped Ailey’s life and dances. Sections span an expanded Black southern imaginary that enfolds histories of the American South with those of the Caribbean, Brazil, and West Africa; the enduring practices of Black spirituality; the profound conditions and effects of Black migration; the resilience for and necessity of an intersectional Black liberation; the prominence of Black women in Ailey’s life; and the robust histories and experiments of Black music; along with the myriad representations of Blackness in dance and meditations on dance after Ailey." — Edges of Ailey exhibition page, Whitney Museum of American Art