Brooklyn Museum Holds First Spike Lee Exhibition
Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon in She's Gotta Have It (1986). 84 min. Directed by Spike Lee. Courtesy Brooklyn Museum. Photo: © David C. Lee.
Showcasing the provocative director’s diverse library of influences, Spike Lee: Creative Sources will run at the Brooklyn Museum from 6 October 2023 through 4 February 2024.
It will be the first exhibition by the museum dedicated to the Brooklyn-raised cinema icon, who is known for films such as School Daze (1988), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), and BlacKkKlansman (2018).
The show will honour Lee’s personal connection to Brooklyn, described by curator Kimberli Gant as ‘a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling.’
The exhibition ‘offers a fresh perspective on a cultural icon, focusing on the individuals and influences that have shaped Spike Lee’s body of work,’ Gant said.
Works by other significant Black American artists are presented throughout, including Gordon Parks, Deborah Roberts, Kehinde Wiley, and Michael Ray Charles, whose satirical painting Forever Free (Bamboozled) (1997) inspired Lee’s confrontational dark comedy Bamboozled (2000).
Also on show are depictions of influential Black American and African figures who have in various ways impacted Lee, such as Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Joe Louis, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Angela Davis, Prince, Michael Jordan, and Barack Obama.
Over 300 objects, including artworks, photographs, vintage posters, costumes, memorabilia, and musical instruments—including Prince’s ‘Love Symbol’ guitar—will be presented across seven thematic sections.
These span Black history and culture, Brooklyn, sports, music, cinema history, family, and politics, with each section featuring a clip from Lee’s films. —[O]
Main image: Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon in She's Gotta Have It (1986). 84 min. Directed by Spike Lee. Courtesy Brooklyn Museum. Photo: © David C. Lee.
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