THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM’S highly regarded artist-in-residence program is welcoming a new cohort: sonia louise davis, Malcolm Peacock, and Zoë Pulley. Working across a range of mediums from textiles and performance to graphic design and audio, the artists hail most recently from New York, New Orleans, and Providence, R.I. The news was announced today.
Davis was effusive about being selected. On Instagram she said: “absolutely unreal. no way to sum up this feeling in words. honored, humbled and just unbelievably grateful for this opportunity, which is a literal dream come true. thank you to everyone who had some small hand in making this possible. can’t get over the fact that i get to be part of THE historic institution and legacy that is @studiomuseum.”
Established in 1968, the residency program provides an invaluable experience for emerging artists of African and Afro-Latinx descent, a unique environment in which to explore, experiment, and find the focus and clarity necessary to advance their practices.
From left: sonia louise davis. | Photo by Ivan Forde, Malcolm Peacock. | Photo by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr.; and Zoë Pulley. | Photo by Nik Muka
“We are honored to welcome sonia louise davis, Malcolm Peacock, and Zoë Pulley to the Artist-in-Residence program, which has been vital to the Museum since its inception,” Studio Museum Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden said in the announcement. “Over the past five decades, the program has had a deep impact on emerging artists. As the Museum enters a period of dynamic growth, this residency continues to reflect the heart of our mission, which is to provide unwavering support to working artists and present their work to our global community.”
The new artists have diverse practices and bring an array of experience:
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sonia louise davis (b. 1988) is a visual artist, writer, and performer born and raised in New York City. Her work is deeply invested in improvisation as an embodied research practice. She is currently a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellow at the Queens Museum, where her first institutional solo show, to reverberate tenderly, will open in late fall 2023. She is an honors graduate of Wesleyan University (BA, African American Studies) and alumna of the Whitney Independent Study Program. sonia lives and works in Harlem.
Malcolm Peacock (b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the emotional and psychic spaces of his Black subjects. Peacock is particularly interested in art as a site to make and explore different forms of intimacy. He has participated in residencies at the University of Pennsylvania; St. Roch Community Church; the Joan Mitchell Center; Denniston Hill; and the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. He earned a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016 and an MFA from the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University in 2019. He has been based in New Orleans, La.
Zoë Pulley (b. 1993) is a designer and maker who utilizes stuff to surface the seemingly ordinary stories of Black folks through mixed media, typography, and audio. She defines “stuff” as artifacts both physical and nonphysical that may be relegated as unimportant to some—as merely, stuff. Most recently, Pulley has shown work in a group exhibition, Dress Code, at the Newport Art Museum, and a performance at RISD Museum. She earned a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015 and an MFA in graphic design from Rhode Island School of Design in 2023. Born in Chicago, she grew up in South Orange, N.J.
Over the years, more than 150 artists have completed the Studio Museum’s artist-in-residence program. Alumni represent three generations of critically recognized artists, including Terry Adkins, Jordan Casteel, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Lauren Halsey, David Hammons, Maren Hassinger, Titus Kaphar, Simone Leigh, Kerry James Marshall, Valerie Maynard, Julie Mehretu, Meleko Mokgosi, Wangechi Mutu, Mickalene Thomas, Nari Ward, and Kehinde Wiley.
Assistant Curator Yelena Keller said: “One of the most exciting elements of this residency is how, each year, the artists of this program push the Museum’s mission forward in new and expansive ways. sonia louise davis, Malcolm Peacock, and Zoë Pulley’s dynamic practices bring forth intimate and radical propositions for engaging Black histories while creating work that centers deep listening, care, and intention.”
“One of the most exciting elements of this residency is how, each year, the artists of this program push the Museum’s mission forward in new and expansive ways.” — Assistant Curator Yelena Keller
For the new cohort, the renowned program begins next month. The artists will be in residence from October 2023 to September 2024, with the benefits of institutional and material support. In addition to studio space, key opportunities include regular engagement with Studio Museum curators, professional development and guidance, and participation in an exhibition at the end of the residency.
The Studio Museum’s current artists-in-residence are preparing for their concluding exhibition. The 2022–23 cohort includes Jeffrey Meris, Devin N. Morris, and Charisse Pearlina Weston, who will present their group show at MoMA PS1 this fall. The arrangement is part of a multiyear partnership between the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, and MoMA PS1. The Studio Museum’s new home remains under construction. CT
FIND MORE about the artists: sonia louise davis on her website and Instagram; Malcolm Peacock in a recent Bomb magazine interview; and Zoë Pulley on her website and Instagram
ZOË PULLEY, “dear[ ],” 2023 (video still). | Image courtesy the artist
In May 2023, Pulley described her practice, her enduring use of text in her work, and the influence of her family. | Video by RISD
MALCOLM PEACOCK, “We served… and they felt tiny bursts along the horizon,” 2021 (performance). | Photo: TK Smith, Image courtesy the artist
In May 2021, Malcolm Peacock discussed his work while in residence at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans. | Video by Joan Mitchell Foundation
sonia louise davis, “emergence: wellspring,” 2023 (Peruvian highland wool, merino, recycled acrylic, 58 x 58 x 2 inches. | Image courtesy the artist
On Instagram, sonia louise davis said she was honored, humble, and grateful to be participating in the Studio Museum in Harlem’s artist-in-residency program. Her first solo museum exhibition opens in December at the Queens Museum in New York: “sonia louise davis to reverberate tenderly” (Dec. 6, 2023-April 7, 2024
BOOKSHELF
“Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem” documents the landmark traveling exhibition, which showcases selections from the museum’s collection. From 2001 to 2018, a series of five group exhibitions at the Studio Museum showcased a wide-range of up-and-coming artists: Freestyle (2001), Frequency (2005–06), Flow (2008), Fore (2012–13), and Fictions (2017–18). Each was accompanied by a catalog now collected in a box set.
