Juke Joint

Juke Joint
May 8–June 20, 2026

Juke Joint exhibition shares its title with a book of photographs by Birney Imes, published in 1990 by the University of Mississippi Press. The paintings, assemblages, drawings, and collages in our show appear to have spilled out the back door of any number of these places across the Southern United States and into the collective consciousness.

Nothing comes from nothing. Everything comes from something. The term juke is believed to come from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly. Joog, in turn, is almost certainly derived from the Wolof word dzug meaning to misconduct one’s self. Juke also describes the outmaneuvering of an opponent, generally through quick movements. Colloquially the purview of athletes, this exhibition proposes an aesthetic shake off, embodied by Black artists engaged in a century-long dialogue using misdirection as a method of both survival and celebration... read more

Download Press Release

Installation ViewsIndividual WorksPress Release

Birney Imes
Juicy’s Place, 1984; Marcella, Mississippi, 1984
Chromogenic print
13 1/2 x 17 inches

Inquire

Birney Imes
Evening Star Lounge, 1984; Falcon, Mississippi, 1984
Chromogenic print
14 3/8 x 18 1/2 inches

Inquire

Birney Imes
Turk’s Place, 1989; Leflore County; Mississippi, 1989
Chromogenic print
14 3/8 x 18 1/2 inches

Inquire

Birney Imes
Magic Star, 1984; Falcon. Mississippi, 1984
Chromogenic print
13 1/2 x 16 7/8 inches

Inquire

Birney Imes
Pink Pony Café, 1983; Darling, Mississippi, 1983
Chromogenic print
13 1/2 x 17 inches

Inquire

Birney Imes
Pink Pony Café, 1983; Darling, Mississippi, 1983
Chromogenic print
13 1/3 x 17 inches

Inquire

Thornton Dial
Strapping Up for the Road (Shipping in the United States), 2002
Steel, cloth, Splash Zone compound, enamel, and spray pant on canvas over wood
60 1/4 x 48 1/4 x 3 3/8 inches

Inquire

Gerald Jackson
Untitled (Skid), c. 1980s
Acrylic, oil, enamel, felt ribbon, staples, nails and wood
78 1/2 x 66 1/2 inches

Inquire

Bill Traylor
Untitled (Exciting Event with Red Man Drinking), c. 1939-42
Pencil and red crayon on found cardboard (Mars Milky Way)
10 x 7 inches

Inquire

Polo Silk
SMOKE SOMETHING, 1998
Polaroid print
4 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

Inquire

Thornton Dial
Tiger Cat Stung by a Bee, 1989
Cloth, Splash Zone, glass marbles, and enamel on wood
48 x 72 x 1.5 inches

Inquire

Mose Tolliver
Soft Shell Turtle, late 1980s
Paint on wood panel
33 x 23 1/2 inches

Inquire

Joe Light
Fame #1, 1988
Found image, wood, enamel, spray paint on wood
40 1/2 x 37 1/2 inches

Inquire

Mary Tillman Smith
Untitled (Two Busts), ca. 1986-88
Whitewash and enamel on found tin
16 x 26 inches

Inquire

Joe Minter
Pyramid Natural Balance Harmony + Triads in Life Kemet + Sudan Hundreds + African Cultural Symbols This is the Dagi Knot West Africa the Universe and Life, 2022
Paint on wood board
48 x 48 inches

Inquire

Lonnie Holley
The Fire House — One’s Heart Must be Weighed Against a Feather, 1990
Acrylic and feather on paper
28 x 22 inches

Inquire

Purvis Young
Untitled, c. 1980s
House paint on plywood
33 1/2 x 65 1/4 inches

Inquire

Lonnie Holley
The Game We Play, 2022
Spray paint on paper
28 x 22 inches

Inquire

Henry Speller
Untitled (Two Women and Man with Cowboy Hat), ca. 1983-86
Colored pencil, crayon, graphite on paper
18 x 24 inches

Inquire

Henry Speller
Untitled (Boat on Blank Background), ca. 1983-86
Colored pencil, crayon, graphite on paper
18 x 24 inches

Inquire

Georgia Speller
Untitled (Martians, Plane, and Erotic Group), ca. 1983-86
Paint, colored pencil, graphite on paper
18 x 12 inches

Inquire

Ayé A. Aton
Vandy Harris and the Front Burners, 1999
Acrylic on paper
11 7/8 x 17 7/8 inches

Inquire

Lonnie Holley
Her and Half a Pint, 2014
Cognac bottle, wire, fabric, and string
9 x 5 x 3 1/4 inches

Inquire

Press Release

Juke Joint
May 8–June 20, 2026

 

Nothing comes from nothing. Everything comes from something. The term juke is believed to come from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly. Joog, in turn, is almost certainly derived from the Wolof word dzug meaning to misconduct one’s self. Juke also describes the outmaneuvering of an opponent, generally through quick movements. Colloquially the purview of athletes, this exhibition proposes an aesthetic shake off, embodied by Black artists engaged in a century-long dialogue using misdirection as a method of both survival and celebration. It takes the juke joint as both inspiration and setting.

Historically, juke joints were not purpose-built but rather emerged in spaces that previously existed and later outfitted with bars, seating, decoration, and pool tables. These informal but influential establishments featured music, dancing, drinking, and sometimes gambling, operated by Black owners who provided private leisure space against the backdrop of segregation and Jim Crow.

The origins of these spaces may lie in pre-emancipation community rooms, but we are ill-equipped to delve into centuries of creative survivalist response. Instead, this exhibition is focused on the development of a coherent visual language that reached a zenith in the 1980s, after the great social movements of the 1960s and before the ubiquitous arrival of ever-isolating technologies. The congruity of the works can be explained by the once widespread existence of these private gathering spaces paired with the inclinations of artists who held jobs working with their hands. The exhibition shares its title with a book of photographs by Birney Imes, published in 1990 by the University of Mississippi Press. The paintings, assemblages, drawings, and collages in our show appear to have spilled out the back door of any number of these places across the Southern United States and into the collective consciousness.

I remember walking into Tee Dee’s Lounge in Lexington, Kentucky some twenty-five years ago and being immediately struck by an overwhelming sense of place. The bar is organized around a small stage, visually anchored by the spraypainted skyline of an unknown city—equally foreboding and promising. It embodied all the potential of the world but you didn’t have to leave to feel it.

Paying homage to these vanishing spaces is not a way to memorialize them, but to recognize the aesthetics, techniques, and driving spirit they possess as juke joints continue to be displaced or closed by the passing of generations. The greatest lesson, perhaps, is the fundamental need for human beings of all backgrounds to gather away from the trappings of everyday life. It is in this spirit that we have organized our exhibition, presenting works spanning from 1939-2022 which reflect both the visual and conceptual elements of an evolving cultural phenomenon.

Download Press Release

 

Commissioned Essays

Sunday morning outside darling
Birney Imes

HOUSES OF ILL FAME
Y. Malik Jalal

Outlaw Creativity: Beauty from the Soul
María Elena Ortiz

Selected Press

The New York Times
Art Gallery Shows to See in May
May 7, 2026
By Jillian Steinhauer

Subscribe

Receive the latest news and updates from MARCH

Thank you for following along with MARCH