MoMA PS1 Presents an Exhibition of Multidisciplinary Artist Ralph Lemon
Ralph Lemon, Untitled 1, 2016. From the series Untitled (The greatest [Black] art history story ever told. Unfinished). Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photo: Martin Parsekian
This fall, MoMA PS1 will present a major exhibition of Ralph Lemon (b. 1952, Cincinnati), showcasing over forty works created across disciplines in the past decade, alongside six collaborative performances. Opening on November 14, 2024, ‘Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon’ will span dance, drawings, photographs, sculpture, paintings, and video, occupying the museum’s expansive third-floor galleries. A dedicated performance space will feature live works staged throughout the exhibition’s run.
As a significant figure in New York’s downtown art scene since the 1990s, Lemon draws deeply on the legacies of postmodern dance and explores storytelling through movement. His works examine the role of performance in museums, on stage, in celebration, and in everyday life. By positioning the body as an archive of emotion, labor, and history, Lemon challenges conventional ways of understanding the world.
‘Ceremonies Out of the Air’ emphasises Lemon’s interdisciplinary collaborations across materials and time.:
- Rant redux (2020–24): The centrepiece of the exhibition, this ambitious four-channel video and sound installation, created with Kevin Beasley, is an extension of Lemon’s live performance Rant (2019–ongoing). Realized just before the COVID-19 lockdown, it has been described as an “exploded documentary” of a visceral cultural experiment exploring rage, freedom, and ecstasy. The piece features influential artists such as Beasley, Okwui Okpokwasili, Samita Sinha, Darrell Jones, and Lemon himself.
- 1856 Cessna Road (2002–24): A foundational cycle of videos, photographs, and artifacts made in collaboration with Walter Carter and his family. A former sharecropper from Little Yazoo, Mississippi, Carter participated in task-based performances inspired by Lemon’s choreographic instructions, evolving into a speculative science-fiction narrative about historical violence, collaboration, and biography as social history.
The exhibition also includes Lemon’s latest choreographies, which explore themes of generosity, devotion, Blackness, and joy. The opening weekend will feature the ensemble performance Untitled (Tell it anyway) (2024), commissioned by the Walker Art Center and created with an ensemble of renowned collaborators. In Spring 2025, Rant #6 will transform the Rant redux installation into a live performance. A full schedule of performances will be announced closer to the exhibition.
Lemon’s work defies categorisation, embodying what he calls “fugitivity.” His movement-based, anarchic creations dismantle formalist conventions, disrupt straightforward historical narratives, and interrogate how time and place are embedded in muscle memory. From vibrant drawings that merge diasporic Black life and recognisable art history to video works referencing figures like Bruce Nauman and James Baldwin, Lemon’s oeuvre connects the mundane with the infinite, dedication with spiritual release.
A key feature of the exhibition is Lemon’s ongoing drawing series, Untitled (The Greatest [Black] Art History Ever Told) (2015–present), which will include responses by invited guest artists. A companion catalogue will be published, featuring essays by theorists, artists, and Lemon’s collaborators.
Ralph Lemon is a Philadelphia-based choreographer, writer, and visual artist. His work has been featured in exhibitions at venues such as The Kitchen, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Walker Art Center. Lemon has performed at MoMA, organised the performance series Some sweet day (2012), and authored the monograph Modern Dance (2016). His accolades include three Bessie Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and the National Medal of Arts (2015). In 2022, he received the Bucksbaum Award for his contributions to the Whitney Biennial. Lemon’s work is held in major collections, including MoMA, the Walker Art Center, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
‘Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon’ is organised by Connie Butler, Director, MoMA PS1, and Thomas Lax, Curator, Department of Media and Performance, MoMA, with Kari Rittenbach, Assistant Curator, MoMA PS1.
The exhibition is supported by Sarah Arison, the Ford Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, the Wallis Annenberg Director’s Fund, and others, with institutional support from the Mellon Foundation.
The exhibition is on view from the 14th of November, 2024, until the 25th of March, 2025. For more information, please visit MoMA PS1.
