Isaac Julien: Once Again . . . (Statues Never Die)

Danny Huston as Albert Barnes , a still from Statues Never Die, 2022, Isaac Julien. © Isaac Julien

In celebration of its centennial, the Barnes Foundation has commissioned Once Again . . . (Statues Never Die), an immersive five-screen installation by artist and filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien, CBE RA (b. London, 1960). The work explores the relationship between Dr. Albert C. Barnes, who was an early US collector and exhibitor of African material culture, and the famed philosopher and cultural critic Alain Locke, known as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance.”

Once Again . . . (Statues Never Die) looks at Dr. Barnes’s and Alain Locke’s storied relationship, its mutually formative critical dialogue, and its significant impact on their work as cultural critics, educators, organizers, and activists on behalf of various African American causes.

With his distinguished career as a maker of deeply thoughtful and compelling video installations, his commitment to the investigation of African diasporic politics and culture, and his abiding interest in the Harlem Renaissance, Isaac Julien is the perfect partner for the Barnes in bringing this lesser-known chapter of the Foundation’s history to light.

The exhibition includes works by sculptors Richmond Barthé (1901–1989) and Matthew Harrison (b. 1989) and selected African objects from the Barnes collection.