(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents Black Is The New Black, a group exhibition curated by Bryant Small. The exhibition will be on view at the Art House Gallery from Saturday, February 7 through Sunday, March 1, 2026. It brings together six artists whose practices demonstrate the expressive power, conceptual range, and visual intensity of working in monochrome.
Presented at the Art House Gallery in Jersey City, the exhibition features works by Daniel Jenkins, Kortez, Somina Mosaku, Tenjin Ikeda, Tolu Olasoji, and QRCKY—artists who approach black-and-white not as a limitation, but as a generative framework.
Stripped of color, the works foreground form, texture, gesture, contrast, and narrative. Black and white become both material and metaphor—a visual language through which issues of identity, perception, documentation, abstraction, and urban experience are distilled and sharpened. Across painting, photography, mixed media, and graphic-based practices, the artists explore how absence and presence, light and shadow, heighten emotional resonance and conceptual clarity.
Black Is The New Black challenges viewers to slow down and look closely, revealing how nuance lives within restraint. Together, these works assert that monochrome is not neutral, but charged—capable of carrying complexity, history, and contemporary urgency with striking precision. — Bryant Small, Guest Curator
Regular gallery hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00pm–4:00pm. All artwork will be available for purchase in person at the Art House Gallery, located at 345 Marin Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ, and online via the Art House Online Gallery.
Andrea McKenna, Gallery Director, Art House Productions, says, “Black Is The New Black is a powerful meditation on the expressive range of monochrome. By stripping away color, these artists invite viewers to engage further with form, texture, and meaning. The exhibition creates space for quiet intensity and close looking, and we’re thrilled to present work that demonstrates how black and white can hold profound emotional and conceptual weight.”
Meredith Burns, Executive Artistic Director, Art House Productions, adds, “At Art House, we’re committed to presenting exhibitions that reflect both artistic excellence and lived experience. Black Is The New Black, curated by Bryant Small, brings together a remarkable group of artists whose work speaks to identity, history, and contemporary life with clarity and urgency. We’re proud to host an exhibition that encourages reflection, dialogue, and deeper connection within our community.”
The Curator, Bryant Small, is an independent curator and arts professional whose work centers contemporary artists, community engagement, and accessible exhibition-making. He has organized exhibitions nationwide with institutions and artist-centered spaces including Art House Productions, Mana Contemporary, and the Morris Museum, where he currently serves as Associate Curator. His practice emphasizes dialogue, collaboration, inclusivity, and thoughtful presentation.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Daniel Jenkins creates work that merges figurative painting and abstraction, intentionally uniting visual opposites into a distinctive style. Shortly after completing art school, Jenkins experienced severe vision loss and was later diagnosed with a brain tumor pressing on his optic nerves. Following successful surgery and the full restoration of his eyesight, he committed to creating one artwork every day for an entire year. This pivotal period led him to integrate his classically trained figure work with abstract expressionism, blending formal training with lived experience.
Kortez is a New Jersey–based multidisciplinary artist and the creator of Esoteric Urbanism, a visual and cultural practice encompassing mixed media, collage, painting, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design, photography, fashion, and DJ culture. A graduate of the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, his work draws from pop art, graffiti, African art, and modern influences, often engaging sociopolitical themes through bold imagery and found materials. Kortez exhibits widely and remains deeply involved in community-based creative projects, connecting music and visual art as intertwined expressions of underground culture.
QRCKY’s work explores the relationship between the Black diaspora and urban environments, examining how identity is shaped by space, displacement, and cultural memory. Influenced by artists such as Kara Walker and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as music, architecture, and everyday life, his process emphasizes deconstruction and reassembly as reflections of personal and collective histories. Based in Baltimore, his work captures the city’s resilience, complexity, and layered narratives.
Somina Mosaku is a New Jersey–based visual artist whose work engages community, culture, and live artistic practice. She has participated in group exhibitions such as Walls of Life in Newark and is known for dynamic live painting experiences at public events. Mosaku remains actively connected to New Jersey’s creative community and has ties to Rutgers University, reflecting her ongoing engagement with art and education.
Tenjin Ikeda is an Afro-Puerto Rican artist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Self-taught from an early age, Ikeda has practiced art for over 30 years across painting, sculpture, and printmaking. He studied graphic design and fine arts at the School of Visual Arts and later discovered printmaking at the Art Students League, which has been his primary focus for the past 25 years. His work is held in private and public collections internationally, including The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Print Club of Albany, and the Art Students League. Ikeda has assisted artists Richard Artschwager and Keith Haring and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
Tolu Olasoji is an Emmy-winning photojournalist, multimedia artist, and digital storyteller whose work bridges documentary rigor and visual expression. Based in the New York–New Jersey area, his photography and reporting have appeared in Al Jazeera, VICE, Quartz, and The Washington Post. His practice explores culture, society, and current events through socially resonant, image-driven narratives.
ACCESSIBILITY
Large-print materials and tactile, descriptive tours are available upon request. For more information, please contact Andrea McKenna at [email protected].
Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Now celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Art House fosters creativity, inclusivity, and accessibility through theater productions, visual art exhibitions, and community programs presented both on-site and throughout the city. Visit Art House at The Hendrix, 345 Marin Boulevard in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Art House’s 2026 programming is made possible through the generous support of An Anonymous American Foundation; an anonymous donor from the Jewish Communal Fund; Hudson County Cultural Affairs’ Arts in Education and Hudson County History Partnership Programs; the Exchange Place Alliance; the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the NEA; the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (HDSID); KRE; NJ Beer Co.; the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Small Business Improvement Grant; the NJEDA Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (A.R.T.) Program Phase II – Public Space Activation; Panepinto Properties; public funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund; RWJ Barnabas | Jersey City Medical Center; SILVERMAN; Super Buy Rite; Tito’s; and many generous volunteers, donors, and sponsors.
