Njideka Akunyili Crosby and the recent exhibition record in Los Angeles
Published on 08/31/2026 at 16:29 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Njideka Akunyili Crosby extends her exhibition presence in the U.S. with a prominent summer slot in Los Angeles. As the David Zwirner exhibition page for California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version) states, the group show ran at the gallery’s 606 N Western Avenue space from June 4 to August 1, 2026 and included her among a roster of Los Angeles-based artists. David Zwirner exhibition page
The Los Angeles group exhibition
The exhibition California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version) at David Zwirner in Los Angeles was organized by curator Helen Molesworth and positioned as a contemporary response to the historic Light and Space movement. Participating artists listed on the gallery’s page include Njideka Akunyili Crosby alongside Catherine Opie, Lauren Halsey, Lari Pittman and others.
The show ran from June 4 to August 1, 2026, with an opening reception on June 4 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, according to the gallery’s schedule. It gathered works in painting, sculpture, photography, clay, drawing and installation that respond to Los Angeles’s particular light, geography and vernacular built environment.
Exhibition & show presence in 2026
Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s own CV confirms her participation in California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version) at David Zwirner Los Angeles between June 4 and August 1, 2026, placing the show among several major U.S. exhibitions in the same year.
In 2026, her CV lists the long-running group exhibition To My Best Friend at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, from January 23 to December 31, and Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from December 14, 2025 to July 25, 2026, alongside Recognition of Art by Women: In Retrospect at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.
All news and background on Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Readers who follow Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s exhibitions and institutional projects can find further coverage of her shows, commissions and museum appearances in the AD HOC NEWS archive.
The work core across painting and collage
Njideka Akunyili Crosby works primarily in large-scale figurative painting on paper that incorporates drawing, photo-transfer, collage and printmaking, building densely layered domestic scenes anchored in Nigerian and diasporic experience. Her CV and institutional holdings list numerous works that explore interior spaces and everyday gestures as sites of cultural and political negotiation.
Key work groups include the The Beautyful Ones series, which has been the focus of solo exhibitions at Victoria Miro and the National Portrait Gallery in London, and works such as Still You Bloom in This Land of No Gardens, which foreground domestic intimacy against lush plant motifs. Museums such as MoMA, Tate Modern and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have acquired her work, indicating sustained institutional demand.
Where Njideka Akunyili Crosby stands now
Against this backdrop, Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s position in 2026 is defined by concurrent exhibition participation at David Zwirner Los Angeles, MoMA in New York, the ICA Boston and the Norton Museum of Art, alongside an expanding list of commissions and major museum acquisitions documented on her CV.
Key facts on Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Artist: Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Medium / Genre: Painting and mixed media (figurative collage-based works)
- Born: 1983, Enugu, Nigeria
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice based in Los Angeles, with extensive institutional projects in the United States and Europe
- Active since: Active as an exhibiting artist since around 2009, with early group shows in New Haven and Detroit listed in her CV.
- Key work groups: The Beautyful Ones, I Refuse to be Invisible, Portals, Obodo (Country/City/Town/Ancestral Village)
- Current/last exhibition: California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version), David Zwirner, Los Angeles, June 4 to August 1, 2026.
- Major collections: Museum of Modern Art (New York), Tate Modern (London), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town), among others listed on her CV.
- Awards: MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2017), Smithsonian African Art Award (2019), Prix Canson (2016), United States Artists Fellowship (2021), Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize (2015), James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize (2014), among other distinctions.
- Next date: The artist’s CV documents multi-venue exhibitions running through late 2026, including To My Best Friend at ICA Boston until December 31, 2026 and Everything Now All At Once at the Nasher Museum of Art until November 1, 2026, but no new specific opening date within the immediate 30-day window.
Frequently asked questions about Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Where was Njideka Akunyili Crosby recently on view in Los Angeles?
In summer 2026, Njideka Akunyili Crosby was part of the group exhibition California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version) at David Zwirner’s 606 N Western Avenue location in Los Angeles, running from June 4 to August 1, 2026.
Which major U.S. museums showed Njideka Akunyili Crosby in 2026?
Her CV lists participation in Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (December 14, 2025 to July 25, 2026), To My Best Friend at the ICA Boston (January 23 to December 31, 2026) and Recognition of Art by Women: In Retrospect at the Norton Museum of Art.
Which awards underline Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s international recognition?
Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s CV lists numerous awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship in 2017, the Smithsonian African Art Award in 2019, the Prix Canson in 2016 and the Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2015, among others.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
