Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe

Deeply committed to social justice, Cambridge-based artist Tomashi Jackson (b. Houston, TX, 1980) creates vibrant prints, paintings, videos, textiles, and sculptures that powerfully explore systemic inequities found throughout U.S. history. Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe is the first exhibition to present the evolution of Jackson’s work over the past nine years in which she fuses deep historical research with artistic strategies of color and layering to illuminate underrecognized patterns of activism, resistance, oppression, and societal advances.

Influenced by California muralist traditions, Jackson’s work scrutinizes the mechanics of societal power and recognizes triumphs in civil rights advocacy and the empowerment of communities of color. Featuring artworks inspired by communities and individuals in New York, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Colorado, and Athens, Greece, Across the Universe demonstrates Jackson’s ongoing commitment to investigating underrecognized histories and visualizing recurring patterns in American democracy.

Across the Universe is organized Miranda Lash, Ellen Bruss Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and at TUAG with Dina Deitsch as organizing curator. A full-color catalogue featuring essays by Lash, Robin D.G. Kelley, Liz Munsell, Megan O’Grady and Zoé Whitley, and an interview conducted by Larry Ossei-Mensah with Tomashi Jackson and Nikita Gale is currently available.

At TUAG, Across the Universe is generously supported by the Wagner Foundation, Girlfriend Fund, and Steven, A98, A27P and Amy J98, A27P, Horowitz.

Generous support for TUAG programming is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Image: Tomashi Jackson, Here at the Western World (Professor Windham’s Early 1970s Classroom & the 1972 Second Baptist Church Choir), 2023. Property of a Private Collection, Boston. Photo courtesy of Tilton Gallery.