Exhibition I
The Lost Generation: Then and Now
The exhibition features works spanning the first and second waves of Abstract Expressionism alongside Contemporary Abstraction. The term “Lost Generation” was coined by writers Gertrude Stein, Hemingway and others to describe the generational sentiment of dysphoria and loss, which transcends into the the AbEx era and today, and has produced some of the most seminal American artists. The exhibition explores the parallel cultural circumstances from then and now. It pays homage to the ties between the New York School and the Hamptons, where many of the artists continue to work and live; and how this little corner of Long Island’s East End shaped American art from the Post-War period to the present.
Curated by BlackBook founder Evanly Schindler, the exhibition looks at art inspired by political upheaval, economic instability, and cultural fragmentation, historically and present, and how it catalyzes abstraction. It begs the question if today’s artists respond with the same urgency in gesture, color, scale, and material that defined their AbEx predecessors.
“The Abstract Expressionists were the first tidal wave of American artists and changed the art world forever. Painting in downtown NYC studios, no heat, 6 story walk-ups, partying all night on 8th St: drinking, smoking, dancing until sunrise. They were a broke crew of NY artists—Pollock, Krasner, the de Koonings, Rothko, Mitchell, Frankenthaler; founders of the AbEx movement, born from the despondent cultural circumstances of the time. Contemporary artists continue to evolve abstraction, not as escape, but to clarify new visual and philosophical structures. The show is a bridge seeking to connect then and now; AbEx and contemporary abstraction; the evolution of both propelled by world events from each generation.” — Evanly Schindler
The Lost Generation; Artists include: Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, Elaine de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Beauford Delaney, Sam Francis, Grace Hartigan, Lynne Drexler, Sam Gilliam, Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, Christopher Wool, Elizabeth Neel, Bernard Frize, Jongsuk Yoon, Kathleen Jacobs, and others.
Exhibition II
Summer Figuration
BlackBook’s second seasonal exhibition, Summer Figuration, highlights Black figurative artists who have redefined the art-historical canon. The show references pioneering exhibitions from the early 2000s to present. Over the last three decades, exhibitions such as Freestyle (Studio Museum in Harlem, 2001), Frequency (Studio Museum in Harlem, 2005–06), 30 Americans (Rubell Family Collection, 2008), Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today (Wallach Art Gallery, 2018–19), and Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys (Brooklyn Museum, 2024), helped establish artists like: Amy Sherald, Tschabalala Self, Henry Taylor, and others, many of which are featured in our show.
Summer Figuration; Artists include: Jean Michel-Basquiat, Amy Sherald, Amoako Boafo, Christina Quarles, Robert Colescott, Tschabalala Self, Henry Taylor, William H. Johnson, Shaina McCoy, Alex Gardner, Derek Fordjour, and more.
Artist Arcmanoro Niles, whose work, I was on the Path to Being Honest (Back to the Place I’ve Always Been) appears in Summer Figuration, is also being featured at Guild Hall in Easthampton in an exhibition titled, Forgotten Words I Never Got To Say, on view May 3rd – July 19th.
Public Programming & Events
Opening Memorial Day Weekend, BlackBook Art Gallery, together with the Pollock-Krasner House, will host a summer gala to celebrate and introduce the exhibitions to the Hamptons. The Gallery and Event opening are Friday May 22, with cocktails, DJ, artists, collectors, galleries, NY and Hamptons curators, plus special guest appearances. BlackBook Art Gallery and the Pollock-Krasner House will host a second summer gala on July 4th weekend, and a third on Labor Day Weekend. The gallery will activate its interior exhibition space and outdoor garden throughout the summer with an ambitious program of public events. All events are open to the public and RSVP is suggested; private and group tours are available.
About BlackBook Art Gallery
Founded in SoHo, 1997, by Evanly Schindler, BlackBook began as an award-winning arts and culture publication with accolades from ICP and National Arts Club before expanding into gallery programming and cultural curation. Under Schindler’s direction, BlackBook works with celebrated and emerging artists and writers, brands and institutions. Recent collaborations include: a group exhibition, Mother Nature in the Bardo, in collaboration with UNESCO GEM Report with 100 artists, institutions, and estates; A Woman’s Right to Pleasure, in partnership with Sothebys; and previously, MoMA PS1, Centre Pompidou, LVMH, Prada, and others.
BlackBook Art Gallery opened Summer 2025 at 245 County Road 39, Southampton, and serves as BlackBook’s permanent East End location. The summer 2026 season marks the gallery’s second summer in the Hamptons, extending its art + impact ethos, exploring popular- cultural themes through fine art exhibitions, books, and artistic collaborations.
The Lost Generation: Then and Now | Summer Figuration
Memorial Day Weekend – End of September 2026 Open daily, 11am – 7pm
BlackBook Art Gallery
245 County Road 39, Southampton, NY 11968
Media Inquiries: press@jbellamedia.com, info@blackbookartgallery.com
