In Taking Stakes in the Unknown (Transcript Publishing, 2022), Nana Adusei-Poku (History of Art) examines the socio-historical and cultural context of the notion of “post-black” art. She grounds her study in Freestyle, a 2001 exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem featuring the works of 28 emerging black artists whose work was characterized by the show’s curator, Thelma Golden, as “post-black.” The term came to refer to artists who resisted being labeled as “black artists,” though their work often engaged deeply with issues of race and played a significant role in redefining complex notions of blackness.

She is joined by Anneka Lenssen (History of Art).