Arthur Jafa brings a horror show to the New Museum
Terrifying creatures fill the screens at the New Museum in New York, and ARTnews says you should not look away.
The outlet published its review of Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony on 28 September 2026 at 3:26pm, under the headline “Arthur Jafa at the New Museum, Review: A Horror Show for the Ages”. The writer called the survey vital, and described Jafa’s films and videos as packed with terrifying creatures. ARTnews
The show is the first museum survey in the United States devoted to Arthur Jafa, who was born in 1960 in Tupelo, Mississippi. It is also billed as the largest museum survey of his work to date. New Museum
It runs from 24 September 2026 through 3 January 2027 at the New Museum, according to the museum’s September press release. The exhibition spreads across two floors of the museum’s newly expanded building and mixes old and new work.
That mix includes recent paintings alongside large-scale video and film installations and sculptural and photographic objects. The museum lists a premiere of new work among them, although it has not detailed the piece in its public summary.
For newcomers, two titles will help orient you. The first is Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death (2016), a fast-cut montage of found footage set to music that moves between celebration and mourning in Black American life. The second is The White Album (2019), which won the Golden Lion prize.
What makes this stand out for a general audience is the way Jafa works. He is an artist and film-maker who builds with clips, stills, sound and sculpture rather than a straight storyline. Expect loud rooms, dark rooms and images that arrive quickly.
The title, I Am Tony, refers to jazz drummer Tony Williams. The exhibition is organised by Massimiliano Gioni and Gary Carrion-Murayari, with Calvin Wang as curatorial assistant.
Interest in Jafa extends beyond New York. The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles included Arthur Jafa: The White Album in its Spring 2026 exhibitions line-up.
The New Museum show stays open through the holiday season. If the review is right, leave extra time. You will want to sit with the fear, then watch again.
