Black-Owned Art Gallery in New York City Has Been Championing Black Art for Over Four Decades

Nationwide — Over the past forty years, Bill Hodges Gallery has continued to build a lasting presence as a Black-owned gallery in New York City committed to supporting and uplifting African American art. The gallery emerged during a time when Black artists were largely excluded from mainstream institutions and the commercial art world. Located in Chelsea, Manhattan, Bill Hodges Gallery has served as a trusted resource for collectors, scholars, art patrons, and curators seeking to engage more deeply with the contributions of artists of African descent.

As one of the few spaces dedicated to showcasing this vital history, the gallery provides a rare opportunity to discover works that have shaped art history. It’s important for the gallery’s audience to gain insight into the legacy of these trailblazing artists and also become part of a movement that celebrates cultural richness, fostering an appreciation for the importance of preserving and sharing these stories for future generations.

The collection and exhibitions highlight contributions of artists such as Norman Lewis, Edmonia Lewis, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, and Beauford Delaney, visionaries who helped shape American art history but have often been marginalized by traditional institutions.

Since 1993, the gallery has produced over thirty exhibition catalogues documenting hundreds of works by BIPOC artists, and Bill Hodges’s efforts have placed these works in significant museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York (Norman Lewis, Phantasy II and Norman Lewis, Untitled, 1949), the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (Norman Lewis, Untitled (Alabama), the Toledo Museum of Art (Joshua Johnson, Unidentified Gentleman and Unidentified Lady), and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia (Norman Lewis, Redneck Birth), just to name a few.

Bill Hodges is not only a gallery, but a space for education, conversation, and community. We invite you to visit our gallery and engage with the iconic artworks that have helped shape our cultural landscape.

The gallery’s current exhibition, Spring Into Summer, is on view through August 29. The show features work by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Agustín Cárdenas, Chester Higgins Jr., and Richard Hunt, amongst others. All are encouraged to stop by and engage with these deeply powerful works.

Bill Hodges Gallery is located at 529 W. 20th Street, suite #10E, between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue. The closest subway stations are 14th St. & 8th Ave. (A-C-E) and 23rd St. & 8th Ave. (C-E). The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10 AM – 6 PM and Saturday by appointment only. For more information, please contact the gallery at (212) 333-2640 or at info@billhodgesgallery.com

Learn more at the official website at BillHodgesGallery.com