Torkwase Dyson, Distance, Distance (1919: Black Water), 2019, acrylic, metal, ink, and gouache on wood, 98" (248.9 cm) diameter; all images © Torkwase Dyson Torkwase Dyson Detailsb. 1973, Chicago, Illinois Torkwase Dyson describes herself as a painter working across multiple mediums to explore the continuity between ecology, infrastructure, and architecture.Examining environmental racism as well as the history and future of black spatial liberation strategies, Dyson’s abstract works grapple with the ways in which space is perceived and negotiated, particularly by black and brown bodies. In 2019, Dyson’s solo exhibition I Can Drink the Distance was on view at The Cooper Union, New York, and her work was also presented at the Sharjah Biennial.In addition to participating in group exhibitions at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and California African American Museum, Los Angeles, Dyson has had solo exhibitions and installations at Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago; Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia; and Suzanne Lemberg Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Vermont. Torkwase Dyson, Nautical Dusk, 2018, Installation, Courtesy of the Colby Museum of Art/Photograph by Gabe Souza © Torkwase Dyson Torkwase Dyson, Plantationocene (Black Water 1919), 2019, acrylic, graphite, string, wood, ink on canvas, 98" diameter © Torkwase Dyson Torkwase Dyson, I Can Drink the Distance: Plantationocene in 2 Acts, featuring Deja Smith, Arthur Jafa, and Gaika, Performed at Pace Gallery on November 22, 2019 Torkwase Dyson, I Belong to the Distance, 2019, Wood, metal, granite, Dimensions variable © Torkwase Dyson Torkwase Dyson, I Belong to the Distance, 2019, Wood, metal, granite, Dimensions variable © Torkwase Dyson Torkwase Dyson, Nautical Dusk, 2018, Installation, Courtesy of the Colby Museum of Art/Photos by Gabe Souza © Torkwase Dyson Exhibitions View All Pace Live, New York Torkwase Dyson I Can Drink the Distance: Plantationocene in 2 Acts Past Nov 19–Dec 10, 2019 Journal View All Video Torkwase Dyson Talks to Hans Ulrich Obrist Apr 12, 2020 Museum Exhibitions New Series by Torkwase Dyson Debuts at NOMA Jan 27, 2020 News Announcing Representation of Torkwase Dyson Jan 22, 2020 One-Artist Exhibitions Group Exhibitions Public Collections Close One-Artist Exhibitions DatesBorn 1973, ChicagoEDUCATION2003, Painting/Printmaking Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, MFA1999, Painting/Printmaking, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, BFA1996, Sociology/Social Work Tougaloo College, Mississippi, BA2020Torkwase Dyson: Black Compositional Thought: 15 Paintings for the Plantationocene, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, January 24–April 19, 2020.20191919: Black Water, Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery, Columbia University, September 27–December 14, 2019.Torkwase Dyson: I Can Drink the Distance, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, The Cooper Union, New York, March 26–April 25, 2019.2018Torkwase Dyson: Nautical Dusk, William D. Adams Gallery, Colby Museum of Art, Colby College, Waterville, Maine, October 4, 2019–January 6, 2019.Scalar, Suzanne Lemerg Usdan, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, September 18–December 15, 2018.Torkwase Dyson: James Madison Dyson, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, September 14–October 27, 2018.Torkwase Dyson and the Wynter-Wells Drawing School, Graham Foundation, Chicago, May 3–July 28, 2018.Torkwase Dyson: Dear Henry, Davidson Contemporary, New York, March 15–May 5, 2018.Torkwase Dyson: Black Compositional Thought and the Wynter-Wells Drawing School for Environmental Justice, The Drawing Center, New York, February 24–March 11, 2018.2017Torkwase Dyson: Hidden in Plain Site: Black Paintings, Texas Tech University, College of Visual + Performing Arts, School of Art, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, 2017.2016Torkwase Dyson: Illegal Abstraction: A Single Author, Hemphill Fine Arts 1700 L St., Washington D.C., October 27, 2016–January 27, 2017.Torkwase Dyson: Mine Mind, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia, May 27–June 23, 2016.Torkwase Dyson: Unkeeping, Industry City Gallery/Eyebeam, New York, March 9–April 12, 2016.2014Mine: a solo exhibition by Torkwase Dyson, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, October 2015.2008Torkwase Dyson: Hereinafter, Meat Market Gallery, Washington D.C., 2008.2006Torkwase Dyson: Ding, Bling, Splash: Hurray You’re Rich, Ty Stokes Gallery, Atlanta, 2006.Torkwase Dyson: Oil and Water Don’t Mix, Ty Stokes Gallery, Atlanta, 2006. Group Exhibitions 2019Count of Three, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, April 18–May 24, 2019.Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, March 8–August 25, 2019.Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, March 7–June 10, 2019.2018Out of Easy Reach, Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, August 24–October 4, 2018.Primary, Korn Gallery, Dorothy Young Center for the Arts, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, March 22–April 25, 2018.Between the Waters, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 9–July 22, 2018.2017Lack of Location is My Location, Koenig & Clinton, New York, November 3, 2017–January 14, 2018.On Documentary Abstraction, Art Center South Florida, Miami, September 30, 2017–January 2, 2018.35 Days, Hemphill Fine Art, Washington, D.C., June 24–August 11, 2017.Works on Water 2017, 3LD Art & Technology Center, New York, June 5–30, 2017.Stacked, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, May 11–June 17, 2017.Invisible Man, Maros Gallery, New York, May 3–June 24, 2017.Dialogues In Drawing, Jenkins Johnson Gallery San Francisco, March 16–May 23, 2017.x y: An Act of Translation, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, New York, February 17–March 26, 2017.The Future is Abstract, Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, January28–July 8, 2017.2016In Conditions of Freshwater, Duke University, Center for Documentary Studies, Durham, North Carolina, March 2–June 10, 2017.Grey Scale, PostMasters Gallery, New York, June 24–August 20, 2016.The Block Party, Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, July 14–mid-August 2016.2015A Constellation, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, November 14, 2015–March 6, 2016.Eyebeam Annual Showcase, 101 Front St. Galleries Brooklyn, January 29–February 21, 2015.Outside In, South Street Seaport Cultural Building, New York, October 2–November 13, 2015.EAF 15: 2015 Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York, September 27, 2015–March 16, 2016.2014Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, Minnesota, 2014.Africa Extended, United Nations, New York, 2014.2011Material Girls: Contemporary Black Women Artists, Reginald F. Lewis Museum Baltimore, February 12–October 16, 2011.2010Monastic Residency: Torkwase Dyson: Whitney Biennial 2010, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, May 7–9, 2010.2008Ephemerality, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, January 12–April 12, 2008.Spectrum-ed, Flanders Art Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 1–July 1, 2008.She’s So Articulate, Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington, Virginia, June 10–July 19, 2008.2008It Might Blow Up, But It Won’t Go Pop, African American Art Museum, Dallas, 2008Passin’ It On, Rush Arts Gallery New York, 2008.2007The Velocity of Gesture, or How to Build an Empire, The Dalton Gallery, Decatur, Georgia, Spring 2007.2006Magic Realism: Relationships to Caribbean and Latin Literature, Rush Arts, 2006. Public Collections Hall Art Foundation, Reading, VermontSmith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MassachusettsSmithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington, D.C.