Janet Olivia Henry
b. 1947, Harlem, NY
Lives and works in Queens, NY
EDUCATION
School of Visual Arts, New York City
Fashion Institute of Technology
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025
Cynthia Hawkins and Janet Olivia Henry, Hollybush Gardens, London, UK
2024
Six Decades, Gordon Robichaux, New York, NY
Janet Olivia Henry’s Recent Academic Abstractions, STARS, Los Angeles, CA
2004
Two's, Lower Eastside Girls Club Community Gallery, New York, NY
2003
Recent Work, Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA; curated by Cynthia Hawkins
2002
American Anatomy and Other Work, PPOW, New York, NY
1998
In Situ, John Jay College, New York, NY
1995
American Anatomy: An Ongoing Series, Hallswalls, Buffalo, NY; curated by Sara Kellner
American Anatomy, Pulse Art, New York, NY
1992
Social Commentary Sewn-up in Vinyl, Seventh Second Photo Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Wendy Tiefenbacher
1990
Collecting, Organizing and Transposing, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY; curated by Olivia Georgia
1988
Messages to the Public: Eventually, Public Art Fund, New York, NY
1986
American Anatomy, Various Sites in Queens, NY
1983
From the Studio: Artists-in-Residence, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
1982
Janet Henry, Retroactive, Just Above Midtown, New York, NY
1981
Handel Was No Fool, Basement Workshop, New York, NY
1978
Drawings and Other Things, The Exhibitions Gallery, Jamaica, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Luxe, Calme, Volupté, Candice Madey, New York, NY; curated by Antonio Sergio Bessa and Allen Frame
The Inseparables, STARS, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY The Difference We’ve Made, Carter Burden Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Cynthia Mailman, Vernita Nemec, Susan Grabel
2021
What Comes out of Our Textbooks, Jamaica Center for Learning and Arts, Queens, NY
2019
Soft and Wet, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Project Space, New York, NY; curated by Sadia Shirazi
2018
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Queens International: Volumes, Queens Museum, Queens, NY; curated by Sophia Marisa Lucas and Baseera Khan
Dialectics of Entanglement: Do We Exist Together?, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Roxana Fabius and Patricia M. Hernandez
Southeast Queens Biennial: A Locus of Moving Points, York College Fine Arts Gallery, New York, NY; curated by NLE Curatorial Lab
2017
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; organized by Catherine Morris
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Aljira at 30, Dream and Reality, The New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ; curated by Margaret M. O'Reilly
2012
Wounding the Black Male: Photographs from the Light Work Collection, Light Work Hallway Gallery, Syracuse, NY; curated by Cassandra Jackson and Sarah Cunningham
2008
No Place Like Utopia, FiveMyles Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Matt Freedman Close to the Edge, City Without Walls, Corridor Gallery, Newark, NJ; curated by Reynolds and Kevin Sampson
Inside/Out, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, NY; curated by Duston Spear
2005
Contemporary Women Artists, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN; curated by Judy Collischan
2002
Ties that Bind, Light Work, Menschel Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2001
We Are Named, CPW, Kingston, NY; curated by Susan Evans
1999
Choices 99, Exit Art, New York, NY; selected by Carrie Mae Weems
Art Resources Transfer, New York, NY
The Bead…, Giordano Gallery, Dowling College, Oakdale, NY; curated by Cathy Valenza
1998
Picture/Image/Word, Lemmerman Gallery, Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ; curated by Mauro Altamura
Rights of Spring, PPOW Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Carrie Mae Weems Summer Camping, 1612 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA; curated by Dean Daderko Shake: An Exhibition of Snow Domes, PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Jane Harris
Tip of the Iceberg, Art Resources Transfer, Dorfman Projects, New York, NY Sexting Myths: Representing Sexuality in African American Art, Betty Rymer Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; curated by Kymberly Pinder
1997
Stitches, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY; curated by Kathleen Spicer Figuring Women's Lives, Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Janice Farley
1996
New American Portraits, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA; curated by Dean Daderko
Cultural Economics: Histories from the Alternative Arts Movement, The Drawing Center, New York, NY; curated by Julie Ault
With All Deliberate Speed: Revisiting Race and Education, Algira Center of Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ; curated by Howard McCalebb and Carl Hazelwood Through Our Eyes - By Women About Women, Maggi Peyton Gallery, Manhattan Borough President’s Office, New York, NY; curated by Laura Litchfield X-Sightings, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1995
Acts of Courage: The Visible Art of African American Women, Hallswalls, Buffalo, NY; curated by Deborah Weeks Carson
Human/Nature, Benefit Exhibition, New Museum, New York, NY
Pride and Prejudice, 494 Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Shari Diamond and Honor LaSSale
Beyond Circumstance, The Gallery at Hunter College, New York, NY; curated by Margeret McInroe
1994
Bad Girls, parts I and II, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; organized by Marcia Tucker
Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
42nd Street Development Project and Creative Time, NYC, 1994
Identity Crisis, Puffin Room, New York, NY; curated by Laurie Ourlicht and Kenny Schacter
Little Things, Art in General, New York, NY; curated by Holly Block
Yes I Am - No I'm Not, Momenta, New York, NY; curated by Laura Parness and Eric Heist
Artists Select, Artists Space, New York, NY; selected by Lanie Lee
1993
Activated Walls, Artists Space, New York, NY; curated by Carlos Solana Urban Masculinity, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY; curated by Bettie-Sue Hertz and Calvin Reid
Welcome Edition, AC Project Room at 303 Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Paul Bloodgood and Alissa Friedman
The Art of Self Defense and Revenge, Momenta, New York, NY
1992
Queens Museum at PaineWeber Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Phyllis Billick
1991
Race and Culture, 494 Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Suzanne Nicholas
1989
Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
Collecting, Organizing and Transposing, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD; curated by Olivia Georgia
Autobiography: In Her Own Image, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX; curated by Howardena Pindell and organized by INTAR Latin American Gallery, New York, NY
1988
Art from the African Diaspora: Survival, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art Newark, NJ; curated by Lorenzo Pace
Coast to Coast, Diverse Works, Houston, TX; organized by Faith Ringgold and Clarissa Sligh
In Her Own Image, Intar Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Howardena Pindell
1987
Resistance (Anti-Baudrillard), White Columns, New York, NY; curated by Group Material
1986
Progressions: A Cultural Legacy, The Clocktower, New York, NY; curated by Vivian Browne, Emma Amos and Julia Hotten
In the Tropics, Longwood Arts Project, Bronx, NY; curated by Kellie Jones Toys Art Us, Longwood Arts Project, Bronx, NY; curated by Fred Wilson
1984
Yes I Am, No I'm Not, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
1983
Exchange of Resources: Expanding Powers, California State College, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA; curated by Rebecca Ballenger
A Love Story, Just Above Midtown Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Kathleen Gonchorov
Transmogrify, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY; selected by Caren Rosenblatt All's Fair in Love and War in Feminist Art, Ohio State University Gallery, Columbus, OH; curated by Lucy Lippard
Henry, Hill, Payne, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
The Regentrified Jungle, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY; curated by Joe Lewis
1981
Allegory of an Artist's Career, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY
En Route, Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, NY; curated by Patricia Monan Bell The Dialectics of Isolation, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY; organized by Kazuko, Ana Mendieta and Zarina
Private Worlds, 626 Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Joyce Kozloff
HONORS AND AWARDS
2001 Penny McCall Foundation; Award
1994 Art Matters Foundation; Artist’s Fellowship
Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts; Cash Prize, “Artists Choose Artists” New York State Regional Initiative; “Artists Projects”
1987 Public Art Fund, Spectra-Color Board Commission; “Messages to the Public” 1985 New York State Council on the Arts; Visual Artists-sponsored Project 1983 PS1, Long Island City, NY; Studio Recipient
1975 Public Art Fund; Mural Commission, Jamaica, NY
1964 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY; Scholarship
RESIDENCIES
2000 Lightwork Visual Studies, Syracuse, NY
1998 Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY
1981-82 Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, NY
SELECTED PRESS
2024
Greenberger, Alex, “Janet Olivia Henry’s Dark and Playful Sculptures Made of Toys Are Gaining Widespread Recognition,” ARTnews, December 18
Steinhauer, Jillian, “What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in November,” The New York Times, November 28
O’Neill-Butler, Lauren, “Doll Dioramas, Singing Sculptures, and the Politics of rEPresEntAtiOn: Three Critics on Stand-Out New York Shows,” Cultured Magazine, November 13
Strand, Shani, “Janet Olivia Henry at STARS,” Contemporary Art Review, April 24
2023
Michael, Taylor, “What Just Above Midtown Meant for Black Artists,” Hyperallergic, January 18
2022
D’Souza, Aruna, “A Utopian Space for Black Artists, Reimagined at MoMA,” The New York Times, September 18
Raemont, Nina, “Just Above Midtown Was a Haven for Black Artists,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 7
Greenberger, Alex, “MoMA’s Just Above Midtown Exhibition Radically Expands New York Art History,” ARTnews, October 10
Eckardt, Steph, “‘A Look Back at JAM, the Boundary-Pushing Art Gallery Still Unlike Any Other,” W Magazine, October 18
“Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces,” Los Angeles Review of Books, October 22 Rosen, Miss, “The Black-Owned Gallery that Transformed the NY Art Scene in the ‘70s & ‘80s,” Blind Magazine, November 24
Gaines, Malik, “Best of 2022: Malik Gaines on ‘Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces’,” Artforum, December 1
Budick, Ariella, “‘A utopia led by black artists’: MoMA exhibition celebrates Just Above Midtown gallery,” Financial Times, December 7
“What’s next?,” e-flux, December 22
2018
Tuazon, Ana, “Revisiting a Seminal Exhibition on ‘Third World’ Feminist Art at A.I.R. Gallery,” Hyperallergic, August 30
Farrington, Lisa, Catherine J. Morris, and Rujeko Hockley, ‘Reviewed Work: We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965–85, A Sourcebook,’ Woman’s Art Journal 39, no. 1, Spring/Summer
2017
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965-85, A Sourcebook, Brooklyn, NY & Durham, NC: Brooklyn Museum & Duke University Press Books
2002
Gluek, Grace, “Janet Henry -- 'American Anatomy and Other Work?',” The New York Times, December 6
1994
Bad Girls, New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art
1984
Yes I Am, No I'm Not, Brooklyn, NY: Momenta Art
1981
Events: Fashion Moda, Taller Boricua, Artists Invite Artists, New York, NY: The New Museum
COLLECTIONS
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA