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