Infinite Hope

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1968, three months before his assassination. Profound and timely when delivered during the Civil Rights Movement; this positivity has helped shape the landscape of Black American ethos. In times of uncertainty and disappointment, Dr. King’s passage is a reminder that hope is evergreen.

Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to present Infinite Hope, an exhibition of historical photographs by groundbreaking, internationally renowned artists Kwame Brathwaite, Renée Cox, Gordon Parks, and Ming Smith. The exhibition opens following Martin Luther King Jr. Day and remains on view through February, Black History Month. Jenkins Johnson Gallery will present this ambitious museum-scale exhibition at 1150 25th Street, San Francisco, a 6,000 square foot venue formerly housing the McEvoy Foundation.

Spanning the late 20th century, Infinite Hope presents a discourse around philosophical, social, and aesthetic developments for African Americans. Starting in the 1950s with Parks, and Brathwaite, it continues through the present with Smith and Cox. The multigenerational artists address the unique social circumstances of their lives and times. Each artist represents the triumph over the challenges faced by their ancestors, with “hope” as the torch passed from one to the next. Leaning on the exhibition’s central theme of unity, the artists reject the notion of the Black family as fragmented, and the Black male is present and celebrated. The images emphasize both the power and endurance of hope, as well as the disquiet, friction, and doubt that hope dispels.

Infinite Hope opened Tuesday, January 21, 2025, from 5-8pm, accompanied by an artists talk at 6:30pm, with panelists Kwame Brathwaite Jr. Director of the Kwame Brathwaite Archive; artist Renée Cox; and Michal Raz-Russo of the Gordon Parks Foundation; moderated by Key Jo Lee, Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Public Programs, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco. For more information about the exhibition, please contact info@jenkinsjohnsongallery.com. All images copyright the artist, and courtesy Jenkins Johnson Gallery unless otherwise stated. The exhibition will be on view at 1150 25th Street, San Francisco through March 1, 2025. Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10-6; Saturday, 10-5.