Bernard Lumpkin on Bringing His Private Art Collection to the Public

In September 2019, collectors Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi took their art collection to a new level when they first mounted their traveling exhibition “Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art.” Co-curated by renowned critic and curator Antwaun Sargent and writer and artist Matt Wycoff, the show features outstanding works by prominent emerging and established artists of African descent—including Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Derrick Adams, Kerry James Marshall, Rashid Johnson, Caitlin Cherry, Alteronce Gumby, and Chase Hall, among many others—all drawn from their esteemed private collection. Now opening at its third venue, Chicago’s Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois, from September 2 through December 11, 2021, “Young, Gifted and Black” is a reflection of the couple’s museum-worthy collection and their dedication to sharing it with an ever-growing audience.

Prior to developing “Young, Gifted and Black,” Lumpkin and Boccuzzi regularly welcomed people into their home to see the collection, loaned pieces to institutions, and took cues from other patrons they admire. “Something I tell younger collectors is, ‘Try to always think of ways in which you can increase your impact as a collector, as a patron, beyond just acquiring artwork,’” Lumpkin said. “Usually what I mean by that is to get involved with a museum, support artists in other ways beyond just collecting their work, and build a community around your collection.”

The idea for the exhibition came about as a means of connecting with an even broader audience—an exhibition could tour new venues and reach more young people poised to connect with emerging artists. A former producer at MTV, Lumpkin immediately recognized the impact of traveling across the country and building relationships in new places.

Though Lumpkin is the original curator of the collection, putting the exhibition together was a collaborative effort. Sargent, Wycoff, and collection manager Ryder Baldwin sat down with Lumpkin at his dining room table to examine the collection, conceptualize the exhibition, and weave together the story they sought to tell. The team began to think, for instance, about what an Eric Mack wall tapestry might look like adjacent to a cement Jarrett Key fresco. The show was born from their conversations about what different artists were saying about material, color, texture, and, above all else, about Black identity in America. The team put together wall texts and pamphlets to share with venues, created a checklist to showcase the bones of the exhibition, and encouraged each venue to adapt the show as they saw fit. In speaking with prospective venues, Lumpkin recalled, they acknowledged, “You know your audience best; you know the community that is going to experience this exhibition, so we want you to make it your own.”

The exhibition first came to fruition in September 2019 at Concordia College’s OSilas Gallery in Bronxville, New York, then opened at Lehman College Art Gallery in the Bronx in late February 2020. The initial venues were local to New York (where Lumpkin and Boccuzzi reside), and featured New York-based artists, like D’Angelo Lovell Williams and Narcissister, who also gave talks. The format was designed to foster conversation and to get the artists’ work and vision out into the world, particularly in the contexts of college campuses—hubs for engagement and education. Now expanding beyond New York to Gallery 400 in Chicago, the show will move on to the museums of Lehigh University and the University of California, Davis.

Meanwhile, Lumpkin and Boccuzzi’s collection is still growing. Lumpkin notes that he is constantly in dialogue with artists and looking for new and innovative approaches to artmaking. He takes a building-block approach to new acquisitions, looking to recent additions to the collection to inform the next ones. Lumpkin noticed, for example, that he was drawn to works formed from found objects, personal items, and even clothing. He came across Tomashi Jackson, and, while researching other artists who relied on unconventional materials, he discovered Kathia St. Hilaire, who uses advertisements for hair products in her artwork.