The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has acquired the 35 individual paintings, drawings, and video works that comprised Adam Pendleton's monumental installation *Who Is Queen?* (2019-21), which was on view in the museum's atrium from 2021 to 2022. The installation explored Pendleton's conceptual framework of "Black Dada," a term he first outlined in his *Black Dada Manifesto* (2008), and included works such as *Notes on the Robert E. Lee Monument, Richmond VA (Figure)* (2021), a film reflecting on the 2020 racial justice protests. The acquisition marks a significant institutional commitment to Pendleton's practice, which continues to evolve in his current exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.
This acquisition matters because it signals MoMA's deepening engagement with contemporary artists who challenge the museum's own history and institutional structures. Pendleton's work, which he describes as creating a "counter museum at the heart of the museum," directly questions how museums represent Black and queer experiences and the avant-garde. By acquiring the entire installation, MoMA not only preserves a landmark project but also validates Pendleton's ongoing investigation into abstraction, history, and political dialogue—a model that may influence how other institutions approach complex, multi-media installations by living artists.