Isaac Julien’s retrospective at the de Young Museum in San Francisco features 13 multiscreen video installations, including works like *Baltimore* (2003) and *Ten Thousand Waves* (2010). The exhibition blends Renaissance art, Black cinema, science fiction, and documentary, with Julien’s signature use of multiple screens to create an overwhelming visual experience. Curated by Claudia Schmuckli, the show is billed as Julien’s largest in the US, requiring about four and a half hours to view in full.
The retrospective matters because it showcases Julien’s four-decade career of using image overload to explore overlapping histories, globalism, and tragedy. By forcing viewers to navigate fractured narratives, Julien’s work challenges conventional storytelling and exposes invisible histories. The exhibition’s thoughtful layout minimizes sound bleed and makes video art accessible, positioning it as one of the best large-scale video art surveys in recent memory.