The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is presenting 'Everything Now All At Once,' an exhibition drawn entirely from its permanent collection that features works by over a dozen contemporary artists including Nick Cave, Ai Weiwei, Nina Chanel Abney, Wangechi Mutu, Jeffrey Gibson, Amy Sherald, and Barbara Chase-Riboud. The show focuses on painting and sculpture—deliberately analog mediums in an era of rapid technological change—and highlights pieces acquired over the past twenty years that center artists from historically marginalized backgrounds. Running since August 2025, the exhibition will rotate new works next month and continue through November 1 in Durham, North Carolina.
The exhibition matters because it foregrounds joy, resilience, and individuality while addressing the historical omission of global cultures and people of color from the Western art canon. By drawing exclusively from the Nasher's own collection, the show demonstrates how a museum's accession strategy can actively redress underrepresentation, offering visitors a model for institutional change that prioritizes diversity and inclusivity without relying on borrowed works. The inclusion of artists like Jeffrey Gibson and Amy Sherald, whose practices challenge traditional hierarchies, underscores a broader shift in the art world toward valuing voices that have long been marginalized.