Curtiss Jacobs Gallery is pleased to present A Little Sugar in My Bowl, a new exhibition of works by Ransome, opening Sunday, September 13.
Rooted in his own African American family history, Ransome has developed a deeply personal visual language through which the stories of one family become part of a much larger story of Black America.
His lineage reaches back to Southern sharecroppers and forward through the Great Migration, but these paintings refuse to allow struggle to become the entirety of that history. Instead, Ransome asks us to look at what Black families created, protected and carried with them: love, beauty, dignity, style, humor, aspiration, intimacy, memory and joy.
Across the exhibition, children run and dance beneath the gaze of ancestors. Women command space with extraordinary presence. Families, lovers, workers and elders populate images that move effortlessly between private memory and collective history.
Ransome combines painting with patterned and collaged papers, constructing his surfaces much as memory itself is constructed: through fragments preserved, rearranged and passed from one generation to another. His use of pattern recalls domestic textiles and quilting traditions, while his method of assembling disparate visual elements shares something with the improvisation and sampling of Black music. These influences have long been central to the artist's practice.
The title, A Little Sugar in My Bowl, captures the spirit of the exhibition.
Here, sweetness is not sentimentality, nor is it an escape from history. It is sustenance.
It is the pleasure, affection, beauty and humanity people create even when circumstances would seem determined to deny them those things.
Ultimately, A Little Sugar in My Bowl asks us to consider inheritance differently: not simply what Black families survived, but what made that survival meaningful.
Opening Reception
Sunday, September 13, 2026 | 2–5 PM
On view through October 17
Gallery Hours: Thur, Fri 4 - 8 PM, Sat, Sun 1-5 PM
EAT GOOD, a solo exhibition by Belchez.
EAT GOOD is Harlemite Belchez's third solo presentation and debut with Curtiss Jacobs Gallery, marking a shared commitment to food equity, cultural access, and higher standards of living in Harlem and underserved communities. Rooted in the mission of “Transforming Access to Community,” EAT GOOD asserts that art, nourishment, and communal dignity are not luxuries, but necessities. The presentation examines what working-class communities have historically been given to consume, physically, mentally, and culturally. At its center is the quarter water, a familiar fixture of low-income neighborhoods: inexpensive, accessible, brightly colored, and often accepted without question. Belchez transforms its recognizable container into a hand grenade, recasting an object associated with childhood and convenience as a symbol of normalized harm.
Across screenprints, sculpture, and installation, repeated grenade imagery, saturated color, and references to commercial packaging expose the tension between affordability and toxicity. What appears harmless or nostalgic becomes an entry point into larger questions about food access, consumer choice, public health, and systemic neglect.
EAT GOOD challenges viewers to confront these realities while honoring the resourcefulness,endurance, and dignity of communities that have survived with too little for too long. It asks whodetermines what communities receive, who benefits from limited choices, and what genuine access, nourishment, and care should look like.
Opening Reception
Sunday, August 9 | 2–5 PM
On view through Saturday, September 5
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery
Harlem, New York
Gallery Hours
Thur, Fri | 4–8 PM, Sat, Sun 1-5PM or by appointment
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery presents Hittin’ a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, a solo exhibition by Erin LeAnn Mitchell.
We invite you to experience Hittin’ a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, a solo exhibition by Erin LeAnn Mitchell, opening March 29, at Curtiss Jacobs Gallery. Presented together for the first time, this focused body of nine textile works explores movement, force, and the enduring energy of Black womanhood.
They evoke the fervor and spiritual endurance of Black women across geographies and generations, from the Atlantic crossing to the Deep South and beyond. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and now based in Harlem, New York, Mitchell situates this body of work within her own contemporary Great Migration.
Drawing from a lineage of artists who shaped the visual language of Black liberation and imagination, including Kerry James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, and Aaron Douglas, Mitchell constructs richly layered compositions through textile, color, and form.
Her practice centers Black women’s energy, labor, and vision not as peripheral, but as foundational to the movement of the world. In doing so, she challenges the architecture of the archive, insisting it reflect this reality.
Join us for the opening reception and experience this dynamic body of work.
Opening Reception

Sun Mar 29 | 2–5 PM
On view through May 2
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery
Harlem, New York
Gallery Hours
Thu–Sun | 1–5 PM
or by appointment
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery Announces Representation of Victor Chigozie Anachuna and Debut U.S. Solo Exhibition Only Human
New York, NY, October 9, 2025
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery announces the exclusive representation of Victor Chigozie Anachuna (b. 2001, Lagos, Nigeria) and his U.S. debut solo exhibition, Only Human, opening November 9, 2025, at the gallery’s Harlem location and on view through December 21, 2025.
Anachuna’s figurative paintings merge Nigerian heritage with a universal humanism, portraying subjects with strength, empathy, and dignity. Working in acrylic on canvas, he explores identity, resilience, and solidarity through the lens of an African Renaissance. Featured works include The Embrace, Brotherhood, Behind the Curtains, and the triptych Predator. Prey. Protest.
“Victor’s voice is deeply rooted in Nigeria yet universally resonant,” said Curtiss Jacobs, founder of Curtiss Jacobs Gallery. “His humanist approach to portraiture enriches our program and speaks across cultures and generations.”
Exhibition Details
Only Human by Victor Chigozie Anachuna
Dates: November 9–December 21, 2025
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 9, 2–5 p.m.
Curtiss Jacobs Gallery, Harlem, NY
Download the Exhibition Catalog
Solo exhibition: Smells Like Team Spirit - Charlotta Janssen
Smells Like Team Spirit delves into the collective human experience embodied by sports teams—our islands of humanity amid economic shifts, global conflicts, and evolving ideologies. Across a century, games like baseball, football, and basketball persist, uniting us through shared triumphs and defeats. While progress and regress are inevitable and all scores eventually count, it is those who defy and redefine the rules who remain unforgettable, even as the original rule-makers fade into obscurity. This series, crafted through painting, oxidation, and collage, reflects these enduring communal sentiments.
October 24th - December 31st 2024
Solo exhibition: Inheritance - Taj Campman
Inheritance is a dynamic exploration of artistic evolution by Taj Campman, showcasing his transition from structured representational painting to bold, untamed abstraction. This exhibition captures the tension between control and creative freedom, offering a compelling visual journey.
JULY 11th - AUGUST 29th 2024