“From the Limitations of Now”
Philbrook Museum of Art
In 1975 novelist Ralph Ellison returned to his home state of Oklahoma, where a library was being named in his honor. “The library is a nexus of dreams,” he said in a speech written for the occasion, “a place where we are able to free ourselves from the limitations of today by becoming acquainted with what went on in the past—and thus project ourselves into the future.” Drawing upon Ellison’s faith in art as a distinct conduit for reflecting on multiple temporalities at once, “From the Limitations of Now” brings together works by more than twenty artists and collectives that conjure lively