Through Motion and Repose: Expanding the Walls 2026 at the Studio Museum in Harlem

Through Motion and Repose: Expanding the Walls 2026 is on view at the Studio Museum in Harlem, on West 125th Street, through January 31, 2027. The show presents photography by the seventeen participants in this year's cohort of Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community, the museum's signature program for teenagers.

The participating artists are Agnes Baidoo, Angel Torres, Christopher Soriano, Fairooz Ahamed, Isabella Amankwa-Jones, Ismael Parache Henry, Janelly Rosendo, Jony Pineda Feliz, Jordyn Vargas, Keyaris Canty, Lalah Harper, Nathaly Lopez Alvarez, Nyasia Massey, Rijika Chowdhury, Stephanie Muñoz, Valentina Megraw and Yoselyn Lucero. All are young people growing up in New York, and their work is shown together as the output of a single program year.

The title names the two poles of the exhibition. Some pictures catch lively scenes on the city's streets, while others turn to private moments at home. Placed side by side, they describe a youth lived between movement and stillness, two forces that shape daily life in New York.

The photographers approach this in different ways. Several work up close, picking out the details of familiar objects, places and loved ones with tenderness. Others use blur and soft focus to convey the constant change of streets, subways and buildings. In both cases the images come from curiosity and close looking.

The exhibition is organized by Cam McEwen and Taylor Ndiaye, MoMA/Studio Museum in Harlem Curatorial Fellows, and Maria Wilson, Robert Rauschenberg Curatorial Fellow, together with the Expanding the Walls 2026 participants. An online exhibition carries additional photographs and information about the artists.

For visitors exploring Harlem, the museum sits on the central 125th Street corridor. It is known as a hub for artists of African descent, and this show offers a view of the city through the eyes of its youngest contributors.