Lamar Robillard: Sunday’s Best

Lamar Robillard, *Flash of the Spirit*, 2025 (installation view, framed in vintage wooden window). Monochrome print on textured fine art paper; 24 x 25 inches. Set against *Flock*, 2025 (installation view). Monochrome print on wall vinyl; 116 x 90 inches. Photography by Andrew Godreaux.

Sunday’s Best is both homage and homily; an ode to Harlem and an oration on Black consciousness.

In commemoration of the Black Arts Movement that came into conception and cohesion in Harlem and in recognition that “Black Art is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of Black Power,” as eloquently stated by writer and cultural critic Larry Neal (1937 - 1981), Sunday’s Best situates Harlem—widely regarded as a Black Mecca—at the intersection of Afro-diasporic identity, spirituality and aesthetic sensibility. This trinity coalesces into a spirit of unity and community that finds exaltation and examination through the distinct vernacular and visual language of conceptual artist Lamar Robillard (b. 1991, New York), whose art practice is itself an act of resistance.

The entry point into this poetic presentation is the gallery storefront window, which features an amalgamation of two monochrome print images intentionally and instinctively captured by Robillard on a Sunday in Harlem. The combination of the diptych (Flash of the Spirit, 2025) set against an imposing backdrop (Flock, 2025) transforms the storefront into both a mirror reflecting the Harlem world and a window into otherworldliness; consequently positioning Harlem as a portal—into our shared history and our shared future. The presentation extends into the gallery with a carefully considered constellation of works that are emblematic of Robillard’s multidisciplinary painting, sculptural and photographic practices.

Curated and created through a liminal and liturgical lens, Sunday’s Best ultimately manifests as an act of celebration and canonization of a Black aesthetic tradition that births revelations and revolutions.

Written and curated by Usen Esiet (b. 1989, Lagos) as part of “The Art of The Window” series.

Artist Bio

Lamar Robillard (b. 1991, New York) is a conceptual artist, photographer, and filmmaker working primarily with visual familiarity and found objects. Lamar’s practice is an act of resistance that takes a multidisciplinary approach to examining visibility, nonconformity and spirituality as it relates to identity, Black material culture and the self-coined “Unfavored American” experience. Inspired by various forms of literature, media, representation and history, he aims to insert his theory of second class citizenship into the canon through a lifelong exploration of the Unfavoured American experience while simultaneously providing authentic representation for Blackness with the absence of the Black body politic.

Curator Statement

I am deeply interested in exploring the accumulation of knowledge through the visual and sonic architecture of a city block in Harlem. When I used to stay on my aunt's couch on 142nd and Riverside after first moving to New York I would always say that Harlem is a place that teaches you what you want to be listening to but naturally it is also more than that. I recently heard a story from Najha Zigbi-Johnson that celebrated Malcolm X for his photography practice and his belief in an artistic aesthetic; both things often unspoken about. Throughout the 1950-60's as Malcolm would walk down the street of his Harlem home he was exposed to teenagers adorned in the latest fashion, poets preaching on street corners, radical literature and text streaming from Lewis's Michaux's bookstore where all of this culminated into a singular visual language. I want this window display exhibition series to celebrate the fact that uniquely in Harlem you can accumulate the world just by traversing a city block.

– Diallo Simon-Ponte