51ΑΤΖζ

Overview

September 13, 2025 — June 14, 2026

Curated by Alexander Jarman, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions and Academic Outreach

Foregrounding Jamea Richmond-Edwards’s interdisciplinary practice, Another World and Yet the Same features a large body of newly created work alongside a selection of mixed-media paintings from the last seven years examining issues of race, class, and identity. Themes close to the artist’s heart—notably her hometown of Detroit and the music associated with it, including jazz, soul, Motown, techno, and hip hop—are a strong undercurrent in her work, which is infused with a rhythm and energy evocative of the music that inspired it. To dazzling visual effect, Richmond-Edwards outfits the subjects of her portraits, typically herself as well as family and friends, in elaborate, colorful attire, setting them against equally decorative backgrounds. Materials such as marker, construction paper, collage, and soft sculpture are often incorporated into her often monumental paintings, adding dimensionality and a quality of limitlessness to her canvases. Additionally, the regalia, music, and movement of school marching bands are referenced both overtly and subtly, reflecting Richmond-Edwards’s personal history as a French horn player in ensembles throughout her formative and college years. All these elements culminate in vibrant compositions that convey a sense of the personal style of the people the artist depicts, the communities she has been a part of, and the central role that fashion plays for many Detroiters. 

With a new series of works debuting in this exhibition, Richmond-Edwards sets out to explore a world beyond the known universe. The exhibition title Another World and Yet the Same is borrowed from a seventeenth-century dystopian literary work of the same name, Mundus alter et idem (c. 1605). Written by Joseph Hall (1574–1656), the novel is an imaginary account of a voyage to the oceans south of Africa and stood as a satirical indictment of the power structures of England at that time. Richmond-Edwards has adapted this narrative via a character of her own making, Iceberg, who appeals to family and friends to embark on an oceanic caravan to Antarctica, where they might establish a new, egalitarian society. This fictionalization presents the inherent challenges of creating a utopian state on a rapidly shrinking continent and mirrors the contemporary crises of nations that are under threat from climate change or are experiencing the promises and pitfalls of self-determination and independence. With their grand scale and multilayered meanings, these works take the fantastical, otherworldly elements of Richmond-Edwards’s previous series to new, epic heights. 

Jamea Richmond-Edwards (b. 1982, Detroit) earned a BA from Jackson State University (2004) and an MFA from Howard University (2012). Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum; California African American Museum, Los Angeles; Charles Wright Museum, Detroit; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Frist Art Museum, Nashville; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; and the Columbus Museum of Art at the Pizzuti. She is a 2018 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant. Her work is in the collections of the Rubell Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, and the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies program.

Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Another World and Yet the Same is curated by Alexander Jarman, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions and Academic Outreach.

The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art’s programs are made possible, in part, with funds from the Daniel W. Dietrich ’64 Arts Museum Programming Fund; the Johnson-Pote Museum Director Fund; the John B. Root ’44 Exhibition Fund; the Edward W. and Grace C. Root Endowment Fund; and the William G. Roehrick ’34 Lecture Fund. 

Join the conversation on social media. Tag @wellinmuseum and use #WellinMuseum, #AnotherWorldWellin, and #RichmondEdwardsWellin when posting.
 

Exhibition Related Events: 

Fall 2025

Friday, September 12
1:00 P.M. | Virtual Tour of Exhibition
Online Event
Artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards and the Wellin Museum's Assistant Curator for Exhibitions and Academic Engagement, Alexander Jarman, will lead a virtual preview of the exhibition Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Another World and Yet the Same on .

Saturday, September 13
2:30 P.M. | Panel Discussion
Black Box Theater, Kennedy Theater and Studio Arts Building
Join us for a panel discussion prior to the opening reception of our fall 2025 exhibitions.

Saturday, September 13
4:00–6:00 P.M. | Opening Reception
Dietrich Exhibition Gallery, Wellin Museum of Art
Join us for the opening reception of our fall 2025 exhibitions.

Monday, October 6
4:30 P.M. | Artists in Conversation: Jamea Richmond-Edwards
The Red Pit, Kirner-Johnson Building
For this in-person lecture, artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards will present an overview of her practice and work created for the exhibition Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Another World and Yet the Same. Remote audiences can stream the conversation by .

Wednesday, October 8
5:00–7:00 P.M. | Evening of Art for Educators
Wellin Museum of Art
Join the Wellin Museum for an interdisciplinary, educational event for K–12 teachers and administrators, highlighting the exhibition Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Another World and Yet the Same. The program will include a conversation with the artist, art-making activities, and information about organizing K–12 school visits to the Wellin. This lively event will provide a forum for educators to connect and learn more about the museum’s programs. Please RSVP to the event .