Rodney McMillian

Born 1969 in Columbia, South Carolina

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA 

Rodney McMillian has established a significant international presence with a multidisciplinary practice that examines how history, politics, and social structures continue to shape contemporary American life. Working across painting, sculpture, installation, video, performance, and writing, he combines found domestic materials with historical and political sources to explore race, class, labor, social belonging, and inequality. Using found materials such as blankets, tarps, and architectural fragments, he challenges dominant narratives while drawing attention to marginalized histories and the social structures shaping everyday life.

McMillian’s work will be included in Hard Art, a major exhibition examining the legacy of abstract painting by Black artists in the US from 1969 to today at MoMA PS1, New York (5 November 2026 – 14 March 2027); and is currently on view in the group exhibition Hardcore at Haubrock Foundation, Berlin (until 4 April 2027).

His work has been featured in major institutional exhibitions, most recently at the Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, and the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle. In 2024, Marta Herford Museum, Germany, presented the comprehensive retrospective The Land: Not Without a Politic, bringing together works from different phases of his practice and accompanied by an extensive catalogue (available at the gallery).

McMillian was included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial and has exhibited, among others, at MoMA PS1, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Aspen Art Museum; and Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia.

His work is held in major public collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Marta Herford; Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach; Haubrok Collection, Berlin; Studio Museum in Harlem; and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.

In 2026, McMillian was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship for his exceptional originality and dedication in his creative pursuits.