Every art collection functions as its own universe, shaped by the vision and personal commitments of its collector. Drawn from the private collection of Priscila and Alvin Hudgins III, this exhibition reveals the couple’s deep and enduring devotion to the arts—not solely as a mode of creative expression but also as an intimate form of world-making. Before coming to the Hudson River Museum, most of these paintings adorned the dining, living, and bedroom walls of the Hudgins family home in Yonkers.

That’s not to say that these artworks do not have stories of their own to tell. Themes of myth and memory pervade the collection, as artists take up different visual strategies to convey personal histories. Here, artists such as Bony Ramirez, Laurena Finéus, and Naudline Pierre reinterpret classical techniques in order to create otherworldly renditions of femininity, Blackness, and migration. Others experiment with the materiality of art itself. Artists including Chase Hall and David Hammons use coffee beans, cotton, and grease as mediums, invoking specific histories of oppression and resilience—often in relation to the enduring and forceful presence of colonial structures.

Intimate vignettes provide another throughline across the collection. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories, ethnographies, and family photographs, many of the artists explore how ideas of “home” and “kinship” take on new and unexpected meanings when represented on the canvas. Jordan Casteel, for example, created her MTA series after observing the restful weariness of subway travelers, who find a moment for themselves in the comforting curve of plastic seats. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Raelis Vasquez turned to his family albums for solace, translating his photographs into painted scenes of quiet connection.