What Is The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles, 1967–1990 at LACMA?

Short answer

The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles, 1967–1990 is on view at LACMA through January 24, 2027. The exhibition is the first large-scale look at the South L.A. gallery that brothers Alonzo and Dale Brockman Davis opened after the Watts Rebellion — the space that gave early shows to David Hammons, Suzanne Jackson and Carrie Mae Weems.

Key facts

• Who: the Brockman Gallery, founded in 1967 in South Los Angeles by brothers Alonzo and Dale Brockman Davis, and the artists whose careers it nurtured.
• What: The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles, 1967–1990 — more than 60 works across media plus rich archival material, all tied to the Davises’ community-oriented project.
• Where: LACMA, BCAM Level 1, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles.
• When: October 18, 2026 – January 24, 2027.
• Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM–6 PM; Friday 11 AM–8 PM; Saturday and Sunday 10 AM–7 PM; closed Wednesday. Timed-entry tickets, advance purchase recommended.

What was the Brockman Gallery?

Founded in the wake of the 1965 Watts Rebellion, the Brockman Gallery became vital for young artists of color in Los Angeles at a time when most galleries and museums would not show their work. Alonzo and Dale Brockman Davis built more than an exhibition space: LACMA describes a community-oriented project that cultivated artistic experimentation, intellectual exchange and a multicultural community. Current coverage of the show describes the Brockman as the first Los Angeles gallery run for and by Black artists.

What will you see?

More than 60 works across media alongside archival material tracing the gallery’s 23-year run. Among the anchors is Alonzo Davis’s Self Portrait Inside Series (1974), now in LACMA’s own collection. The exhibition traces how the Davises nurtured the early careers of David Hammons, Suzanne Jackson and Carrie Mae Weems — artists who would later define entire chapters of American art — and how a storefront in South L.A. functioned as gallery, meeting place and archive at once.

Why now?

Although the gallery closed in 1990, this is the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to its impact. It reframes Los Angeles art history around a space that the canonical accounts long treated as a footnote, and it asks what institutions owe to the small rooms where careers actually begin — a question at the heart of cultural mediation.

How do you visit?

The exhibition is in BCAM, Level 1, at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM–6 PM, Friday 11 AM–8 PM, and weekends 10 AM–7 PM; it is closed on Wednesday. All visitors, including members, use timed-entry tickets — booking ahead online is recommended, since time slots sell out. The Metro D Line stops at Wilshire/Fairfax, directly at the museum.

FAQ

When does The Brockman Gallery close?

January 24, 2027.

Does it cost anything?

The exhibition is included with LACMA admission, which uses timed-entry tickets; advance online booking is recommended.

What are the hours?

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM–6 PM; Friday until 8 PM; Saturday and Sunday 10 AM–7 PM; closed Wednesday.

Who were the Brockman Davis brothers?

Alonzo and Dale Brockman Davis, the artists and gallerists who opened the Brockman Gallery in South Los Angeles in 1967 and ran it until 1990, showing generations of artists of color whom mainstream venues ignored.

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Sources

• LACMA, exhibition page for The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles, 1967–1990: dates, gallery history, works and location.
• LACMA, museum hours page: daily opening times and ticket guidance.

More context: our guides to April Bey’s new tapestries at Vielmetter and Barry McGee’s Another Round at Jeffrey Deitch.