Renee Royale
B. 1990, Brooklyn, NY.
Education
Northwestern University, Master in Fine Arts in Art, Theory, and Practice, with Certificate in Critical Theory, 2025
University of New Orleans, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, 2023
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Shadow Work, Longue Vue House & Gardens | New Orleans, LA
2023
EVIDENCE, Antenna Gallery | New Orleans, LA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026
Ground Floor, Hyde Park Art Center | Chicago, IL
Medley, Epiphany Center for the Arts | Chicago, IL
The Assembly, Old Ford Motor Plant | Arabi, LA
Binh Danh and Renee Royale, Rose Gallery | Santa Monica, CA
Boundary Layers, whitespace | Atlanta, GA
2025
New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging, Museum of Modern Art | New York, NY
Fluid Dynamics, Angel’s Gate Cultural Center | Los Angeles, CA
Wayfinding: Human Intervention, Roots & Culture | Chicago, IL
A NEW STATE OF MATTER, Block Museum | Evanston, IL
Archive as Action, Archive as Discourse, SITE Sharp Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL
Archive as Action, Archive as Discourse, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Northwestern University | Evanston, IL
NewCity 2025 Breakout Artist Exhibition, Chicago Artists Coalition | Chicago, IL
Plastic, The New Coal, apexart/The Descendants Project | Vacherie, LA
2024
A Nation Takes Place, Minnesota Marine Art Museum | Winona, MN
Third Horizon Film Festival | Miami, FL
Gestures of Refusal: Black Photography and Visual Culture, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans | New Orleans, LA
Collective Telling: Southern Rooted Perspectives on Place, History, & Emergence, Echo Contemporary Art | Atlanta, GA
Finding Grounding, Barnes Ogden Gallery, Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, LA
2023
Insurgent Ecologies: Hotter than July, Law Warschaw Gallery, Macalester College | St Paul, MN
Finding Grounding, East Baton Rouge Library | Baton Rouge, LA
Play It Louder, Albert & Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design | New Orleans, LA
UNTITLED (Invisible Identities), Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans | New Orleans, LA
INSURGENT ECOLOGIES, Antenna Gallery | New Orleans, LA
IN THE SPIRIT OF BLACK, Ashé Cultural Arts Center | New Orleans, LA
2022
This Is Now, ICOSA Gallery | Austin, TX
PHANTASMA, [ART] CONSCIOUS | Arabi, LA
Remember Earth?, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans | New Orleans, LA
Past, Present, and Afrofuturism, The Front Gallery | New Orleans, LA
Hello? Are You Still There? .... . .-.. .-.. --- ..--.. / .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / ... - .. .-.. .-.. / - .... . .-. . ..--.., Carroll Gallery, Tulane University | New Orleans, LA
2017
Fresh Meat, Michael Ingbar Gallery | New York, NY
Select Public Presentations | Artist Talks | Tours
2026
Design Symposium 2026: Design and the Natural Environment | Longue Vue House and Gardens, New Orleans, LA
2025
Dia Foundation Durational Pedagogy Fellows Walkthrough | MoMA, New York, NY
Forum on Contemporary Photography: Lines of Belonging | MoMA, New York, NY
Submerging at the Site Talk | Online
Cornerstone Panel Discussion: Geographies of Belonging, Land, Identity, and Collective Memory | Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
2024
Art & Emergence Visiting Artist Talk | Online
A Nation Takes Place — Upper Mississippi Convening | Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN
Create + Engage, The Way of Water: Exploring Local Ecosystems Workshop | Online
Collective Telling Artist Talk + Dinner | Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA
2023
ART PAPERS, Artist Writing Workshop | Community Book Center, New Orleans, LA
Finding Grounding, Art and Nature Connection Workshop | Baton Rouge, LA
2022
Prospect New Orleans, Young Artists Exchange | Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
2021
The Black Curatorial Labs Art Talk | Online
2019
#BlackArt: Dialogue in Digital | PRIZM Art Fair, Miami, FL
Essentials x Essence, We #SupportBlackArt | Ace Hotel, New Orleans, LA
A Black Creative’s Guide, Mickalene Thomas: Femmes Noires Exhibition Tour | Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
The Necessity of Visibility | Black Gotham, New York, NY
Curatorial Work
2022
SEEING BLACK, Curatorial Assistant | Multiple Sites & 2024 Publication, New Orleans, LA
2021
Sugar, Co-Curator | Antenna Gallery P.5 Satellite Exhibition
2019
In Root, Of Bone, Co-Curator | Ace Hotel, New Orleans, USA
Unnu Contemporary Art Fest, Co-Curator | Barbados Museum & Historical Society, Bridgetown, Barbados
We Dream in Color, Co-Curator | Macy’s Flagship Store, Queer | Art Group Exhibition, New York, NY
2018
Spatial Orientation: An Exploration of Adaptation, Curator | Parlor Room Sessions, Brooklyn, NY
Phoenix Rising, Curator | Parlor Room Sessions, Group Exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
2017
Vanishing Point, Curator | Sehiii Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016
Where Pathways Meet, Curator | Bishop Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Parlor Room Sessions, Curator | Parlor Room Sessions, Brooklyn, NY
2015
Nostalgia NYC, Associate Curator | Michael Ingbar Gallery, New York, NY
Professional Experience
Teaching Assistant | Intro to Photography, Intro to Painting, Northwestern University, 2024-2025
Freelance Writer | Burnaway, 64 Parishes, New York Observer, Olu & Company, et. al., 2018- Present
Program Manager | Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 2023
Associate Curator | SEEING BLACK: Photography in New Orleans 1840 and Beyond, 2022 - June 2023
Community Manager | Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums, New York, 2022
Social Media Manager | Prospect New Orleans, New Orleans, 2019-2022
Social Media Manager | Black Artists & Designers Guild, 2021
Social Media Manager / Digital Engagement | Slave Rebellion Reenactment Project, Antenna, New Orleans, 2019
Social Media Manager | Arts Council of New Orleans, New Orleans, 2018-2019
Curatorial Assistant | AC Institute, New York, 2018
Gallery Assistant | Michael Ingbar Gallery, New York, 2014-2016
Selected Publications
SEQUITUR Journal, Volume 12, Boston University, 2026
Fluid Dynamics, Exhibition Catalog, Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, 2025
Wayfinding: Human Intervention, Exhibition Catalog, 2025
Seeing Black: Black Photography in New Orleans 1840 and Beyond, University of New Orleans Press, 2024
liquid blackness: Journal of Aesthetics and Black Studies, Volume 8, Duke University Press, 2024
A Nation Takes Place: Navigating Race and Water in Contemporary Art, Exhibition Catalog, University of Minnesota Press, 2024
Landscapes of Matter, Artist Book, Antenna Press, 2023
I’d Rather Get Out of Jail Than Get $1,000,000, Exhibition Catalog, Antenna Press, 2023
Sugar, Exhibition Catalog, Antenna Press, 2022
Black Aesthetics Season III: , 2020
7 Days: Expanded Edition, AC Institute, 2020
AfriCOBRA Now: a review of the New York show. The International Review of African American Art, Vol. 28 No. 3, 2018
Additional Projects
Support Black Art, Online International Digital Platform/Museum Space, 2016 - 2025
Sustenance for the Soul, Invitation-Only Artist Talk Series, December 2022 - 2023
SUSTENANCE, Artist Soirée Series, 2022
Parlor Room Sessions, Experimental Art Pop-ups, 2016-2018
Awards | Grants | Fellowships
2025 Interdisciplinary Conference Travel Grant, Northwestern University
2025 Graduate Research Grant, Northwestern University
2024 Graduate Research Grant, Northwestern University
2023 Rivers Institute-Amistad Research Center, The Prepared Table Fellow
2022 Monroe Fellow Research Grant, New Orleans Center for the Gulf South
2021 Carl Muckley Award, University of New Orleans
2020 Burnaway Art Writing Incubator Fellow
Residencies
2026 Longue Vue Artist-in-Residence, New Orleans, LA
2025 Materia Abierta, Mexico City, Mexico
2024 Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art and Research, Rome, Italy
Press
Northwestern Magazine: Photos From ‘The End of the World
ArtNet News: In Focus: 5 Photography Shows to See in New York
Collector Daily: New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging @ MoMA
MoMA: Sites of Communion: The Artists of New Photography 2025, in Their Own Words
The New York Times: Photography’s Next Generation, Bursting Out of the Frames
Whitehot Magazine: MoMA Presents: The 40th anniversary of its New Photography series
Newcity Breakout Artists 2025: Chicago’s Next Generation of Image Makers
Galerie Magazine's Next Big Thing: Renee Royale
MoMA: New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging
MinnPost: In 'A Nation Takes Place,' Black, Indigenous artists mine meaning from the water
Misstropolis: Mother Water | Father Land: Elements, History and Hope at Prospect.5 New Orleans