CMA organizes major exhibition with Columbia-born artist Rodney McMillian

The Columbia Museum of Art presents major spring exhibition Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil, on view from March 21 through June 28, 2026. Organized by the Columbia Museum of Art in collaboration with the artist, this exhibition is the first solo presentation in the Southeast of the work of Rodney McMillian, a Columbia-born artist working at the national level.

Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil is a thematic presentation of the artist’s work across a range of media, including painting, video, and works assembled from industrial materials and household discards. The exhibition broadly locates McMillian’s artistic investigations within the cultural and political landscape of the American South, highlighting his diverse engagements with topics of land, the body, and the domestic sphere. It will feature more than 30 artworks, including new work that will debut in the exhibition.

McMillian (b. 1969, Columbia, SC; lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) confronts American identity by addressing complex histories — of class and race, of landscape and region, of art and a nation. He adopts a sweeping view of landscape representation as both a physical space and an ideological position. In large-scale painted expanses and films set in the Deep South, McMillian evokes land’s tillage and spoilage, histories of ownership, and the charged relationship between land and the body.

Drawing on diverse cultural sources ranging from science fiction to political speeches, McMillian registers the complexity of a nation and its multifarious systems. He employs post-consumer objects, such as thrifted bedding and discarded furniture, in an extended meditation on class and domesticity. In the artist’s hands, these materials assume new life, registering experience in tears and stains that bear the weight of history.

McMillian’s work resonates powerfully in a Southern context, provoking further inquiry into Black citizenship and the continuing presence of historical currents.

McMillian serves as a professor in the Department of Art at UCLA, where he has worked since 2009. His work is in major public collections including, among others, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. In 2017, McMillian received the Contemporary Austin’s inaugural Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize; the previous year, his work was highlighted in solo exhibitions at the ICA Philadelphia, the Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA PS 1, and the Aspen Art Museum. Rodney McMillian: The Land: Not Without a Politic was on view at the Marta Herford Museum, Germany, in 2024.

Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil is presented through the support of our generous sponsors and grantors. Major support provided by Teiger Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Gold sponsor: Dominion Energy. Silver sponsors: Suzanne and Robert Clawson; Theodore and Margaret Anne DuBose; Dr. Suzanne R. Thorpe and Dr. John W. Baynes. Bronze sponsors: Leslie and Jeffrey Archie; Beth and Matthew Richardson. Additional support for the Columbia Museum of Art from City of Columbia; Experience Columbia SC; Richland County Government; South Carolina Arts Commission; and Discover South Carolina.

Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil Opening Day Programs

McMillian Opening Day Member Morning
Saturday, March 21 | 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

CMA members are invited to enjoy early access on opening day of Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil. Check out this exciting new exhibition before the crowds arrive. Free with membership. Registration encouraged as space is limited.

Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil Opening Discussion
Saturday, March 21 | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Celebrate opening day of featured spring exhibition Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil with a conversation between the artist himself and Senior Curator Michael Neumeister. Discover new insights as they discuss the exhibition’s themes, McMillian’s artistic process, and the influence of the South on his work. Free with membership or admission. Registration required as space is limited.