“Saturday Night,” 2007.
Ever since his childhood, Geoffrey Holder had been enamored with the dancehalls peppered throughout his native Trinidad. After all, the artist’s parents had met at one of these dancehalls; he had taken the helm of his brother’s dance troupe at 20; and, even when he moved to New York City in 1953, his fascination still endured. Perhaps nothing exemplifies the depth of that love than Holder’s dancehall paintings, many of which are now on view at James Fuentes Gallery in Manhattan.
Titled Saturday Night, the posthumous exhibition considers dancehalls as sites of rejuvenation and community. Every painting in the show practically hums with energy, captured through Holder’s expressive brushstrokes, bold color palettes, and etched surfaces. The eponymous Saturday Night from 2007, for instance, sees a man and a woman suspended in movement, their limbs thrown into the air with delightful abandon. Flanking the canvas are several other figures, each of whom are equally giddy and rendered with loose, almost Impressionistic linework. The scene is warm, rhythmic, and can barely be contained by the painting’s golden frame.
Several works in the exhibition follow this overall recipe, although some are more meditative than purely kinetic. Shoes, from 1996, is one such painting, depicting a group of women slipping into their heels. Here, Holder’s linework is supple rather than frantic, an appropriate shift given that the painting presents a moment of rest and preparation, presumably before a night of dancing. Waiting for the Dance, as its title suggests, takes this exact theme to the next level, showcasing yet another group of women in flowing dresses, each seated and awaiting their turn on the dance floor.
Above all, though, Saturday Night is a celebration of dynamism and motion, especially with regards to race and gender. Most paintings center women as focal points, and all works offer a glimpse into how the Black community and other people of color engage with dancehalls as sources of joy and solidarity. This may be reflected most clearly in Holder’s more sensual scenes, such as Getting Down/Showing Off the Dip or Untitled from 2006. In both paintings, men and women dance close together, the intimacy palpable as they embrace and move to the music’s beat.
Taken in its entirety, these works stand as Holder’s love letters to dance and New York’s cultural landscape. Aside from painting, Holder expressed his love of dance in other ways as well: he designed costumes and choreography for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, while his downtown loft doubled as a salon for local artists, including Alice Neel, Francis Bacon, and Lena Horne. Everything included in Saturday Night radiates with that sense of passion, something that is needed now more than ever.
Geoffrey Holder: Saturday Night is currently on view at James Fuentes Gallery through January 10, 2026.
Geoffrey Holder’s energetic paintings celebrate dancehalls as sites of rejuvenation, solidarity, and joy, especially for Black and other marginalized communities.
“Shoes,” 1996.
“Untitled,” 2006.
“Dance Hall,” 2008–11.
“Dance Hall,” detail, 2008–11.
“Waiting for the Dance,” 2001.
These dynamic works are gathered together in Geoffrey Holder: Saturday Night, now on view at James Fuentes Gallery in New York through January 10, 2026.
“Saturday Night,” 1998.
“Getting Down / Showing Off the Dip,” 1990s.
Installation view of “Girls Stepping Out,” 1994, at James Fuentes Gallery.
“Untitled,” mid-1990s.
“Strippers,” 1980.