The Broad in Downtown Los Angeles is preparing to open its next free exhibition, "Has the myth been shattered," on November 21, 2026. This new show, running through April 4, 2027, will be on display in the ground-floor galleries and explores how mass media has shaped both history and our collective memories of major events. It also considers media's potential for resistance.
The exhibition draws from the museum's own collection, featuring more than a dozen works new to the galleries among pieces by 14 contemporary artists. The Broad typically alternates its ground-floor programming between specially ticketed artist-specific retrospectives and these free group shows. Visitors can always access the upstairs galleries and the Infinity Mirrored Room without charge.
Taking its title from Guadalupe Rosales’s recently acquired work, *Has the myth been shattered*, the exhibition highlights a full-length two-way mirror that frames a *Los Angeles Times* front page from the days following the 1992 L.A. Uprising. That newspaper asked whether the unrest would force L.A. to confront its ignored inequities. This piece is among the many being shown at The Broad for the very first time.
Other artists familiar to the museum's upstairs galleries, including Barbara Kruger, Glenn Ligon, and Andy Warhol, will also have works on view. The exhibition’s significant focus on pieces from the 1980s and ’90s means print media plays a central role in these artistic meditations on race, history, and belonging. However, more recent works also engage with tangible relics, like Hank Willis Thomas’s 2018 *Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot*. This piece spotlights a 1968 pamphlet with instructions for Black residents facing military occupation, using retroflective vinyl to reveal photographs of the National Guard’s nine-month occupation of Wilmington, Delaware. Mickalene Thomas’s 2021 work, *The Charnel House (Resist #5)*, fills the contours of Picasso’s unfinished World War II painting with archival photos and signs from the civil rights and Black Lives Matter movements.
According to Joanne Heyler, The Broad’s founding director and president, the museum’s collection has consistently supported artists who engage provocatively with the most charged subjects of their time. She noted that this exhibition spans decades of artists questioning persistent injustices in American life and offers a look at the collection's evolution. Curator Jen Vanegas Rocha expressed hope that the presentation will not only address political and media issues but also illuminate the power of collective action and socially engaged art making, seeing these artists as "architects of better futures" who create space for the public to consider possibilities within and against examined systems.
Additional works on display include portraits of former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller by Leon Golub, Mark Tansey’s *Matrix* depicting media-crafting conveyor belts, and pieces by Richard Artschwager, Sue Coe, Robert Longo, Goshka Macuga, Thomas Ruff, and David Wojnarowicz.
Access to “Has the myth been shattered” is included with a free general admission ticket, with reservations becoming available in the fall. Visitors can also peek at the museum’s ongoing expansion during their visit.
