MUST-SEE EXHIBITION openings and interesting talks and appearances happening this week in black art:
May 19, 2014 @ 7 p.m.
Conversations on Art: Dawoud Bey at Whitney Museum | New York
Images from Dawoud Bey‘s “The Birmingham Project” (shown above) are on view at the Whitney Biennial. Marking the 50th anniversary of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the photography project pairs locals from Birmingham’s black community, young people about the age of the four little girls killed in the blast with a counterpart 50 years older, the age the girls would have been if they had survived. In a conversation with art historian and curator Sarah Lewis and scholar Imani Perry, Bey “will reflect on the role of art and photography in the visualization and construction of race, memory, and history.”
Kara Walker, “A Subtlety,” 2014. Photography by Jason Wyche | Courtesy Creative Time
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 @ 7 p.m.
Kara Walker Live at New York Public Library
Earlier this month, Kara Walker debuted her first sculpture, a large-scale handkerchief-wearing sphinx. A natural extension of the racial, cultural and historic narratives explored in her practice, the sugar-coated work was commissioned by Creative Time and is on view at the old Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn. Walker will discuss the sculpture and the history and symbolism of sugar in a discussion with Jad Abumrad, host and creator of RadioLab, at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. The SOLD OUT conversation will be live streamed here.
Through May 31, 2014
Adrian Piper at Elizabeth Dee Gallery | New York
Performance artist Adrian Piper‘s “The Probably Trust Registry,” is a participatory group performance. According to Elizabeth Dee Gallery, the exhibition “stages an environment for the potential of collective exchange in the form of personal declarations that become part of an enduring and ongoing artwork…Engagement with Piper’s interactive installation offers the possibility to assess one’s own philosophical obligations and to reevaluate complicit relationships to others.”
“Engagement with [Adrian] Piper’s interactive installation offers the possibility to assess one’s own philosophical obligations and to reevaluate complicit relationships to others.” — Elizabeth Dee Gallery
Installation view of “Paul Anthony Smith: Mangos and Crabs” via Carrie Secrist Gallery
Through June 14, 2014
Paul Anthony Smith at Carrie Secrist Gallery | Chicago
The paintings and photographs of airport workers and family members in “Paul Anthony Smith: Mangos and Crab” were created by the artist to help him understand the public and private identities of the his native Jamaica. He executed the works, on view May 3 to June 14, 2014, last summer while visiting Port Antonio, Jamaica, his hometown.
William H. Johnson, “Ring Around the Rosey,” 1944 (detail). Oil on compressed cardboard via Phoenix Art Museum.
Through July 13, 2014
William H. Johnson: An American Modern at Phoenix Art Museum
“William H. Johnson: An American Modern,” a selection of rarely seen paintings, offers an overview of William Johnson’s practice, an exploration African American life and culture through bold, colorful images whose studied simplicity define his modern aesthetic. The exhibition is on view April 19 to July 13, 2014.
Through Aug. 17, 2014
Sam Doyle at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Self-taught artist Sam Doyle hailed from Saint Helena Island, S.C., where he began painting on cast-off sheets of metal and wood boards more than 70 years ago. Recognized for his use of vibrant color, the museum describes his painting style as “gestural figuration.” “Sam Doyle: The Mind’s Eye,” features portraits of people from his community on view from May 3 to Aug. 17, 2014. CT
IMAGES: From top, Dawoud Bey, “Maxine Adams and Amelia Maxwell (from The Birmingham Project),” 2012 (two pigmented inkjet prints mounted on dibond) via Whitney Museum; Adrian Piper, Installation view of “The Probably Trust Registry” via Elizabeth Dee Gallery; and Sam Doyle, Detail of “Dr. Crow,” 1970-83 (house paint on metal) Gordon W. Bailey Collection via LACMA
