Art Agenda | Sept. 8-14, 2014

ART AGENDA LISTS UPCOMING EVENTS, must-see exhibition openings and interesting talks happening this week in black art. Today’s edition features a Carrie Mae Weems talk in Brooklyn, a conversation with Nick Cave about his new monograph, exhibitions featuring Chakaia Booker, Kehinde Wiley, Derrick Adams, Fahamou Pecou and more:

Monday, Sept. 15, 2014
DEADLINE for Johnson Prize is Near
Applications for the 2014 William H. Johnson Prize are due next Monday, Sept. 15. Awarded annually to mid-career African American artists, recent winners of the $25,000 prize include Robert A. Pruitt, Clifford Owens and Deborah Grant.

“Pursuit of Happiness,” 2014 (acrylic, gold leaf and oil stick on canvas) by Fahamou Pecou via Lyons Wier Gallery.

Through Oct. 4, 2014
FAHAMOU PECOU at Lyons Wier Gallery | New York
Atlanta-based Fahamou Pecou’s work “offers a critical glimpse into the insecurities being played out in hip-hop music, visual culture and American popular culture at large.” His latest exhibition, “Pursuit of Happiness,” (above) examines the American obsession with material gain.

Through Oct. 25, 2014
CHAKAIA BOOKER at David Krut Projects | New York
When Chakaia Booker isn’t making towering sculptures composed of tire rubber, she is honing her print practice. “A fluid space projective space,” her current exhibition, features hand-cut and assembled chine collé prints (at left), unique works on paper created in collaboration with Master Printer Phil Sanders of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.

“The title of this exhibition comes from [Chakaia] Booker’s process of cutting and rearranging materials to create a corpus-like cluster of pattern and texture.”
— David Krut Projects

Sept. 8 – Oct. 9, 2014
ESTHER MAHLANGU at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts | Richmond, Va.
During September, South African artist Esther Mahlangu will be in residence at VMFA painting two murals for the entrance to the museum’s African Art Gallery. The paintings will be presented to the public on Oct. 8 and 9 and, according to the VMFA, are the only major museum commission created by the Ndebele artist in North America.

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014 @ 7:30 p.m.
CARRIE MAE WEEMS Talk at the Brooklyn Academy of Music | Brooklyn, N.Y.
Following a presentation of her work and a screening of the new ART21 documentary exploring her practice, photographer Carrie Mae Weems discusses her creative process with former MoMA curator Laurence Kardish.

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014 @ 12 Noon – 1 p.m.
NAOMI BECKWITH Talk on Yinka Shonibare MBE at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
MCA Curator Naomi Beckwith discusses the work of London-based, Nigeria-raised Yinka Shonibare MBE, whose Dutch-wax, “African” batik Wind Sculptures are on view through October 2014 on the museum’s outdoor plaza.

Sept. 10 – Oct. 18, 2014
DERRICK ADAMS at Tilton Gallery | New York
Screen images from situation comedies, music videos and stand-up comedy inspired New York-based artist Derrick Adams to create a new series of faceted wood sculptures and colorful mixed-media collages that appear to be framed in vintage televisions on view in “Live and in Color.”

“Soundsuit,” 2014 (mixed media including fabric, buttons, antique sifter and wire) by Nick Cave, on view at Jack Shainman Gallery, Armory Show 2014 | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 @ 6 – 8 p.m.
NICK CAVE in Conversation at New York Public Library
In advance of its Sept. 25 publication, artist Nick Cave talks about his new definitive monograph surveying the expanse of his practice, from his mesmerizing Soundsuits (above) to his mixed media sculpture and performance work. The artist, who has a pair of exhibitions currently on view at Jack Shainman Gallery, will discuss Nick Cave: Epitome with Nato Thompson, Creative Time curator and a contributing author to the book. Early copies of the book will be available exclusively at this Art Book event for purchase and signing.

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 @ 5:30 pm
SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY ART Discussion at Yale University Art Gallery | New Haven, Conn.
As the final days of “Contemporary Art/South Africa” (May 9 – Sept. 14) approach, the museum hosts a panel discussion among curators and artists discussing their “Multiple Perspectives” of the state of contemporary art in South Africa.

Friday, Sept. 12, 2014 @ 1:30 p.m.
ZANELE MUHOLI Talk at Yale University Art Gallery | New Haven, Conn.
Photographer and self-proclaimed “visual activist” Zanele Muholi discusses her portraits of South Africa’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and is joined at the event by Lebo Mashifane, one of her subjects. Muholi’s images are on view in the museum’s “Contemporary Art/South Africa” (May 9 – Sept. 14) exhibition and also appeared recently in “Public Intimacy: Art and Other Public Acts in South Africa” at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in San Francisco.

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 @ 7 – 9 p.m.
KEVIN BEASLEY in Conversation at Studio Museum in Harlem | New York
Artist-in-Residence Kevin Beasley, whose works include sculptural installations made with found materials, discusses the development of his practice and experience at the museum with Lumi Tan, associate curator at The Kitchen. Beasley’s work is currently featured in “Material Histories Artists in Residence 2013–14” (July 17 – Oct 26) with fellow resident artists, Bethany Collins and Abigail DeVille.

A behind-the-scenes look at Kehinde Wiley’s Haiti project. | Video by Roberts Projects

Sept. 13 – Oct. 25, 2014
KEHINDE WILEY at Roberts & Tilton Gallery | Culver City, Calif.
“The World Stage: Haiti,” the latest installment of Kehinde Wiley’s global survey, focuses on Haiti and features a dozen paintings—his signature portraits depicting the disaster-prone nation’s culture-defining youth.

Sept. 12, 2014 – Feb. 1, 2015
NORMAN LEWIS at The Jewish Museum | New York
“From the Margins: Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis, 1945-1952” explores the work of two Abstractionist painters, African American artist Norman Lewis (1909-1979) and Jewish artist Lee Krasner (1908-1984) with relatively parallel careers.

Sept. 12 – Oct. 25, 2014
NORMAN LEWIS at Bill Hodges Gallery | New York
Bill Hodges recently moved from midtown to Chelsea and this week opens a show of small paintings and drawings by highly regarded Abstractionists Norman Lewis. CT

IMAGE: Second from top at left, “Untitled,” 2013 (woodcut on colored paper) by Chakaia Booker via David Krut Projects.