THIS YEAR’S MOST POPULAR POSTS, based on number of views, tended to be exhibition roundups and Culture Talk conversations with art world figures. The top Culture Type post by far, however, was a report published in March about the number of black artists slated to participate in the 56th annual Venice Biennale. It garnered more than 8,500 Facebook Likes and nearly three times as many views as the second most popular post of 2015, a listing of 20 solo exhibitions featuring black female artists.
Clockwise from top left, Steve McQueen, Wangechi Mutu, Chris Ofili, Lorna Simpson, Kay Hassan, Glenn Ligon.
1. 2015 Venice Biennale to Include More than 35 Black Artists
EBONY G. PATTERSON, Installation view at John Michael Kohler Arts Center of “Swag Swag Krew (from the Out and Bad series),” 2011–14 (cotton, velvet, lace, plastic, and mixed media). | Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, IL. Photo by John Michael, Kohler Arts Center
2. Where My Girls At? 20 Black Female Artists with Solo Exhibitions on View this Fall
NORMAN LEWIS, “Title Unknown (March on Washington),” 1965 (il on fiberboard). | L. Ann and Jonathan P. Binstock. © Estate of Norman W. Lewis; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N.Y.
3. Fall Exhibitions: 42 Must-See Museum Shows Featuring Black Artists
PHILEMONA WILLIAMSON, “Satin Doll,” 2015 (oil on linen). | Courtesy June Kelly Gallery
4. Spring Openings: 28 New Exhibitions Feature Black Artists
In advance of his exhibition “Here Hear” opening at Cranbrook Art Museum, NICK CAVE staged a series of Sound Suit photo shoots around Detroit.
5. Summer Shows: 25 Noteworthy Exhibitions Feature Black Artists
Commissioned by Creative Time, Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety” was on view at the old Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, from May 10-July 6, 2014.
6. Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2014
Richard J. Powell, the John Spencer Bassett Professor of art, art history and visual studies at Duke University, curated the exhibition “Archibald Motley.”
7. Culture Talk: Duke Professor Richard J. Powell on Archibald Motley
DAVID HAMMONS’s untitled mixed-media sculpture created in 2000 was the cover lot for Phillips Contemporary Art Evening sale on Nov. 11, 2013, where it sold for more than $8 million.
8. David Hammons Among 10 Most Expensive Living American Artists
From left, David Hammons and Bruce Talamon in front of Hammons’s La Salle Street studio in Los Angeles in 1977. | Photo by Bruce W. Talamon, Courtesy Bruce W. Talamon
9. Culture Talk: Bruce Talamon on Photographing David Hammons
Art books featuring the work of Nick Cave, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Charles Gaines, Kerry James Marshall, Chris Ofili, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, were among the best of 2014.
10. 11 Best Black Art Books of 2014
Among the next 10 most popular posts are several Culture Type recommends:
National Gallery of Art Acquires 190+ Works by African American Artists From Corcoran
ARTnews Publishes Special Report on Women in the Art World, Black Artists Respond
How Artist Charles Gaines is Influencing the Creative Economy in Los Angeles
Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Struggle’ Series Documents Broad Sweep of Early American History
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