THIS IS A BIG WEEK IN ART. Wednesday evening, the Studio Museum in Harlem is announcing the winner of the annual Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize at its 2019 gala. Last year, Los Angeles-based textile artist Diedrick Brackens received the $50,000 prize. Simone Leigh won in 2017.
The latest Power 100 List is also being released. The annual list, described as a ranking of the most influential people in the international art world, is published by London-based Art Review magazine. In 2018, Kerry James Marshall was No. 2 on the list. Marshall was the top (“most powerful”) artist that year and ranked higher than any other black person in the history of the list, which was established in 2002. The 2019 Power 100 list is due Wednesday evening.
Sotheby’s, November 14 – Lot 14: NORMAN LEWIS, “Ritual,” 1962 (oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 63 3/4 inches / 130.2 by 161.9 cm.). © Estate of Norman Lewis; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY. | Estimate $700,000-$1 million. Sold for $2.780,000 fees included ($2.3 million hammer price). RECORD
On the auction front, a slew of works by African American artists is being offered at contemporary sales held this week at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips in New York. Among them, major works by Alma Thomas, Charles White, and Norman Lewis are featured in evening sales for the first time. All three carry estimates in the million-dollar range.
In Canada, the winner of the Sobey Art Award will be named on Friday. Stephanie Comilang is among the finalists for the $100,000 award. Comilang has a film-based practice and divides her time between Toronto and Berlin. Given by the Sobey Art Foundation in partnership with the National Gallery of Canada, the honor is regarded as Canada’s top award in contemporary art. Kapwani Kiwanga won the Sobey Artist Award in 2018.
This weekend, Solange Knowles is presenting “Bridge-s,” a series of free performances, films, and artist talks at the Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles (Nov. 16-17). Creative Time is holding its Summit X 2019 at The Cooper Union in New York City (Nov. 14-16). Inspired by tenets of truth spoken by Octavia E. Butler and Maya Angelou, the gathering features Jeremy O. Harris, Charles Gaines, and Hank Willis Thomas, among many other artists and cultural figures. CT
UPDATE (11/14/19): Sotheby’s auction results added to caption for “Ritual” (1962) by Norman Lewis.
