Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
Artist McArthur Binion, 2017. | Photo by Francesco Galli
Representation
Chicago-based McArthur Binion joined the roster of Xavier Hufkens in Belgium. His work will be featured in a group exhibition at the gallery this summer. A solo show with Xavier Hufkens is planned for fall 2022. Binion continues to be represented by Lehmann Maupin, Massimo De Carlo, and Richard Gray galleries.
Headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., the Southern Poverty Law Center is now represented by United Talent Agency and Activist. | Deadline
In February, United Talent Agency also announced its representation of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. | Deadline
Appointments
Geovette E. Washington was elected chair of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees. She is the first Black person in history of institutions to serve in role. | Culture Type
Horace D. Ballard has been named associate curator of American art at Harvard Art Museums. | Culture Type
Karen Comer Lowe was appointed executive director and first chief curator at the Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta. | Culture Type
Awards & Honors
Independent Curators International announced four inaugural curatorial research fellows as part of the Marian Goodman Gallery Initiative in honor of curator Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019): Anaïs Duplan (Brooklyn/Iowa City), Negarra A. Kudumu (Seattle), Marie Hélène Pereira (Dakar, Senegal), and Ronald Rose-Antoinette (La Trinité, Martinique). The initiative was conceived by artist Steve McQueen. The fellowships include a variety of resources and programs and $10,000 stipends.
Cardiff’s Artes Mundi—the UK’s largest individual art prize (£40,000)—was divided among six artist nominees rather than going to one winner. Recognizing the “exceptional social and economic upheaval,” the jurors awarded £10,000 each to Firelei Báez, Carrie Mae Weems, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Prabhakar Pachpute, and Meiro Koizumi. | The Guardian
Lot 15: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, Untitled, 1985 (acrylic and oilstick on wood, in three parts, 217.2 x 275.6 x 30.5 cm. | HK $255,000,000-350,000,000 (US $32,850,000-45,090,000). Sold for HK 289,316,000 fees included (US $37.2 million)
Auctions
An untitled Jean-Michel Basquiat triptych dated 1985 that served as a backdrop for the artist’s New York Times Magazine cover (Feb. 10, 1985), sold for HKD 289 million ($37.2 million), fees included, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, on June 18. | ARTnews
Works by South Carolina potter David Drake (circa 1801–1870s), the enslaved artist recognized for his poetic stoneware jars, are setting records at auction, being acquired by museums, and featured in institutional exhibitions. | The New York Times
Museums
The new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) building will reopen in Costa Mesa, Calif., with the return of the California Biennial in October 2022. OCMA’s new CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman announced Essence Harden, Elizabeth Armstrong, and Gilbert Vicario will co-curate the exhibition exploring the state’s rich creativity. | Los Angeles Times
The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is reimagining and transforming its American art galleries through a lens of inclusivity and shared authorship working with three artists: Inye Wokoma, Nicholas Galanin, and Wendy Red Star. The new galleries debut October 2022. | Seattle Times
In Ohio, the Columbus Museum of Art received a major gift from the Scantland Family, a $2 million endowment fund and 27 artworks by a variety of artists, including Greg Breda, Coady Brown, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Somaya Critchlow, Jadé Fadojutimi, Derek Fordjour, Jerrell Gibbs, Lauren Halsey, Jammie Holmes, Deana Lawson, Devan Shimoyama, and Vaughn Spann. The works will be on view in Present Generations: Creating the Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, opening June 25.
Magazines
National Geographic magazine’s June issue examines race relations in America, focusing on the theme “Reckoning with the Past.” Titled “Tulsa,” the issue’s cover illustration is by artist Kadir Nelson.
Institutional Support
Philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott donated more than $2.7 billion to 286 arts and culture nonprofits, “high-impact organizations in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked,” including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Project Row Houses, Studio Museum in Harlem, The Laundromat Project, Apollo Theater, Art for Justice Fund, International African American Museum, and Souls Grown Deep, who received multimillion gifts. | See full list
Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, a Black women’s quilting cooperative that dates back to 1966 in Alberta, Ala., received a $250,000 grant from Souls Grown Deep Foundation and Community Partnership. | Southern Living
Opportunities
ARTNOIR is taking over the Meatpacking District for three months (Aug. 12-Oct. 28), activating the New York City neighborhood’s public spaces with art and performances. The celebration includes an open call for artists currently underway. | More Info
Submissions for the Arnold Newman Prize in Photography are open July 1-Aug. 2, 2021 | More Info
