Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
Thomas J. Price’s sculptures depict contemporary, composite figures. The artist is a key voice in the conversation around Britain’s public sculptures, representation, perception, problematic histories, and the language of monumentalism. | Photo Courtesy Thomas J. Price Studio
Representation
London-based sculptor Thomas J. Price joined Hauser & Wirth gallery. Hauser & Wirth Partner Neil Wenman said Price’s “multi-disciplinary practice could not be more relevant today. Amid the current discussions of public art and an awareness of nuanced representation in the public realm, Thomas inhabits historic constructs with a newness that at first glance can go unnoticed, but that live in the public realm as silent totems for change.” In July, Price begins a residency at Hauser & Wirth Somerset in advance of his first solo exhibition with the gallery, which opens Oct. 2 in Somerset.
Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery in Luxembourg announced its exclusive representation of Nigerian artist John Madu. Madu lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. Currently featured in the group show “Summertime,” his first solo exhibition at the gallery will open in November 2021.
Appointments
Russell Wigginton has been named president of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. For 23 years, Wigginton was a professor and administrator at Rhodes College in Memphis. In 2019, he joined the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education, a Nashville-based nonprofit. His tenure at the museum begins Aug. 1. | Commercial Appeal
New Art Exchange announced the appointment of Saad Eddine Said as CEO and artistic director. He starts at the Nottingham, UK, contemporary arts space in the fall.
In the fall, Scholar and curator Kelli Morgan is joining the Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences in Medford, Mass., where she will serve as professor of practice in the Department of History of Art and Architecture and director of curatorial studies. In July 2020, Morgan resigned from the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields via a public letter describing a toxic and discriminatory culture at the institution that she said failed to serve people of color, including artists, staff, and audiences. Morgan has since partnered with the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) Foundation on a mentorship and professional development alliance for curators of color. She starts at Tufts on Sept. 1. Read a new interview with Morgan published by AAIHS here
Awards & Honors
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Ford Foundation announced inaugural recipients of the Latinx Artist Fellowship. Described as a “first-of-its-kind initiative, the $5 million fellowship program is administered by the US Latinx Art Forum (USLAF) in collaboration with the New York Foundation for the Arts and will award $50,000 each to 75 Latinx visual artists over the next five years (benefitting 15 artists annually). The 2021 cohort includes Elia Alba, Coco Fusco, Carlos Martiel, and Juan Sánchez.
Art Basel and BMW presented the BMW Art Journey 2021 prize to Julien Creuzet, a French-Caribbean artist and poet who lives in Paris.
Dakar-based Ibrahima Ndome won the inaugural 2021 ellipse Prize, which is designed to identify promising Senegal-based emerging artists (aged 18-35). Ndome is a member of the Senegalese collective Atelier Ndokette, which focuses on photography, video, fashion, and performance. He will receive a three-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts (Oct 4-Dec. 27, 2021) in Paris and his work will be on view in November, during the AKAA Fair in Paris.
Community members take in newly unveiled sculpture, The Light of Ida B. Wells National Monument by Richard Hunt, on June 30, 2021. | Photo by Antonio/Chicago Tribune
Public Art
Designed by sculptor Richard Hunt, a monument dedicated to journalist and activst Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was unveiled in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. | Associated Press
Auctions
ARTNOIR is hosting an auction in collaboration with Artsy. The From: Friends To: Friends Benefit Auction 2021 is open July 13-27. Featuring works by about 30 emerging artists, auction proceeds will benefit ARTNOIR’s newly launched Artistic Pathways Scholarship Fund, which provides grants to MFA visual art students of color currently enrolled in CUNY or SUNY graduate arts programs and professional guidance, including mentorship, career coaching, artist residency opportunities, and exposure.
