Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
Tavares Strachan in his New York studio. | Photo by Maegan Gindi
Representation
Perrotin announced its co-representation of interdisciplinary artist Tavares Strachan. The gallery, which has locations in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai, will work with Strachan in collaboration with Marian Goodman Gallery, where he has been represented since last year. Strachan’s research-based practice explores the intersection of art, science, and politics. He works across disciplines to surface unknown histories and investigate the nature of invisibility—why certain histories and cultures are privileged over others. His ambitious projects often involve collaboration with expert individuals and organizations in a spectrum of fields from space travel to deep sea exploration. Strachan lives and works between New York and Nassau, Bahamas, where he was born. His first exhibition with Perrotin is scheduled for October 2022 in Paris, coinciding with a show at Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris.
Detail of Nick Cave’s new tile mosaic Soundsuit installation at Times Square subway station. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine
Public Art
More than two dozen Soundsuits by Nick Cave are dancing on the walls of the New York City subway. Sculptural costumes, the dynamic and vibrantly colored works come to life when activated by dancers, their magic borne of performance—their movement and the sound it emits. Incredibly, the two-dimensional, glass mosaic tile versions are full of life, too, appearing in constant motion. (The project also includes digital screens that play videos of dancers performing in his Soundsuits.) Cave is the latest artist to participate in the M.T.A. Arts & Design program. The Chicago-based artist has been commissioned to create a three-part installation within the corridor that serves the shuttle from Times Square to Grand Central Station. The first part, “Every One,” will be unveiled Sept. 10. The others—“Each One” and “Equal All”—are slated for installation next year. | New York Times
Museums
The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced the lineup for the 2021 Clarice Smith Virtual Lecture Series: artist Fred Wilson (Sept. 15), and art historians Nada Shabout (Oct. 13) and Richard Powell (Nov. 17).
Ancestry.com expert Nicka Sewell-Smith discusses the significance of the Freedmen’s Bureau collection and the kinds of information that can be gleaned from the records about the heritage of African Americans. | Video by Ancestry
More News
Ancestry.com has made more than 3.5 million searchable records from the Freedmen’s Bureau, available for free. Dating from 1846 and 1878, the collection provides a wealth of information about formerly enslaved Black people in the United States. | Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Smithsonian Magazine
Joan Myers Brown, 89, is retiring from Philadanco, the Philadelphia Dance Company she founded in 1970. | New York Times
A new formula for distributing nearly $16.5 million in grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities was designed to be more racially and geographically inclusive and better serve small organizations. The outcome has raised the ire of the city’s larger, more established arts institutions whose support has been significantly reduced. | Washington Post, Washington Post, Artnet News
Howard University installed new lettering over the door of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, officially renaming the building after the late actor, a Howard alum. | CNN
Lives
Michael K. Williams, the actor best known for his singular portrayal of Omar on the television series “The Wire,” died Sept. 6 at home in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was 54. Among his many other roles, Williams also played Chalky White on “Boardwalk Empire” and won a supporting actor nomination this year for “Lovecraft Country.” Just three weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times photographed Williams at his home. In memoriam, the newspaper published a selection of the images. | Los Angeles Times
Opportunities
Applications are open for 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships. The fellowships are intended for “advanced professionals,” defined as “those who as writers, scholars, or scientists have a significant record of publication, or as artists, playwrights, filmmakers, photographers, composers, or the like, have a significant record of exhibition or performance of their work.” Grant amounts vary. The deadline to apply is Sept. 17, 2021. | More Info
In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Taft Museum of Art’s Robert S. Duncanson Society is seeking candidates for the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program. The announcement states that “the ideal candidate for 2022 will be a writer in specialist areas such as non-fiction, fiction, and children’s literature.” Scheduled for April 2022, the two-week residency includes a $10,000 honorarium and a per diem. Applications are open through Oct. 1, 2021. | More Info
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is accepting nominations for the 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The distinction is billed as “the nation’s highest honor awarded to libraries and museums for service to their communities.” Anyone can make a nomination. To be considered nominated institutions must submit an online nomination form. Submissions are due Nov. 1, 2021. | More Info
The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is looking for a Librarian (Assistant Curator, Photography). Applications accepted Sept. 2-Sept. 30, 2021. | More Info
CT
Mashama Bailey, executive chef and partner at The Grey in Savannah, Ga., has a new MasterClass. Bailey’s restaurant is housed in a once segregated, 1938 art deco Greyhound Bus Terminal. Named Best Chef Southeast 2019 by the James Beard Foundation, she chairs the board of the Edna Lewis Foundation. For her MasterClass, Bailey teaches Southern cooking. | Video by MasterClass
