Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
Fourth Plinth Shortlist 2026, 2028: Clockwise, from top left, “Ancient Feelings,” by Thomas J Price; “Sweet Potatoes and Yams are Not the Same” by Veronica Ryan, “Hornero” by Gabriel Chaile, and “Lady in Blue” by Tschabalala Self. | Photos by James O. Jenkins
Public Art
The Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square provides a prominent platform for public art. New proposals by seven artists made the shortlist for Fourth Plinth commissions in 2026 and 2028. The artists are Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Gabriel Chaile, Ruth Ewan, Thomas J Price, Veronica Ryan, Tschabalala Self and Andra Ursuţa. Sculptural models of all of their proposals are on display at the National Gallery through March 17. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite. Ultimately two projects will be selected by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, partly based on public feedback. Funding for the competition comes from the mayor of London with support from Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Currently, “Antelope” by Samson Kambalu is installed on the Fourth Plinth. Inspired by 1914 photograph of John Chilembwe (1871-1915), a pan-Africanist and Baptist preacher, and his friend John Chorley, a white European missionary, the sculpture will be on display until September. (2/19) | The Guardian
Lives
On Saturday, Feb. 24 (2-6 p.m.), Jack Shainman Gallery in New York is honoring the life and memory of Radcliffe Bailey (1968-2023). Working across painting, sculpture, and mixed-media, the Atlanta artist explored themes of ancestry, race, migration, and collective memory. The gallery worked with Bailey from 1998 until his death in November. | More
IMAGE: Above right, Radcliffe Bailey. | Photo by LaMont Hamilton
Awards & Honors
The Judith Alexander Foundation announced its inaugural Nellie Mae Rowe awards at the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta’s (ADAMA) annual Flowers x Seeds fundraising and awards gala on Feb. 16. Artist Arturo Lindsay received the Flowers award ($30,000), recognizing an established, yet under-recognized figure. The Seeds award ($20,000), which “spotlights early-to mid-career artists whose innovative work promises to reshape contemporary understandings of Black art and culture in the 21st century,” went to Kelly Taylor Mitchell. Both artists are connected to Spelman College. Mitchell is an assistant professor of art and visual culture at the Atlanta HBCU for women and Lindsay is a professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Art and Art History. Judith Alexander (1932-2004) was a Georgia gallerist dedicated to bringing attention to artist Nellie Mae Rowe’s life and work. ADAMA was established by Atlanta artist Fahamu Pecou in 2018. (2/17) | More
Oluremi Onabanjo. | Photo by Austin Donohue. © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Appointments
Oluremi C. Onabanjo is now the Peter Schub Curator in the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. In 2021, Onabanjo joined MoMA as associate curator of photography. She was officially promoted in January. During her tenure, she organized the exhibitions “Projects: Ming Smith” (2023) and “New Photography 2023: Kelani Abass, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Yagazie Emezi, Amanda Iheme, Abraham Oghobase, Karl Ohiri, Logo Oluwamuyiwa.” Previously, Onabanjo was director of exhibitions and collections at The Walther Collection. More recently, she served on the curatorial team of the 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg in (2022), authored “Ming Smith: Invisible Man, Somewhere Everywhere,” and edited “Marilyn Nance: Last Day in Lagos,” which appeared on Culture Type’s list of the Best Black Art Books of 2022. (2/8) | More
The 2025 edition of the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. biennial will be co-curated by Essence Harden and Paulina Pobocha, a senior curator at the Hammer Museum. Harden is a curator at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles. For Frieze Los Angeles (Feb. 29-March 3), Harden is curating the Focus section of the art fair and will be in conversation with artist Deborah Roberts at Vielmetter Los Angeles on March 2. In fall 2025, Made in L.A. will be presented in collaboration with CAAM. (2/13) | More
The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum announced a committee of scholars that will help guide content, programming, and research for the forthcoming museum. The 15 members include Keisha N. Blain, professor of Africana studies and history at Brown University; Paula J. Giddings, Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College; and Kimberly A. Scott, professor of women and gender studies in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Melanie Adams, who heads the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, is also interim director the women’s history museum, which is expected to debut in about a decade. In March, the museum is launching new initiatives and a digital exhibition in celebration of Women’s History Month. (2/13) | More
IMAGE: Above left, Made in L.A. 2025 Co-Curators Essence Harden (left) and Paulina Pobocha. | Photo by Lauren Randolph
JARED MCGRIFF, “Measure My Diameter in Lightyears,” 2023 (oil on canvas, 58 ¹⁄₄ x 60 inches). | © Jared McGriff, Courtesy the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Representation
Vielmetter Los Angeles announced its representation of Jared McGriff, a self-taught artist who describes his paintings as “fiction about reality.” Vielmetter opened “Jared McGriff: On Being a Wild Dream,” the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in March 2023. Vielmetter said McGriff “has developed a luminous and vibrating visual language that is foregrounded in a space of memory. His expressionistic paintings conjure mundane moments and render them in ethereal brush strokes, transforming scenes of the everyday into ephemeral philosophical ruminations.” McGriff lives and works in Miami, Fla., where he is creating new work for a solo exhibition at Vielmetter in spring 2025. He is also represented by Spinello Projects in Miami. (2/5) | More
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