Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
RAYMOND SAUNDERS, Untitled, 1990 (mixed media on wood, triptych; Each: 96 x 48 inches / 243.8 x 121.9 cm; Overall: 96 x 144 inches / 243.8 x 365.8 cm). | © Raymond Saunders. Courtesy the artist, Andrew Kreps, and David Zwirner
REPRESENTATION
David Zwirner Announced Co-Representation of Raymond Saunders
Raymond Saunders (b. 1934) is now co-represented by David Zwirner and Andrew Kreps Gallery. An important and influential artist active for more than six decades, Saunders makes assemblage-style paintings with socio-political themes. Following the representation announcement, the galleries presented “Raymond Saunders: Post No Bills,” a solo exhibition of his work across both galleries. Ebony L. Haynes (a director at David Zwirner who runs 52 Walker) curated a two-part show at David Zwirner’s two spaces in Chelsea Feb. 22-April 6) and Andrew Kreps in Tribeca (Feb. 22-April 5). Four decades of paintings and works on paper, many shown for the first time, were on view. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Saunders lives and works in Oakland, Calif., where he is a professor emeritus at the California College of the Arts. (2/7) | More
Adebunmi Gbadebo Joined Nicola Vassell Gallery
Nicola Vassell now represents multidisciplinary artist Adebunmi Gbadebo (b. 1992), left, who works across paper, ceramics, sound, and film. Gbadebo’s practice is rooted in her family heritage, based on archival research of her Nigerian ancestry and connections to enslavement in America. Much of her work centers around her maternal family ties to True Blue plantation in Fort Motte, S.C. Gbadebo was born in Livingston, N.J., and is currently based between Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia, Pa., where she is an artist in residence at The Clay Studio. In 2023, she received a Maxwell and Hanrahan Craft Fellowship, which includes a $100,000 award. In May, Nicola Vassell is presenting her work at the Independent New York art fair. (3/28) | More
Annet Gelink Gallery Added Rinella Alfonso to Roster
Rinella Alfonso (b. 1995) joined Annet Gelink Gallery in Amsterdam, where she currently lives and works. Curaçao-born Alfonso “creates mystical worlds by placing everyday objects in stark fantasy environments.” In 2022, her work was featured at The Bakery, the gallery’s project space, and was on view in one of its group shows last year. Her first solo exhibition with Annet Gelink opens on April 13. (3/24) | More
IMAGE: Above left, Adebunmi Gbadebo. | Photo by Tobias Truvillion
PUBLIC ART
Tschabalala Self Wins Major Public Art Commission in London
The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group announced the artists selected for upcoming commissions. Sculptures by Tschabalala Self (2026) and Andra Ursuţaas (2028) will be installed on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. Self is based in Upstate New York. Titled “Lady in Blue,” Self’s sculpture “pays homage to a young, metropolitan woman of colour inspired by a desire to bring a contemporary ‘everywoman’ to Trafalgar Square. Made of bronze, the work will be patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue, a rare and refined pigment that has been used since antiquity.” (3/15) | More
Studio Museum 2024 Arts Leadership Praxis Participants: From Left, Dejá Belardo, Margarita Lila Rosa, Tsige Tafesse, Carla Forbes, Meredith Breech, Gee Wesley, Imani Williford, and Jenée-Daria Strand. | Photo by Naima Green, Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem
OPPORTUNITIES
Studio Museum Launched Leadership Program
The Studio Museum in Harlem announced a new six-month development program for cultural professionals aimed at “redressing inequities in arts institutions.” The 2024 Arts Leadership Praxis launched in January with eight participants (pictured above): Dejá Belardo, Assistant Curator, The Shed; Meredith Breech, Associate Director of Exhibitions, Fotografiska; Carla Forbes, Curatorial Assistant, Brooklyn Museum; Margarita Lila Rosa, Independent Curator; Jenée-Daria Strand, Assistant Curator, Public Art Fund; Tsige Tafesse, Curatorial Fellow, The Kitchen; Program Manager, Processing Foundation; Gee Wesley, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA; and Imani Williford, Curatorial Assistant, Brooklyn Museum. Selected through a nomination process, the inaugural group is based in New York. Partially funded by the Ford Foundation, the annual program will expand to professionals from across the country in 2025. (4/2) | More
Applications for the 2024 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant are now open. The grants support articles, books, and short-form writing focused on contemporary visual art. Grants range from $15,000 to $50,000. Application deadline is May 15, 2024. | More
New Southern Guild gallery directors Alejandro Bataille and Andréa Delph. | Photo Courtesy Southern Guild
APPOINTMENTS
Southern Guild Welcomed New LA Directors
Southern Guild announced its new directors in Los Angeles are Alejandro Bataille and Andréa Delph (pictured above). The gallery was founded by Trevyn and Julian McGowan in 2008 to represent artists from Africa and its diaspora. Established in Cape Town, South Africa, Southern Guild opened its first U.S. location in the Melrose Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles in February. A curator and arts professional, Delph was previously director and gallery manager at Nicodim Gallery in New York. Bataille is a botanical sculptor with a background in sales, design, and product development who recently served as sales director at The Future Perfect, the contemporary design gallery. (3/26) | More
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung x São Paulo Biennial
Fundação Bienal de São Paulo appointed Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (left) as chief curator of the São Paulo Biennial, the international exhibition planned for late 2025. The Brazil biennial has historically offered free admission. Born in Cameroon, Ndikung is a curator, educator, and biotechnologist who has held a series of notable curatorial positions in Africa and Europe. He is currently director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, Germany. Previously, Ndikung was founding director of SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin; artistic director of Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography in Mali (2019, 2022); co-curator of the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2019); guest curator at Dak’Art: African Contemporary Art Biennale (Senegal) in 2018; and curator-at-large for documenta 14 (Kassel, Germany/ Athens, Greece) in 2017, among other roles. (4/2) | More
IMAGE: Above left, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung. | © Jana Edisonga / Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
Ibrahim Mahama, 2022. | Photo by Carlos Idun-Tawiah
AWARDS & HONORS
Inaugural Sam Gilliam Award
The Dia Art Foundation announced Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama (above) is the recipient of the first Sam Gilliam Award, which includes a $75,000 gift and the opportunity to present a public program at a Dia site in fall 2024. The award is funded by the Sam Gilliam Foundation and Annie Gawlak, the artist’s widow. (3/28) | More
Mark Bradford Selects Recipient of Getty Prize Grant
In November, Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford was named recipient of the 2024 Getty Prize. The honor includes a $500,000 grant to benefit a nonprofit of the recipient’s choosing. Bradford has announced the grant will support the Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN), whose mission is to provide alternatives to incarceration, reduce recidivism, and center arts education as a strategy for change. Bradford and AHJN will be honored at the annual Getty Prize dinner on May 13 at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. (4/2) | More
New Center for Art, Research and Alliances Fellows
New York-based Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) announced its 2024-2026 fellowship awards of $75,000 each are going to Napoleon Jones-Henderson, the multidisciplinary artist and AfriCOBRA member, and the Valerie J. Maynard Foundation, which was established to extend the legacy of Baltimore artist Valerie J. Maynard (1937-2022), a key figure in the Black Arts Movement. (4/8) | More
Chanel Announced ‘Next’ Prize Winners
Brazilian artist Dalton Paula (below) is among the winners of the CHANEL Next Prize. The CHANEL Culture Fund announced 10 recipients of the biennial prize, which recognizes artists who are “redefining their disciplines.” Recipients representing a range of categories from visual art to film, choreography, music, and poetry, were each awarded 100,000€ (about US $108,000). The French fashion house launched the prize in 2022. (3/26) | More
CT
2024 CHANEL Next Prize winner Dalton Paula talks about his painting and photography practice, which is largely focused on portraits of forgotten figures in Brazil. (The video is in Portuguese with English captions.) | Video by Chanel
