Los Angeles: 9 Museum Exhibitions Explore Alice Coltrane, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ben Caldwell and KAOS Theory, 21st Century Black Diasporas & More
LOS ANGELES-AREA MUSEUMS are presenting an array of exhibitions featuring works by Black artists. Exhibitions are exploring Black art history through the lives and work of key African American artists and cultural figures, including Ben Caldwell, Alice Coltrane, George Washington Carver, and Nellie Mae Rowe, each of whom deserve to be more widely known. The...
MoAD San Francisco: Ann Johnson’s Embellished Basketball Hoops Explore Cultural Signifiers and Dreams Deferred
ANN JOHNSON, “Egyptian Collar,” 2002 (mixed media: beads, regulation goal and backboard, found objects, chain net, 48 inches long). | © Ann Johnson. Collection of Elliot Perry, Memphis, Tenn. THE FREIGHTED SYMBOLISM of basketball, its intrinsic connection to the Black community, and the elements used to play the sport (ball, hoop, and net) have...
Anne Collins Smith Announced as New Chief Curator at New Orleans Museum of Art
Anne Collins Smith’s appointment is historic. She is the first Black person to head NOMA’s curatorial department THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART (NOMA) announced a new chief curator on Feb. 11. Anne Collins Smith has taken on the newly created role, leading the museum’s entire curatorial department. Collins is a local hire with...
MoMA is Presenting First Solo Exhibition of Marlon Mullen, Artist Transforms Covers of Art Magazines Into ‘Dazzling Paintings’
Marlon Mullen at work in the NIAD studio. | Courtesy the artist and NIAD A PORTRAIT of a Black male painter in his studio graced the cover of Artforum in January 2017. The issue included a review of “Kerry James Marshall: Mastry,” a 35-year retrospective of the artist. In the painting, Kerry James Marshall...
On View: Posthumous Survey of Luminous Landscapes by Richard Mayhew at ACA Galleries in New York
RICHARD MAYHEW, “Minuet,” 2002 (oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches / 50.8 x 60.96 cm). | ©️Estate of Richard Mayhew, Courtesy ACA Galleries, NY On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THE LUMINOUS LANDSCAPES of Richard Mayhew (1924-2024) evoke a sense of spiritual transcendence. Mayhew pictured abstracted and imagined places that evince...
NFL Commissioned New Orleans Artist and Member of Black Masking Culture to Create Bead-Embellished Super Bowl Logo
Queen Tahj working on the Super Bowl logo in her studio. The New Orleans artist is known for her intricate, hand-sewn beadwork. | Courtesy NFL THE OFFICIAL ART of Super Bowl LIX is hand-crafted with beadwork. For the first time, the National Football League (NFL) commissioned an artist outside of the organization to create...
New York: 5 Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Artists Felrath Hines, Henry Taylor, Tigist Yoseph Ron, Miles Greenberg, and Barkley L. Hendricks
CURRENTLY ON VIEW in New York, galleries are presenting a rare look at six decades of paintings by Felrath Hines, Henry Taylor’s venture into printmaking, and the first U.S. solo exhibition of Ethiopian Jewish artist Tigist Yoseph Ron. Solo exhibitions of Barkley L. Hendricks and Miles Greenberg also on view. The shows are closing in...
Swann Single-Owner African American Art Auction Features Collection of New York Lawyer, Works Acquired Directly From Artists and Black-Owned Galleries
Lot 51: SIR FRANK BOWLING, OBE RA (b. 1934), “Profile,” 2013 (acrylic on canvas with marouflage, 737 x 914 mm / 29 x 38 inches). | Estimate $50,000-$75,000. SOLD for ($32,000 Hammer Price) $40,000 fees included WORKS BY FRANK BOWLING, Norman Lewis, Alma Thomas, Beauford Delaney, Jack Whitten, and dozens more Black artists are...
Culture Type: 16 Best Black Art Books of 2024
The Best Black Art Books of 2024 explore many artists and themes, including Alvin Ailey, Elizabeth Catlett, Tschabalala Self, Sargent Claude Johnson, the Harlem Renaissance, African photographers, Caribbean makers, and queer designers SOME OF THE BEST illustrated Black art books published over the past year highlight the work of women artists and reflect the rich...
Culture Type: The Month in Black Art, Here’s What Happened in January 2025
In January, artist and gallery founder Alonzo Davis died, Made in L.A. artists and USA Fellows were announced, Christina Kimeze and Martha Jackson Jarvis joined new galleries, Africa Center welcomed a new leader, discovery of rare William H. Dorsey painting was reported, and more MARIO JOYCE, “Fragmented Memory,” 2024 (soil, vintage collage, oil paint,...
Alisa Chiles Appointed Decorative Arts Curator at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Bringing Particular Expertise in the Areas of Art Nouveau and Art Deco
Alisa Chiles is the new Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Decorative Arts, 1890 to the Present at the Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts. | Photo by Sandra Sellars, © 2024 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (VMFA) in Richmond, Va., has built a prized collection of...
Acquisition: Martin Luther King Jr. Bust by Elizabeth Catlett is ‘Majestic and Commanding Portrait’ of Civil Rights Leader
THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS of San Francisco marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend with a new installation, bringing attention to iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), and the uncertain times in which he became a national figure. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” (1990), a bronze portrait bust by Elizabeth...
New York Museums are Showcasing African American Art, Exhibitions Focus on Connections to Ancient Egypt, Alvin Ailey, Elizabeth Catlett, Ralph Lemon & More
THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Jewish Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and MoMA PS1, museums are presenting important exhibitions of African American artists. The following shows explore Alvin Ailey, Elizabeth Catlett, Belle da Costa Greene, Marlon Mullen, Latinx artists, design interpretations of ‘Making Home,’ and more. (Exhibitions...
Moving On Up: 24 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in Second Half of 2024
CULTURE TYPE reports on new appointments of Black curators and arts leaders to gauge institutional representation, with an emphasis on art museums. Museum leaders, curators, and educators shape the management and intellectual direction of institutions, determine the art visitors see and the programming they experience and, by extension, whether audiences of color feel welcome and...
Ryan N. Dennis Named Co-Director and Chief Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Closely Watched Curator Will Lead Museum in Her Hometown
From left: Ryan N. Dennis. | Photo by Charles A. Smith; Melissa McDonnell Luján. | Photo by Fernanda Varela Rivera. Both Images Courtesy CAMH Ryan N. Dennis and Melissa McDonnell Luján appointed co-directors of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, effective January 2025 NEW LEADERSHIP is coming to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). Senior Curator...
Naomi Beckwith Appointed Artistic Director of Forthcoming Documenta in Kassel, Curator Called Opportunity to Lead International Exhibition ‘Honor of a Lifetime’
DOCUMENTA 16 will take place under the artistic direction of Naomi Beckwith. An American curator, scholar, and art historian, Beckwith is Deputy Director and Jennifer & David Stockman Chief Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation in New York. Documenta is one of the most prominent art shows in the world, rivaled only...
Latest News in Black Art: Artist Lorraine O’Grady Has Died, Zoe Whitley is Departing Chisenhale Gallery, Family Seeks Return of Paintings From Louisiana Museums & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Lorraine O’Grady. | Photo by Lelanie Foster, Courtesy the artist and Mariane Ibrahim gallery LIVES Conceptual Artist Lorraine O’Grady Has Died at 90 New York artist Lorraine O’Grady (1934-2024) died at her home on Nov. 13....
Nikki Giovanni, 81, Profound Poet Whose Poignant Verse Reflected the Evolving Times in Which She Lived, Has Died
Nikki Giovanni. | Photo © Nikki Giovanni A PROFOUND VOICE and insightful wordsmith has passed on. Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), the American poet, professor, public intellectual, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, died in Blacksburg, Va., on Nov. 9. She was 81 years old. Virginia C. Fowler, Giovanni’s wife, told the New York...
Latest News in Black Art: New Leader at McColl Center in North Carolina, Alvin Ailey Names Next Artistic Director, Laura Wheeler Waring Portrait Covers Antiques Magazine, Romare Bearden Documentary & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Asa Jackson. | Courtesy McColl Center APPOINTMENTS Asa Jackson to Helm McColl Center for Artists in North Carolina The McColl Center in Charlotte, N.C., announced its next president and CEO. Asa Jackson will lead the art...
American Scholar Saidiya Hartman, British Artist Steve McQueen Top Power 100 List of Influential Figures in International Art World
American scholar Saidiya Hartman and British artist Steve McQueen are the highest-ranking Black people on this year’s Power 100 list. SINCE 2002, ARTREVIEW has published a Power 100 list of influential artists, curators, gallerists, collectors, funders, and thinkers. The London-based contemporary art magazine describes the Power 100 as a “structural portrait of international contemporary...
