Lives: A Look Back at Notable Artists and Designers Who Died in 2021, From Peter Williams, Judson Powell, and Winfred Rembert to Virgil Abloh
BLACK ARTISTS representing multiple generations and disciplines died in 2021, including Virgil Abloh, Winfred Rembert, Donald P. Ryder, Chi Modu, and Peter Williams. Figures such as Judson Powell of Los Angeles, Eugene Wade of Chicago, Charles McGee of Detroit, and Denzil Hurley of Seattle, Wash., who were well-known locally and deserve wider attention, also...
Meagan Burger Joins California’s Orange County Museum of Art as Director of Learning and Engagement
AS IT PREPARES TO WELCOME the public to a new building later this year, the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) announced two new appointments today. Courtenay Finn is joining the Southern California museum as chief curator in March. She is currently chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. Meagan Burger is serving...
Henone K. Girma: Newark Museum of Art Names New Curator of Arts of Global Africa
THE NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART is starting off the new year by welcoming a new member to its curatorial team. Henone K. Girma has been named associate curator of the Arts of Global Africa. Girma joins the Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey from The Africa Center in Harlem, where she served as programs...
On the Rise: 69 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on Notable New Appointments in 2021
FIVE YEARS AGO, Culture Type began reporting on new appointments of Black curators, primarily in museums. The first review in 2016 was prompted by findings published by the Mellon Foundation (2015) that showed American museums employed very few Black people in positions that shape them in terms of their management and intellectual direction as...
Archive of James Van Der Zee, ‘One of the Nation’s Most Important Picture Makers,’ Headed to Metropolitan Museum of Art in Partnership With Studio Museum in Harlem
WEDDINGS, FUNERALS, PARADES, CHRISTMAS SCENES, and all manner of portraits. The photographs of James Van Der Zee (1886-1983) have come to define 20th century Harlem. His powerful pictures capture the beauty and pride of Black life, documenting everyday moments and special celebrations. His subjects were cosmopolitan Black families, artists, and political leaders—Adam Clayton Powell...
Michael Ray Charles: 20 Years Ago His Potent Images Confronting Racial Stereotypes Were Highly Controversial, Today They Feel Ripe for the Times
TWENTY YEARS AGO, Michael Ray Charles was a rare quantity—a Black contemporary artist with mainstream recognition. His potent and thought-provoking work explored African American representation in popular culture, employed blackface and caricature to confront racial stereotypes, and presented complex images aimed directly at America’s shameful history of slavery, subjugation, racial violence, and white supremacy....
Crystal Williams Appointed President of Rhode Island School of Design: ‘She Has the Expertise and Qualities of Leadership Needed to Meet the Urgency of This Moment and Take RISD Into the Future’
Incoming RISD President Crystal Williams. | Photo by Jo Sittenfeld THE NEXT PRESIDENT of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is Crystal Williams. The school’s board of trustees announced the news this morning. A professor, poet, and diversity advocate, Williams brings more than two decades of higher education experience to RISD. She currently...
Latest News in Black Art: Eric Pryor Named President of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Jarrell Gibbs Painted Portrait of Late Congressman Elijah Cummings & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Dec. 8, 2021: At PAFA, incoming president Eric Pryor is flanked by paintings by John Neagle (“Pat Lyon at the Forge,” 1829) and Kehinde Wiley (Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos,” 2008). | Courtesy...
Greg Tate (1957-2021): Cultural Critic Who Made His Name Writing About Hip Hop, Was Equally Attuned to Visual Art
CULTURAL CRITIC AND MUSICIAN Greg Tate (1957-2021) died Dec. 7 in New York. He was 64. Widely renowned and beloved, Tate wrote with a singular style and insight about music, art, and culture at-large. In the 1970s, he worked at Just Above Midtown Gallery in New York, the storied gathering place and exhibition space...
On View: See Images From ‘Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,’ an Exhibition of New Works at DC Moore Gallery in New York City
“Because I Wanna Fly” (2021) by Whitfield Lovell On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions EMOTIONAL AND EVOCATIVE, Whitfield Lovell‘s work draws on memory and metaphor. His source images are found photographs of anonymous African Americans dating from emancipation to the civil rights era. He explores the Black experience by connecting past lives...
Latest News in Black Art: Remembering Virgil Abloh and Robert Farris Thompson, Sanford Biggers Wins Heinz Award, New Representation for Umar Rashid, Eric N. Mack, and Derrick Woods-Morrow & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Aritist and Designer Virgil Abloh (1980-2021). | Photo by Katrina Wittkamp, Courtesy MCA Chicago Lives Virgil Abloh, the trailblazing designer and inveterate collaborator who made historic strides in the fashion world and provided opportunities...
On View: See Images From Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe’s 2021 Artist-in-Residence Exhibition at Rubell Museum in Miami
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions COWBOYS AND TWINS take center stage at the Rubell Museum in Miami, where Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe is presenting his 2021 Artist-in-Residence exhibition. Quaicoe stands out among a proliferation of young artists emerging over the past several years whose central focus is Black portraiture. Quaicoe generally...
Joseph Yoakum Drew Real and Imagined Landscapes: ‘Wherever My Mind Led Me, I Would Go. I’ve Been All Over This World Four Times’
THE POETIC LANDSCAPES of Joseph Yoakum (1891-1972) are transporting. Yoakum said he drew what he saw as he made his way in the world. He depicted meandering streams, mountainous vistas, and forested terrains, creating texture and dimension within the topographical scenes using dense hash marks made with ballpoint and felt-tip pens. He further added...
Culture Type Gift Guide 2021: Celebrate the Holidays with Fabulous Finds Inspired by Leading Black Artists
THE EVER-PRESENT FLORAL PATTERNS in the background of Kehinde Wiley’s famous portraits inspired a set of notecards. A deck of playing cards features artwork by Gee’s Bend, Ala., quilt artists. Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Escape Collage is emblazoned on a hoodie. From apparel and accessories to stationery and home goods, African American artists have inspired...
On View: See Images From ‘Oliver Lee Jackson: Vibrato’ Exhibition at Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco
Installation view of “Oliver Lee Jackson: Vibrato” On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A SURVEY OF WORKS by Oliver Lee Jackson (born 1935) is on view at Rena Bransten Gallery. “Vibrato” features mixed-media paintings, prints, and sculpture dating from the 1980s and 2009 to 2021. Infused with spirit and emotion, Jackson’s powerful...
Latest News in Black Art: Estate of Thornton Dial and Kevin Beasley Join New Galleries, Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley Collaborate with American Express, Smithsonian Launches Searchable Museum & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture THORNTON DIAL, “History Refused to Die,” 2004 (okra stalks and roots, clothing, collages drawings, tin, wire, steel, Masonite, steel chain, enamel, and spray paint, 102 x 87 x 23 inches). | © Estate of Thornton...
‘Black Girl Magic’ Murals by Brazilian Artist Criola Present Powerful Vision of Femininity
Installation view of “Black Girl Magic” (2021) by Criola DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS is infused with public art, including a powerful portrait of a Black Brazilian woman rendered against a graphic, patterned backdrop. Towering high above 7th Street at Stewart Avenue, “Black Girl Magic” is a pair of murals recently installed by Taina Lima, the...
Yale’s Beinecke Library Acquired 200+ Prints by Legendary Photographer Gordon Parks
AN IMPORTANT REPOSITORY of images, books, and materials documenting African American history and culture, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University announced the addition of more than 200 photographs by Gordon Parks to its collection. The prints were acquired directly from The Gordon Parks Foundation and include selections from 11 of...
At Glenstone Museum, Glenn Ligon’s Neon ‘Warm Broad Glow’ is a Welcome Beacon
‘GLENN LIGON: AMERICA’ opened in 2011 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, then located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Before entering the museum, visitors to Glenn Ligon‘s mid-career retrospective were greeted by “Warm Broad Glow II” (2011), installed in the front window, facing Madison Avenue. Lighting up the wealthy, overwhelmingly white New York...
Latest News in Black Art: Curator Essence Harden Joins CAAM, New Curatorial Hires at Brooklyn Museum, Arthur Jafa Guest Edited i-D Magazine, Michael C. Thorpe and Jammie Holmes Gain New Gallery Representation
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture From left, Curators Kimberli Gant and Stephanie Sparling Williams. | Courtesy Brooklyn Museum Appointments The Brooklyn Museum announced two new curatorial appointments. Stephanie Sparling Williams is joining the museum as the Andrew W. Mellon...
