Artist Henry Taylor is Lending His West Coast Perspective to New York’s High Line
LOS ANGELES ARTIST Henry Taylor is bringing California cool to the High Line next month with a massive mural. Debuting March 17, “the floaters” is a self-portrait featuring the sunglass-wearing artist leisurely lounging in an enchanting blue pool. Taylor is also featured in the Whitney Biennial, which opens the same day at the nearby...
Body Prints by David Hammons Headline New York Auctions at Christie’s and Swann
A post shared by CHRISTIE'S (@christiesinc) on Feb 26, 2017 at 11:46am PST SITUATED BETWEEN “Love in the Night,” by Yayoi Kusama and John Baldessari’s “Exulting Figure (With Coins) and Witness,” a masterful body print by David Hammons is on display at Christie’s New York at Rockefeller Center. Depicting a lone figure executed...
Detroit Museum Exhibits Major Painting by Julie Mehretu, First in Series of Works on Loan by Black Artists
Julie Mehretu, “Looking Back to a Bright New Future” (2003). A MAJOR PAINTING by Julie Mehretu is on view in the contemporary art galleries at the Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA). A symphony of line, color, and form, “Looking Back to a Bright Future” (2003) is on loan from a private collection for...
‘I Am Not Your Negro’ Laces James Baldwin’s Prescient Words with Potent Images Including Segregation-Era Photographs by Gordon Parks
James Baldwin in “I Am Not Your Negro.” | Photo by Dan Budnick THERE IS TRUE ARTISTRY in “I Am Not Your Negro.” Inspired by the writings and profound insights of James Baldwin (1924-1987), Raoul Peck’s seminal film manages to synthesize more than 50 years of America’s woeful racism and dogged inhumanity into 93...
Black Art History: 10 Children’s Books Illuminate the Lives of Important African American Artists and Photographers
HOW DID THE 20TH CENTURY’S most important African American artists discover their crafts? These beautifully illustrated books reveal how each got their start. For Jacob Lawrence, it was his childhood in Harlem where the hustle and colors of the neighborhood inspired his interest in art. His compelling story and those of Benny Andrews, Romare...
Artist Rashid Johnson is Expanding his Practice, First Film Project is Adaptation of Richard Wright Novel ‘Native Son’
MONUMENTAL INSTALLATIONS composed of black scaffolding have been the star attraction at Rashid Johnson‘s recent exhibitions. Last fall, “Fly Away” at Hauser & Wirth in New York featured “Antoine’s Organ,” the artist’s largest architectural grid work ever shown in the United States. Overflowing with plants, and filled with lights, video screens, shea butter and...
For Netherlands-based Sam Middleton, Posthumous New York Exhibition is a Homecoming of Sorts
SAM MIDDLETON, “Jazz is Free As a Bird,” 1972 (mixed media oil and collage on board). | Courtesy GP Contemporary LAST FALL, LEAFING THROUGH the catalog for the Oct. 6, 2016, African-American Fine Art sale at Swann Auction Galleries, an abstract painting by Sam Middleton (1927-2015) stood out. Titled “Jazz Is Free As A...
Curator Naima Keith Named 2017 Recipient of David C. Driskell Prize
Embed from Getty Images INNOVATIVE AND RELEVANT PROGRAMMING has become a signature of the California African American Museum (CAAM) over the past year. Recent presentations have included “Hank Willis Thomas: Black Righteous Space”; “Genevieve Gaignard: Smell the Roses,” the first museum exhibition of the emerging artist; and a group exhibition featuring four contemporary African...
How Much is That Painting? Top 25 Auction Lots by African American Artists, 2014-2016
Julie Mehretu, “Looking Back to a Bright New Future” (2003). EARLY NEXT MONTH, major auction houses in New York and London are holding post-war and contemporary art sales. In anticipation of the first significant offerings of the year, Culture Type is assessing the state of art by Black artists. In recent years, a cluster...
Artist Isaac Julien Joins London’s Art Fund Board, Charity Supports UK Museums
Embed from Getty Images LONDON’S ART FUND announced the appointment of artist Isaac Julien to its board of trustees for a five year term. Art Fund is a national fundraising charity that encourages exposure and access to art in public collections throughout the UK by supporting museum and gallery acquisitions, exhibitions, special curatorial projects,...
February Exhibitions: Edgar Arceneaux, Lorna Simpson, Dread Scott, and Nina Chanel Abney’s First Solo Museum Show
A NUMBER OF EXHIBITION FIRSTS coincide with Black History Month this year. “Royal Flush,” Nina Chanel Abney’s first solo museum show opens Feb. 16 at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. In February, South African artist Nicholas Hlobo is presenting his first exhibition in Sweden. Major works by British artists Yinka Shonibare...
Collection Highlights: Museum of Modern Art’s 2015-16 Acquisitions Include More than 50 Works by African American Artists
KARA WALKER, “40 Acres of Mules,” 2015 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S collection boasts dozens of new additions by African American artists. Over the past two years the museum has acquired paintings by Mark Bradford, Kerry James Marshall, Chris Ofili, and Faith Ringgold; drawings by Palmer Hayden, Adrian Piper, and Kara Walker; sculptures by...
Hammer Museum Selects Erin Christovale to Co-Curate Made in L.A. 2018
Los Angeles-based independent curator Erin Christovale specializes in film programming. | Photo by Jamie Costa, Courtesy Hammer Museum EVERY OTHER YEAR, Los Angeles comes alive with coordinated exhibition programming showcasing the city’s most promising artists and innovative practices. Made in L.A. is the citywide biennial presented by the Hammer Museum. The fourth edition will...
VMFA Acquires Paintings by Important 20th Century African American Artists Eldzier Cortor and Palmer Hayden
PALMER HAYDEN, “Untitled (Dreamer),” circa 1930 IN DECEMBER, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) acquired “Three Folk Musicians” (1967), a major work by Romare Bearden. When the purchase was announced, VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said the collage painting “bolsters our effort to represent a diverse range of cultures in our galleries and allows...
Pamela Joyner, Influential Collector of African American Art, Joins Board of J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles
Embed from Getty Images THE J. PAUL GETTY TRUST announced today the addition of influential art collector Pamela J. Joyner to its board of trustees. A financial industry veteran, Joyner is the founder of Avid Partners, LLC. Currently, she has turned her focus to philanthropy and an increasingly pivotal role in the arts. Joyner’s...
Ebony Cover by Illustrator Kadir Nelson Projects ‘American Ideals, African American Patriotism, and Love of Family’
STANDING PROUD AND UNITED, a multi-generational African American family is featured on the February 2017 cover of Ebony magazine. They stand before a brick home on an expanse of land with a city skyline visible in the background. The image illustrates a special package featuring 10 thought leaders weighing in on how black communities...
Public Arts Organization Creative Time Appoints London-based Elvira Dyangani Ose Senior Curator
London-based Elvira Dyangani Ose is joining Creative Time. | Photo by Hendrik Zeitler, Courtesy Creative Time CREATIVE TIME, THE PUBLIC ARTS ORGANIZATION that commissioned Kara Walker’s monumental, sugar-coated sphinx/mammy sculpture in Brooklyn and Nick Cave’s choreographed parade of colorful “horses” through Grand Central Station, announced two appointments today—a new hire and a promotion. Elvira...
Vilcek Prize Winner Nari Ward to Recreate ‘We the People’ Installation at New-York Historical Society on President’s Day
“We the People” at Barnes Foundation, 2016 SIX YEARS AGO, artist Nari Ward created a textile installation composed of nearly 1,000 shoe laces spelling out “We the People.” The work of art is particularly relevant today. The divisive political climate in the United States has awakened Americans anew to the values of democracy, importance...
Nasher Launches Website Previewing Nina Chanel Abney’s First-Ever Solo Museum Exhibition
EMERGING FROM HER SUCCESSFUL THESIS SHOW with the sole painting she presented selling to prominent Miami collectors, Nina Chanel Abney (b. 1982) has never looked back since earning her MFA from Parsons in New York. The aforementioned painting, “Class of 2007,” helped her secure gallery representation and appeared in “30 Americans,” the traveling group...
Virginia Museum Acquires ‘Three Folk Musicians’ by Romare Bearden, an ‘Iconic’ Collage Long Held in a Private Collection
FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, “Three Folk Musicians” (1967) by Romare Bearden (1911-1988) has appeared in major exhibitions of the artist’s work hosted by the nation’s top-tier museums. One of his most renowned and recognizable individual works, the 1967 collage painting was presented in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1971 exhibition “Romare Bearden: The Prevalence...
