Recommended: Time on Chris Ofili, Wall St. Journal on Adam Pendleton, W on Hank Willis Thomas
RECOMMENDED FEATURES recently published content from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to explore: “Visionary Artist: Chris Ofili” by David Adjaye | Time Magazine This week, Time magazine published its annual list of The 100 Most Influential People and Chris Ofili made the list of artists who are at the...
Alma Thomas is Given Pride of Place at the White House
THE INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE work of Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978) graces the Old Family Dining Room at the White House. In February, First Lady Michelle Obama revealed the newly refurbished space where Thomas’s “Resurrection” is displayed on the north wall. The painting is the first artwork by an African American woman to hang in the...
How Artist Charles Gaines is Influencing the Creative Economy in Los Angeles
THE HAMMER MUSEUM is currently presenting “Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989,” the first museum survey of the Los Angeles-based artist’s early work. The exhibition originated at the Studio Museum in Harlem and includes some rare works, previously presumed to be lost, being shown for the first time. The work of Charles Gaines has been acquired...
Spring Openings: 28 New Exhibitions Feature Black Artists
THIS SPRING MARKS THE OPENING of a number of notable exhibitions featuring work by African and African American artists. In Los Angeles, William Pope.L’s largest-ever museum presentation is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In New York, a comprehensive overview of colorful works by Alma Thomas is at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery,...
Prominent African American Artists Break Records at Swann Auction
LAST THURSDAY WAS A HISTORY-MAKING DAY in African American art. Sales results show Swann Auction Galleries recorded $2.36 million in total sales (including fees), four lots sold for more than six figures and, most notably, seven artists achieved record prices. Swann Auction Galleries held its first African American fine art auction of the year on...
Recommended: Artforum Publishes Isaac Julien, Melvin Edwards and Simone Leigh in Their Own Words
RECOMMENDED FEATURES recently published content from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to explore: Over the past month, Artforum’s 500 Words feature has captured the as told to remarks of Simone Leigh, Melvin Edwards and Isaac Julien. The artists explain their work and share the sources and motivations behind their...
For Artist Project, Mickalene Thomas, Nick Cave and Kehinde Wiley Reveal Their Favorite Works at the Met
RECLINING IN THE NUDE or posed upright on sofas, Mickalene Thomas‘s female subjects are always surrounded by a dynamic mix of patterned textiles. Mixed-media paintings and photographs, her portraits of African American women are inspired in part by the practice of Malian photographer Seydou Keita (1921-2001), whose work is shown above. “I wasn’t trained...
Arts Leader Mary Schmidt Campbell Named President of Spelman College
THE TENTH PRESIDENT of Spelman College is a prominent New York City arts leader who played a pivotal role in sustaining and advancing the Studio Museum in Harlem when the city was on a downturn. Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., has been named president-elect of Spelman, the Atlanta college established in 1881 and recognized today as...
Theaster Gates Gave a TED Talk About Reviving Communities with Cultural Development
WHETHER DESCRIBED AS AN ARTIST, urban planner or creative entrepreneur, Theaster Gates‘s innovative approach to improving his Chicago neighborhood has garnered wide attention over the past five years or so. His use of cultural capital to transform blighted buildings on his Dorchester block into gathering places for film screenings, musical performances, dinner parties, conferences...
Art x Music: Art World Embraces Kanye West, Afrika Bambaataa and Drake
View image | gettyimages.com THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND MUSIC is increasingly ever present. Several new examples emerged over the past week. A cartoon-like action figure of Pharrell Williams entitled “Happy” was presented at the Perrotin Gallery booth at Art Basel Hong Kong (March 15-17). According to ARTnews, the small-scale sculpture by Japanese artist Mr....
Recommended: New York Times on Lowery Stokes Sims, William Pope.L and Martine Syms
RECOMMENDED FEATURES recently published content from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to explore: “At Museum of Arts and Design, a Swan Song for Lowery Stokes Sims” | New York Times Lowery Stokes Sims, chief curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, is retiring on April...
National Gallery Curators Explain How Corcoran Works Will Enhance Collection
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (NGA) recently expanded its holdings of African American art by 40 percent through acquisitions from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. For the first time, NGA owns works by Aaron Douglas, William Edmondson, Gordon Parks, Noah Purifoy and Betye Saar, among others. The historic announcement came last month when NGA...
National Gallery of Art Acquires 190+ Works by African American Artists From Corcoran
CURRENTLY ON VIEW at the National Gallery of Art (NGA), “Into Bondage” by Aaron Douglas hangs in the rear of a three-room gallery dedicated to “masterworks” acquired from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Depicting a procession of Africans chained and walking toward a pair of distant slave ships, the painting is a landmark acquisition...
‘Ascension’: Swann’s April 2 African American Fine Art Auction Features Barkley L. Hendricks
THE MOST CELEBRATED WORKS by Barkley L. Hendricks are his 1970s portraits of cool characters he encountered at Yale University and knew in the years following. Last year, in an interview at Swann Auction Galleries, Hendricks regaled the audience with amusing stories about his colorful subjects, but then noted the importance of his technique for...
South African Artist Nicholas Hlobo Joins Lehmann Maupin
SOUTH AFRICAN ARTIST Nicholas Hlobo, whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, works on paper, and video installation, has joined Lehmann Maupin in New York. Recognized for his innovative use and mix of materials, Hlobo’s first U.S. solo show opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston in 2008 and, later that year, he...
‘I Can’t Breathe’ Demonstration Staged at Armory Show
Photo by Victoria L. Valentine YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, A GROUP OF ARTISTS staged a die-in at the Armory Show in New York. About a dozen people chanted “I can’t breathe” and then they fell to the floor at Pier 94 where the international art show has been open to the public since Thursday. According to...
2015 Venice Biennale to Include More than 35 Black Artists
WHEN OKWUI ENWEZOR WAS NAMED director of the Visual Arts Sector of the 56th Venice Biennale on Dec. 4, 2013, the appointment was historic. Nigerian-born Enwezor, the increasingly influential curator, writer and critic who serves as director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, is the first African director of the Venice Biennale. At the...
Toyin Odutola Discusses New York, Artistic Influences and the Wonders of Ballpoint
EARLIER THIS MONTH, Toyin Odutola spoke to BOMB magazine about race, representation and inspiration. The Nigerian-born artist’s work is instantly recognizable. Executed in charcoal, ink and often ballpoint pen, her self portraits and images of her brothers and others are usually set against dark backgrounds, the subject’s skin depicted in black hues defined by...
Assassinated 50 Years Ago, Malcolm X’s Powerful Image and Message Still Resonate
FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY, Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. To pay tribute to her father, Ilyasah Shabazz wrote an essay published in the New York Times titled “What Would Malcolm X Think?” In the article, she recounts the outspoken leaders’s strategies for gaining civil rights for Black Americans and...
Frieze Magazine Asks Henry Taylor and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye About Painting
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE FINDS PAINTING “DIFFICULT.” Critically recognized for her moody-hued paintings of people who sprout from her imagination (above), the British artist says the challenge is a good thing. “I paint because I love doing it and because I never stop finding it difficult,” she told Frieze magazine. “I always feel like I’m trying to...
