Feb. 13-16: Students and Art Historians Are Gathering in New York City for the College Art Association Conference
From left, Howardena Pindell is receiving the 2019 Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement and Joyce J. Scott is delivering the CAA conference keynote address. THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE of the College Art Association (CAA) is happening this week in New York City. Students and art historians are gathering at the New York Hilton Midtown...
October Openings: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Toyin Ojih Odutola, John Akomfrah, African Design, Hank Willis Thomas Debuts in London, and Women Working in Abstraction
THE FALL SEASON continues with an international slate of black artists presenting new and important work in the United States and abroad. The Whitney is hosting Toyin Ojih Odutola‘s first exhibition in a New York museum. A monumental exhibition of African design is making its U.S. debut at the High Museum in Atlanta. Njideka...
Major African American Contemporary Artists are Bringing Their Work to Washington, D.C.
A post shared by Hirshhorn (@hirshhorn) on Oct 14, 2017 at 11:16am PDT Theaster Gates presented “Plantation Lullabies,” a discussion and performance, at the Hirshhorn Museum Oct. 13. THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM was infused with sacred, soulful music on Friday evening. The museum hosted the second installment of Theaster Gates‘s four-part series Processions. The collaborative...
Black Radical Women: This Spring, Several Group Shows Bring Together Works by African American Female Artists
NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO, the College Art Association’s National Women’s Caucus for Art planned an exhibition featuring works by “Afro-American” women artists. Co-curated by Emily Martin and Tritobia Benjamin (1944-2014), an art historian and professor at Howard University, the show was to be presented at CAA’s 1979 annual conference in Washington, D.C. Forty-six artists—including...
Great Conversations: Ellen Gallagher, Mickalene Thomas, Kellie Jones, Betye & Alison Saar are all Talking This Month
Feb. 16: Betye and Alison Saar are in Conversation at CAAM, Los Angeles | Screen Shot New York Times video THERE ARE SOME GREAT CONVERSATIONS happening between women this month. Artist Ellen Gallagher with curator Adrienne Edwards. Mickalene Thomas and scholar Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Models Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison. Scholar Kellie Jones with social...
Museums Mark MLK Day: Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., Through the Lens of Art & Culture
LAST YEAR, ABOUT THIS TIME, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History (NMAAHC) announced it had acquired a rare bust of Martin Luther King Jr., by Charles Alston. The bronze sculpture, one of five, was gifted to the museum by Chicago-based collectors Eric and Cheryl McKissack. (One of the editions is on display...
With Words and Deeds, President Obama Pays Tribute to the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza AS THE ADMINISTRATION of President Barack Obama comes to a close and the inauguration of the next commander-in-chief looms, this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day takes on added significance. The occasion is particularly symbolic for the first black President of the United States. When President Obama...
January Exhibitions: Resolve to See More Art This Year
IF JANUARY IS ANY INDICATION, 2017 will present plenty of opportunities to see new work, new ideas, and learn more about the practices of a range of artists of African descent. This selection of exhibitions opening this month, features some of the most productive artists in the art world, others whose well-established practices are...
Global Trotting: From Toronto to London and Addis Ababa, 17 Exhibitions Present the Work of Black Artists This Summer
TRAVELING TO TORONTO? Stop by Art Gallery Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Canada, where a pair of solo exhibitions featuring British artist Hurvin Anderson and Chicago artist Theaster Gates are on view this summer. Both are also exhibiting in Europe. There is a Gates exhibition in Milan, Italy, and “Hurvin Anderson: Dub Versions” is at the...
Spring Shows: 32 New Exhibitions Feature Innovative Works by Black Artists
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED museum exhibitions of the season, a major survey of Kerry James Marshall‘s work, primarily focused on his painting over the past 35 years, is opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, on April 23. In September, the exhibition will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York...
Winter Wonders: 44 Exhibitions Feature Exceptional Works by Black Artists
LONG OVERDUE, THE COLORFUL AND EXPRESSIVE abstract works of Alma Thomas (1891-1978), pictured above, are being celebrated with a groundbreaking retrospective at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College in upstate New York. This summer, Thomas’s first solo museum exhibition since 2001 will travel to the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is co-organizing the show....
On the Horizon in African American Art: Artists to Watch and Events to Look Forward to in 2016
WITH A NEW YEAR UNDERWAY and a compelling selection of new books, exhibitions and events on the horizon, here is what to look forward to in African American and African diasporic art—the most-anticipated happenings and artists to watch in 2016: After spending January at the historic residence of a Mexican muralist, Henry Taylor will...
Where My Girls At? 20 Black Female Artists with Solo Exhibitions on View this Fall
Installation by Ebony G. Patterson. IN JUNE, ARTNEWS DEVOTED a special issue to women in the art world and the findings revealed a major gulf between the experiences of male and female artists and curators. According to ARTnews, women are seriously underrepresented when it comes to running major museums. Female artists trail far behind...
Fall Exhibitions: 42 Must-See Museum Shows Featuring Black Artists
DURING A TALK ABOUT COLLECTING African American art, collector Rodney Miller told curator Ruth Fine that he is a “big, big, big fan of painting.” And soon, Fine revealed to the audience gathered to hear the conversation at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., that two of Miller’s paintings by Norman Lewis...
Gallery Openings: 21 Fall Exhibitions Featuring Black Artists
EACH FALL BRINGS A NEW SLATE of art exhibitions, usually the best of the calendar year. This season, commercial galleries are showing an interesting mix of African American and African diasporic artists working in a range of mediums and addressing a diversity of issues. Following William Pope.L‘s “Trinket” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art,...
Summer Shows: 25 Noteworthy Exhibitions Feature Black Artists
THIS SUMMER, MAJOR CITIES are presenting major exhibitions featuring the work of important African American artists. In greater Detroit, Nick Cave (shown above) is staging pop-up performances showcasing his mesmerizing Soundsuits in conjunction with a museum exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum, his first in Michigan. In New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem is...
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,...
25 Exhibitions for Your Winter 2015 Agenda
THIS WINTER IS PROVING TO BE UNPREDICTABLE, with massive snow expected one week and relatively mild temperatures the next. On the art front, the forecast this season is more reliable with a robust slate of exhibitions, from New York, San Francisco and Ontario to London and Munich, featuring a range of modern and contemporary black...
New Year, New Art: What to Look Forward to in 2015
WITH A NEW YEAR UNDERWAY and a promising selection of new books, exhibitions and events on the horizon, here is what is on my radar, what I am most looking forward to in 2015: “Represent: 200 Years of African American Art,” a sweeping new exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Jan. 10 – April...
In New York for the Holidays? 17 Exhibitions for Your Agenda
NOTHING BEATS SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS in New York City and the best way to avoid the clutch of shoppers is to sneak away and take in some art. All around Manhattan, from the New Museum, where British-born Chris Ofili’s first solo exhibition at a major U.S. museum is on view, to the Metropolitan Museum of...
