Black Women in the Art World, Taking Stock on International Women’s Day
Artists Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Julie Mehretu, Museum director Belinda Tate WOMEN ACCOUNT FOR 51 PERCENT of visual artists working today, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. The figure mirrors women’s representation in the U.S. population, which was 50.8 percent in 2015, based on Census statistics. The parity ends there. The National...
‘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...
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...
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...
A Look Back: For 8 Years, President Obama Touted Merits of Art for Change
President Obama sits for first-ever 3D Presidential portrait, which was produced by the Smithsonian Institution, June 9, 2014. | Official White House Photo by Pete Souza This post has been updated with links to the Obama White House archive site. FROM THE MOMENT President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama entered the...
For the Obamas, Art Has Helped Make the White House Feel Like Home
President Obama narrates a look inside his art-filled White House residence. | Obama White House Video IN OCTOBER, PRESIDENT OBAMA hosted “Love & Happiness: A Musical Experience,” the last of many, many musical performances staged at the White House during his two terms. “Over the past eight years, Michelle and I have set aside...
Art Strike Calls for Cultural Institutions to Close on Inauguration Day to Combat Normalization of President-Elect
Embed from Getty Images This post has been updated. ARTISTS, CURATORS, AND CRITICS are planning an Art Strike on Inauguration Day. The J20 Art Strike calls for a day of “noncompliance,” no work, no school, no business. The organizers are entreating museums, galleries, theaters, concert halls, studios, nonprofits, and art schools to close...
In Advance of Presidential Inauguration, Artists & Activists are Raising Their Voices in Protest
Embed from Getty Images This post has been updated. THIS WEEK SHOULD BE INTERESTING. It opens today with a federal holiday dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., a minister and nonviolent civil rights activist. His brave, radical and visionary campaigns changed U.S. laws—dismantling segregation and banning voter discrimination—and helped to advance human rights...
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...
Oprah Winfrey Has a Whitfield Lovell Installation in Her West Hollywood Office
Oprah Winfrey tells Steve Harvey that Whitfield Lovell’s work inspires her (starting at 4:00) | Video by The Steve Harvey Show PERSONAL PHOTOS OF NELSON MANDELA and countless Emmys fill the shelves of Oprah Winfrey’s office, and across from her desk is an installation by artist Whitfield Lovell. Yesterday, Steve Harvey dedicated an entire...
Election Fervor: For 40 Years, ‘Teenie’ Harris Photographed Pittsburgh’s African American Community, Including Major Political Moments
CHARLES “TEENIE” HARRIS, Linda Starkey handing bouquet to Shirley Chisholm, surrounded by Delta Sigma Theta sorority members, including Christine Jones Fulwiley on left, Vivian Mason Lane, and Marcia Davis, in Loendi Club, March 5, 1972 (black and white: Kodak Safety Film). | Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz Family Fund FOR GENERATIONS, AFRICAN AMERICANS in...
We the People: This Election Season, Art and the Politics of Social Justice are on View
THIS FALL, NEW EXHIBITIONS featuring work by and about black people are opening in a political season like no other. Social justice issues are at the fore and change is afoot as the presidential election nears. The climate is reflected in the subjects African American artists are addressing in their work and is also paralleled...
Gifted: Photographer Jaimie Milner Pays Tribute to Beauty, Ingenuity of Black Men
Jaimie Milner and some of the men she has photographed discuss the Gifted project. FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS, Jaimie Milner has been photographing black men. She describes the process as an exploration of the “beauty and ingenuity of black men today.” Milner has made portraits of more than 50 so far, from all...
Stanley Nelson Directs Premiere Episode of ART21 Featuring Chicago Artists Nick Cave and Theaster Gates
Embed from Getty Images CHICAGO HAS A VIBRANT ART SCENE, which surprised director Stanley Nelson. The Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker known for telling stories about the Freedom Riders, Emmett Till, Wounded Knee, Jonestown, Oak Bluffs, the Black Press, and most recently, the Black Panthers, has trained his lens on Chicago artists. Nelson is directing...
In First Date Movie ‘Southside With You,’ Paintings by Ernie Barnes Fuel Connection Between Barack and Michelle Obama
A VISIT TO A MUSEUM, helped Barack Obama win Michelle Robinson’s heart. “Southside With You,” a new film about the first couple’s first date, includes a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. There they view an exhibition that features paintings by Ernie Barnes (1938-2009), representational works reflecting the African American experience with lithe...
Artist Kara Walker Made Shadow Puppets for Santigold’s New Music Video
Kara Walker’s puppets for the “Banshee” video include a likeness of Santigold. THE NEW VIDEO for “Banshee,” a track on Santigold’s recent album 99¢, starts off like many others. It’s a street scene filmed in black-and-white, a visual narrative meant to bring the song’s lyrics to life. Soon, however, it becomes clear that this...
Foodways: Artists and Museums are Embracing the Cultural, Creative and Convivial Aspects of the Culinary Experience
Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture AFRICAN AMERICANS have a storied history with food. Published last September, “The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks” seeks to tamp down “the demeaning stereotype of an illiterate ‘Aunt Jemima’ who cooked mostly by natural instinct” by emphasizing the contributions women...
Olympic Spirit: Over the Years, Important African American Artists Have Paid Tribute to the Games and Champion Athletes
MARTIN PURYEAR, “Untitled (Olympic Poster),” 1984. AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETES have been competing in the Olympics for more than a century—earning gold medals, breaking records, and making political statements. Who can forget U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) bowing their heads and raising their fists at the 200 meter medal ceremony at...
Black Men Keep Getting Killed by Police, Carrie Mae Weems Offers a Graceful Reflection
A behind-the-scenes look at “Grace Notes: Reflections for Now” by Carrie Mae Weems | Video by Art21 AMID THE TRAGEDY AND VIOLENCE of black lives snuffed out at a Charleston, S.C., church during Bible study and gunned down on the streets of countless cities across the United States at the hands of police, artist...
First Woman President?: A Portrait of American History by Simmie Knox
Embed from Getty Images TWENTY YEARS AGO, Hillary Clinton authored “It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.” The 1996 book presented her vision for America’s children and the ways in which society can enable their success. In many ways, it was a blueprint for her life’s work up to that point,...
