Representation: 10 African American Artists to Watch Who Joined New Galleries in 2016
AT EVERY STAGE IN AN ARTIST’S CAREER, joining a new gallery can offer new opportunities and possibilities. Over the past year, emerging artists, mid-career artists, and well-established artists who have been practicing for half a century, joined the rosters of major galleries. For an artist, the right partnership can sharpen business outcomes and help bolster...
Culture Talk: Ian Berry on New Alma Thomas Exhibition Catalog, an Encyclopedic View of the Singular Artist
ALMA THOMAS, “End of Autumn,” 1968 (acrylic and graphite on canvas). | Collection of Richard Grossman and Adam Sheffer; Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem EXPLAINING HER CHOICE to focus on brightly hued abstract work, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) said in 1970: “Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on...
Jack Shainman Gallery Announces its Representation of Nina Chanel Abney, Will Debut Artist’s Work at Art Basel Miami Beach
Jack Shainman Gallery is presenting two new untitled paintings by Nina Chanel Abney at Art Basel Miami Beach. THE JACK SHAINMAN BOOTH at Art Basel Miami Beach is always a big draw, presenting artists from its impressive roster of diverse artists. This year the space will feature a new artist. Jack Shainman announced its...
William T. Williams Joins Michael Rosenfeld in New York, Gaining Gallery Representation for the First Time in 40 Years
WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS, “Truckin,” 1969 (acrylic on cotton canvas). | via Swann Auction Galleries A SINGLE PAINTING GREETS VISITORS when they enter the fourth-floor visual art galleries at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The large-scale, abstract geometric painting, a captivating mix of color and composition,...
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...
Market Interest: With Intimate Portrait, Njideka Akunyili Crosby Achieves Auction Record for Second Time in Two Months
“Drown” by Njideka Akunyili Crosby sold for more than $1 million at Sotheby’s New York on Nov. 17, 2016. | via Sotheby’s MANY ARTISTS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to make clear that the issues raised in their work serve to start a conversation rather than reflect their own opinion and the figures they...
Backstory: Nina Chanel Abney Revisits Her First Major Painting, ‘Class of 2007’
NINA CHANEL ABNEY, “Class of 2007,” 2007 (acrylic on canvas). ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING PAINTINGS in the exhibition “30 Americans” is by Nina Chanel Abney. It’s a compelling work, depicting her MFA class at Parsons School of Design in New York. The artist envisions herself as a bespectacled, gun-toting blonde; Her classmates don...
At the Art Institute of Chicago, Kemang Wa Lehulere Mines South Africa’s History, Imagines Its Future
Kemang Wa Lehulere’s first American museum exhibition, “In My Wildest Dreams” at the Art Institute of Chicago, is on view through Jan. 16, 2017. | Video by Art Institute of Chicago LIKE COUNTLESS OTHER NATIONS, South Africa has an uneven history. Unlike its African neighbors, its recent past has garnered sustained international attention—from apartheid-era...
Frieze Magazine: Betye Saar Reveals 5 Influences in First-Person Reflection on Nearly 70 Years of Art Making
THE LOS ANGELES-BASED ARTIST Betye Saar is known for her assemblage works, mixed-media objects that explore race, history, death and rebirth through found objects. Indeed, Saar herself is enjoying a bit of a renaissance. After serving as a resident faculty member in 1985, Saar returned to Skowhegan in 2014 as a visiting artist. Further,...
In Great Company: According to the New York Times, Artist Kerry James Marshall is Shifting the Color of Art History
A FEW MONTHS AGO, Kerry James Marshall gave First Lady Michelle Obama a tour of “Mastry,” his career-spanning exhibition at MCA Chicago. Now both Marshall and Obama are among “The Greats,” seven people who are redefining our culture, according to the New York Times. Marshall is certainly making his mark on American culture and...
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...
Lorna Simpson Goes to Washington, Gives Inaugural Photography Lecture at National Gallery of Art
LORNA SIMPSON, “Untitled (Two Necklines),” 1989 WASHINGTON, D.C. — TWO DAYS AFTER her new exhibition of paintings opened at Salon 94 in New York, Lorna Simpson gave a talk at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She offered a visual journey of her practice over the past three decades, sharing the concepts...
Culture Talk: Curator Lauren Haynes on Bringing the Colorful, Abstract Paintings of Alma Thomas to Harlem’s Studio Museum
ALMA THOMAS, “Snoopy Sees Earth Wrapped in Sunset,” 1970 (acrylic on canvas). | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist; Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem AT A TIME WHEN MOST ARTISTS are in the sunset of their careers, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was on the rise. Recognized for her expressive abstract paintings, her exuberant use...
At LACMA, Artists Betye Saar and Alison Saar Discuss Intriguing Objects from the Museum’s Collection
Alison Saar on Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. | Video by LACMA CONTAINED IN A DISPLAY BOX, the figure is at once elegant and rough hewn. “She’s a strong, intense female figure …She’s got her one hand up doing this kind of shimmy thing. She is just out there and strutting her stuff,” says artist Alison...
History Makers: 10 African American Firsts in Modern and Contemporary Art Continue to Resonate Today
THE LIST OF HISTORY-MAKING firsts and groundbreaking achievements made by African American artists, and more recently curators, is endless, spanning probably as early as the 17th century to the present. The following briefly captures 10 milestones and a corresponding “where are they now” look at each of these important figures. ALMA THOMAS with...
Collaborations Among Carrie Mae Weems, Sarah Lewis, and Adrienne Edwards Have Produced Some of the Most Compelling Art Projects of the Year
From left, Adrienne Edwards, Carrie Mae Weems, and Sarah Lewis. ANDERSON RANCH IN SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., presented Carrie Mae Weems with its National Artist Award yesterday. The honor capped a weeklong celebration of the arts center’s 50th anniversary. Over the past few years, Weems has received more than a dozen awards, including a MacArthur...
Almost Famous: The Ebb and Flow of Sam Gilliam’s Formidable Practice
A MUST-READ PROFILE of Sam Gilliam published last week in The Washington Post, begins with a quote from the artist about him being “outlandishly famous.” The comment is meant to be facetious, but is actually not too far off base when one considers the recent trajectory of his recognition weighed against periods of his...
Sonic Spaces: Brothers Peter and David Adjaye Discuss Music for Architecture
Peter and David Adjaye on the Sonic Collaboration. | Video by The Spaces PAIRING A GLOBAL PORTFOLIO of major cultural centers and public institutions with projects that span furniture and textile design, architect David Adjaye‘s latest pursuit is a musical collaboration with his brother. A DJ, musician and sound designer with degrees in mathematics...
Martin Puryear Appreciates the Dichotomy of ‘Big Bling,’ His Largest Sculpture to Date
Martin Puryear: “Big Bling” | Video by Art21 RISING AMONG THE TREES in Madison Square Park, “Big Bling” is a monument to Martin Puryear‘s practice. Standing 40-feet high, it is the largest temporary outdoor sculpture the artist has created. Part animal, part abstract form, from afar the voluminous sculpture looks heavy, but upon closer...
Painter Stanley Whitney: ‘I Don’t Have a Theory About Color’
In the Studio with Stanley Whitney, May 2016 | Video by Lisson Gallery WROUGHT WITH IMPROVISATION and experimentation, when it comes to color, Stanley Whitney‘s bold canvases are defined by an ordered approach to composition. Following a spate of 2015 exhibitions, including “Dance the Orange,” a critically recognized solo show at the Studio Museum...
