Artist Simone Leigh Has Joined Luhring Augustine Gallery
NEWS THAT LUHRING AUGUSTINE GALLERY is now representing Simone Leigh follows a succession of recent exhibitions, honors and engagements recognizing the currency and innovation of the multidisciplinary artist’s practice. Brooklyn-based Leigh, whose work spans sculpture, video, installation and performance, is a 2016 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, 2016 Fellow of A Blade of Grass for...
‘The Figure Remains Essentially Black in Every Circumstance’: Kerry James Marshall Previews His Master Paintings at MCA Chicago
Kerry James Marshall previews his new exhibition “Mastry” at MCA Chicago. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine CHICAGO — TWO PAINTINGS MARKED A TURNING POINT for Kerry James Marshall. Complete with Royal Crown Dressing hair pomade, a Zenith radio, and a business license with the first dollar made tucked into the frame, “De Style,”...
Ethiopian Photographer Aida Muluneh Finds Advantage in Creating and Distorting Reality
David Krut Projects is showing Aida Muluneh’s work at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York (May 6-8, 2916). WHEN “THE DIVINE COMEDY: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists” opened last year at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., for the first time in the Smithsonian...
Hauser & Wirth Announces Its Representation of Painter Jack Whitten
KNOWN FOR HIS CONCEPTUAL APPROACH to abstraction, painter Jack Whitten has joined Hauser & Wirth. The New York gallery announced its worldwide representation of the artist on Friday. The news follows the first exhibition to span his entire career. “Jack Whitten: Five Decades of Painting” was organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, San...
Pioneering Malian Photographer Malick Sidibé Has Died at Age 80
Embed from Getty Images CONSIDERED ON OF THE MOST influential photographers of his time, Malick Sidibé has died at age 80. For more than half a century, the Malian photographer documented the post-independence cultural transformation in his native country. He was recognized for his legendary studio portraits and dynamic street shots, bringing Mali’s people...
Sculptor Martin Puryear to Receive Yaddo Artist Medal in May
YADDO IS HONORING one of its own. The third annual Yaddo Artist Medal will be presented to sculptor Martin Puryear (above), who has deep connections with the artist community. The medal “recognizes individuals who have sustained a high level of achievement in their artistic discipline and reinforced the sense of community that is central...
Culture Talk: Courtney Willis Blair on Ryan Lee Gallery’s Representation of Emma Amos
At Ryan Lee Gallery, EMMA AMOS, “Seated Figure and Nude,” 1966 (oil on canvas). | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine AT THE REAR OF RYAN LEE GALLERY in New York, a 1966 painting by Emma Amos casually sits on the floor leaning against the wall between works by other gallery artists. Blending figuration and...
Portrait of an Artist: Baltimore-based Amy Sherald Wins Smithsonian’s Outwin Boochever Competition
EXPLORING RACE, REPRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE, there is a certain something about the portraits painted by Baltimore artist Amy Sherald. Painted in grayscale, the bodies of her subjects are absent of color. Everything else in the large-scale fantastical portraits of African Americans—their distinctive clothing and the background against which they are set—celebrates color. The Smithsonian...
Mining the Collection: Julie Mehretu, Rashid Johnson and Wangechi Mutu Discuss Compelling Works at the Met
“HOW DO YOU PAINT YOUR SLAVE?” artist Julie Mehretu wonders. She is looking at “Juan de Pareja,” a 1650 oil on canvas by Spanish painter Velázquez (1599–1660). She describes it as portrait of a black man with copper skin and brown eyes. “He was one of his primary assistants and he was his slave… The...
Valerie Gerrard Browne: Heir to Painter Archibald Motley Reflects on the Legacy of the ‘Jazz Age Modernist’
“Black Belt,” 1934 (oil on canvas) by Archibald J. Motley Jr. | Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia. © Valerie Gerrard Browne. THE FIRST GALLERY OF THE EXHIBITION “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist” features a series of striking portraits. Among the group is an image of the artist’s grandmother. The narrow, vertical...
Dawoud Bey and Mark Bradford Participate in Season 4 of Met Museum’s Artist Project
FASCINATED BY HIS BLACK-AND-WHITE IMAGES of a man in a rumpled shirt emerging from the subway seemingly propelled by an angle of light and Billie Holiday captured in soft focus, photographer Dawoud Bey discusses the style and composition of photographer Roy DeCarava (1919-2009). Bey says DeCarava was the first African American artist working in...
Overdue: Recognition of Sam Gilliam’s Work Continues to Gain Momentum with Auction Record at Christie’s
FEATURED AMONG HIS CONTEMPORARIES, Sam Gilliam experienced a career milestone on Nov. 11. When his work “Empty,” a riot of color painted in 1972 (shown above), came up for auction, it not only exceeded expectations, it sold for more than 10 times the high estimate. Lot No. 228 at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art...
Studio Museum Awards 2015 Wein Artist Prize to Njideka Akunyili Crosby
LOS ANGELES-BASED artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby is the recipient of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s 10th Annual Joyce Alexander Wien Artist Prize. Since 2006, the $50,000 prize has honored “the artistic achievements of an African American artist who demonstrates great promise and creativity.” The announcement of the annual prize was celebrated at the museum’s...
Record Breakers: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Mark Bradford and Faith Ringgold Reach New Auction Highs
THE THREE MAJOR AUCTION HOUSES—Christie’s, Sothebys and Phillips—held contemporary art sales during Frieze London and the events yielded a number of artist records, including career high values for Mark Bradford and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Known for her deft portrayals of compelling figures, Yiadom-Boakye far exceeded pre-sale expectations at Christie’s London on Oct. 16. “Knave” (above),...
Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier Among 2015 MacArthur Fellows
THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION has announced its class of 2015 fellows and photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier is among the two dozen recognized for groundbreaking work and outstanding accomplishments in their field. “These 24 delightfully diverse MacArthur Fellows are shedding light and making progress on critical issues, pushing the boundaries of their fields, and improving our world...
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Kalup Linzy Discuss Met Museum Works that Inspire Them
SINCE SHE WAS A TEENAGER, LaToya Ruby Frazier has been using a camera to document her family and community. Growing up in Braddock, Pa., where the steel mill was the chief employer, her photographic endeavor became a serious pursuit when the industry collapsed. The local economy failed and its citizens faced critical health challenges caused...
Mark Bradford’s Art + Practice is on a Mission to Change Lives
ART + PRACTICE IS PRESENTING “The Beautyful Ones,” Njideka Akunyili Crosby‘s first exhibition in Los Angeles. Awarded the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2014 James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize, Nigerian-born Akunyili Crosby lives and works in Los Angeles. Curated by the Hammer Museum, the exhibition features a new body of work that “explores intimacy and interiority...
Chris Ofili’s ‘Holy Virgin Mary’ Make News Again, This Time Setting Auction Record
AT CHRISTIE’S LONDON, expectations were high for Chris Ofili‘s “The Holy Virgin Mary” and the results didn’t disappoint. The mixed-media painting sold for more than $4.5 million (including fees) at the Post-War and Contemporary Evening Auction last night, setting a record for the British-born Ofili. In a post-sale press release announcing the record, Christie’s called...
Willie Cole, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall and Hank Willis Thomas Featured in Season 2 of Met Museum’s Artist Project
FEATURED FOUR YEARS AGO in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition “Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents,” Willie Cole recently returned to the museum to talk about his introduction to African art. It was the late 1960s, after the Kennedy and King assassinations and the...
Henry Taylor Paintings Featured in Sotheby’s London Selling Exhibition
IN AN ERA WHEN COUNTLESS ARTISTS are creating untitled abstract and conceptual work, there is a certain satisfaction in viewing paintings by artists who not only remain fixated on figures, but also relish the art of naming their canvases. Henry Taylor‘s title choices are often as blunt, cheeky and colorful as his images. “Walking with...
