Culture Talk: Kellie Jones Discusses ‘South of Pico,’ Her Recently Published Book About African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and ’70s
Kellie Jones, author of “South of Pico.” A DECADE AGO, Kellie Jones set out to write a book about African American artists in Los Angeles. The focus of her research was the 1960s and ’70s, a period when artists in the city were experimenting with materials and form, and mixing art with activism. Shortly...
Monumental Practice: Long Before the Violence in Charlottesville, Mabel O. Wilson Was Exploring the Intersection of Race and History in Public Spaces
Robert E. Lee Monument in Emancipation Park, Charlottesville, Va. | via UVA THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE’S plan to remove a monument memorializing Confederate General Robert E. Lee drew protests from tiki torch-bearing white supremacists and white nationalists. On Aug. 12, counter-demonstrators clashed with participants in the “Unite the Right” rally and one woman, among...
The Age of Basquiat: New Books, Important Exhibitions, and Soaring Auction Sales Are Substantiating the Artist’s Legacy
Embed from Getty Images FASCINATION WITH THE LIFE AND WORK of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) has never really quelled since his death three decades ago. Over the past few years, a crush of exhibitions and catalogs, and soaring auctions sales have further shaped the legacy of Basquiat whose life was cut short by a drug...
For World Book Day, 5 New Volumes Featuring African American Artists
DESIGNATED BY THE UNITED NATIONS Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Book Day promotes reading, publishing and copyright. It’s a great excuse to learn more about five new art books. Recently published volumes pay tribute to women artists and explore the work of African American artists active in 1960s and 70s Los Angeles—the work...
Body Prints by David Hammons Headline New York Auctions at Christie’s and Swann
A post shared by CHRISTIE'S (@christiesinc) on Feb 26, 2017 at 11:46am PST SITUATED BETWEEN “Love in the Night,” by Yayoi Kusama and John Baldessari’s “Exulting Figure (With Coins) and Witness,” a masterful body print by David Hammons is on display at Christie’s New York at Rockefeller Center. Depicting a lone figure executed...
Black Art History: 10 Children’s Books Illuminate the Lives of Important African American Artists and Photographers
HOW DID THE 20TH CENTURY’S most important African American artists discover their crafts? These beautifully illustrated books reveal how each got their start. For Jacob Lawrence, it was his childhood in Harlem where the hustle and colors of the neighborhood inspired his interest in art. His compelling story and those of Benny Andrews, Romare...
College Art Association Honoring Ruth Fine for Norman Lewis Catalog: ‘I Wanted it to Visually be Compelling and Comprehensible’
Curator Ruth Fine previews Norman Lewis exhibition at PAFA – Nov. 12, 2015 | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine THE COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION (CAA) announced recipients of its 2017 Awards for Distinction and art historian Ruth Fine is among the honorees. Fine organized “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis,” the first major museum retrospective...
Culture Type Picks: The 12 Best Black Art Books of 2016
THIS YEAR’S SELECTION of the Best Black Art Books includes 12 volumes that in various ways are reframing art history—from scholarly works shedding light on major cultural moments and volumes of groundbreaking photography, to exhibition catalogs surveying broadly the work of important artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Alma Thomas. Highly recommended among Culture...
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...
Book Report: New Titles Explore Work of Artists Shinique Smith, Rashid Johnson, and Whitfield Lovell
BOOK REPORT CHARTS recently published art books. The four titles featured here explore the work of African African contemporary artists Whitfield Lovell, Rashid Johnson, and Shinique Smith through recent and current exhibitions. “Whitfield Lovell: Kin,” with contributions by Sarah Lewis, Julie L McGee, Klaus Ottmann and Elsa Smithgall, and an introduction by Irving Sandler...
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...
Book Report: New Titles on McArthur Binion, Glenn Ligon, Mickalene Thomas, and More
BOOK REPORT CHARTS recently published art books. Among these six new titles, a number accompany exhibitions of work by African American artists including Norman Lewis, Kerry James Marshall, and Mickalene Thomas. A scholarly study investigates the life and work of early 20th century painter Horace Pippin. “Suffering and Sunset: World War I in the...
Culture Type Picks: 14 Best Black Art Books of 2015
MANY OF THIS YEAR’S BEST African American art books were published to coincide with exhibitions. The correlation is not surprising given the caliber of exhibitions on view in 2015, including innovative (“Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now”) and long overdue (“Noah Purify: Junk Dada” and “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis”)...
Architect David Adjaye, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and 21st Century Design
FOR THE FIRST TIME in its nearly 50-year history, the Studio Museum in Harlem plans to construct a new building designed expressly to meet the needs of its ambitious programming. The news came last month, coupled with the announcement that architect David Adjaye is designing the $122 million public-private project made possible by partial...
Faith Ringgold’s Latest Children’s Book Celebrates 1920s Harlem
IMAGINE BOARDING HARLEM AIRLINES to journey back in time to the 1920s when the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing. This mesmerizing prospect is the premise of artist Faith Ringgold‘s latest children’s book, “Harlem Renaissance Party.” The story begins with an open invitation written in the sky, “Come one! Come all! To a party...
New York Times Publishes First-Ever, Art-Themed Issue of Sunday Book Review
FEATURING “ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, art-themed fiction, artist biography, nonfiction about the art world, original photography and original artwork,” the New York Times published its first-ever art-themed Sunday Book Review section today (June 28, 2015). The print version arrived in this morning’s paper, but the reviews began appearing online Wednesday and a specially designed web page...
Kara Walker Offers a Critical Assessment of Toni Morrison’s New Book
View image | gettyimages.com FOR TWO DECADES, KARA WALKER HAS PURSUED a unique practice focused on exploring the history of race, gender, power and exploitation in the antebellum South through large-scale cut-paper silhouettes, drawings, watercolor and video animation. The artist’s primary subject parallels that of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Beloved” (1987), as well...
The Year in Black Art Books, Catalogs and Magazines 2014
IT WAS A THRILL TO OPEN the January issue of W magazine and find photographer Lorna Simpson’s evocative images of the cast of “12 Years a Slave” and conclude the year with a package delivered after Christmas containing “Du Bois in Our Time,” a visual testament to the intellectual’s legacy. In the months between, some...
11 Best Black Art Books of 2014
THE BEST EXHIBITION CATALOGS do more than document their gallery counterparts. They provide critical context, visual reference, an opportunity for innovative design that reflects the work, and a format in which the exhibition can live beyond its presentation dates. This year, there were a number of remarkable exhibitions featuring Black artists and the coinciding catalogs...
Shelf Worthy: New Books on Black British Artists, Chris Ofili, Basquiat and More
A SELECTION OF SHELF-WORTHY, COFFEE TABLE-READY books and catalogs published recently that explore black art and artists “The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume V: The Twentieth Century, Part 2: The Rise of Black Artists” edited by David Bindman and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Belknap Press, 368 pages) Since 2010, Harvard University Press...
