Welcome to Culture Type®

An essential resource focused on visual art from a Black perspective, Culture Type explores the intersection of art, history, and culture

News
Dalton Paula Joined James Fuentes Gallery, Brazilian Artist's Portrait Paintings 'Create a New History'

Dalton Paula Joined James Fuentes Gallery, Brazilian Artist’s Portrait Paintings ‘Create a New History’

DALTON PAULA, “João Mulunga,” 2023 (oil and gold leaf on canvas in two parts, 24 x 17 3⁄4 x 1 1⁄2 inches). | © Dalton Paula, Courtesy the artist and James Fuentes   THE WORK OF Brazilian artist Dalton Paula (b. 1982) may look familiar. A pair of portraits he painted representing slave resistance leaders...
Nicola Vassell and Hauser & Wirth Galleries Announce Partnership and Co-Representation of Artist Uman

Nicola Vassell and Hauser & Wirth Galleries Announce Partnership and Co-Representation of Artist Uman

UMAN, “Amapiano Dance,” 2022-23 (acrylic, oil and oil stick on canvas in artist’s frame, 159.1 x 159.1 cm / 62 5/8 x 62 5/8 inches). | © Uman. Courtesy the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery, Photo by Lance Brewer   NICOLA VASSELL GALLERY and Hauser & Wirth announced a new partnership and co-representation of Uman....
Paula Cooper Gallery Now Represents Cynthia Hawkins, New York Artist Engaged With Abstraction Since 1972

Paula Cooper Gallery Now Represents Cynthia Hawkins, New York Artist Engaged With Abstraction Since 1972

Cynthia Hawkins, 2022. | Photo by Todd Smith Fleming   PAULA COOPER GALLERY announced its representation of painter Cynthia Hawkins. Since 1972, Hawkins has been working in abstraction. Describing the artist’s work, the gallery said her paintings draw on “diverse literary, philosophical, and scientific influences” and “utilize a highly developed vocabulary of symbols and signs...
Coming Soon: First International Exhibition of Mickalene Thomas Opens at The Broad in Los Angeles Next Spring, Then Travels to Museums in Philadelphia and London

Coming Soon: First International Exhibition of Mickalene Thomas Opens at The Broad in Los Angeles Next Spring, Then Travels to Museums in Philadelphia and London

MICKALENE THOMAS (b. 1971), “Din avec la main dans le miroir et jupe rouge,” 2023 (rhinestones, acrylic and glitter on canvas mounted on wood panel, 90 x 110 inches /228.6 x 279.4 cm). | © Mickalene Thomas   A MAJOR TRAVELING EXHIBITION of Mickalene Thomas is launching next spring. “Mickalene Thomas: All About Love” opens...
Latest News in Black Art: Charisse Pearlina Weston Joined Patron Gallery, Danielle A. Jackson Co-Curating Carnegie International, New CEO at Brooklyn Children's Museum, Wangechi Mutu, Christopher Myers & More

Latest News in Black Art: Charisse Pearlina Weston Joined Patron Gallery, Danielle A. Jackson Co-Curating Carnegie International, New CEO at Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Wangechi Mutu, Christopher Myers & More

  Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Charisse Pearlina Weston, a 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, is now represented by Patron Gallery. | Courtesy Patron Gallery   Representation Charisse Pearlina Weston has joined Patron Gallery in Chicago. Weston is a...
2024 Getty Prize Goes to Mark Bradford, $500,000 Grant Will Be Awarded to Nonprofit of Artist's Choice

2024 Getty Prize Goes to Mark Bradford, $500,000 Grant Will Be Awarded to Nonprofit of Artist’s Choice

THE GETTY FOUNDATION in Los Angeles announced Mark Bradford is the recipient of the 2024 Getty Prize. Bradford makes large-scale paintings composed with layers of paper. Both abstract and conceptual, the work explores social and political structures and the adverse ways they impact the lives of vulnerable populations. The Getty Prize gives Bradford the opportunity...
Studio Museum in Harlem's New Branding Presents Its Identity as a 'Community-Centered Institution and Globally Minded Place Where Black Art Lives'

Studio Museum in Harlem’s New Branding Presents Its Identity as a ‘Community-Centered Institution and Globally Minded Place Where Black Art Lives’

New Studio Museum in Harlem letterhead displays the institution’s new logo. | Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem   THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM has a new look and feel. The museum introduced new branding, including a bold new graphic identity, custom typeface called “Studio Museum Black,” and redesigned website. Building on its mission as a...
Latest News in Black Art: Abrupt Departure of Newfields CEO Sparks Protest, New Fisk President, 'Black Modernisms in the Transatlantic World' Wins Porter/Driskell Book Award & More

Latest News in Black Art: Abrupt Departure of Newfields CEO Sparks Protest, New Fisk President, ‘Black Modernisms in the Transatlantic World’ Wins Porter/Driskell Book Award & More

  Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Colette Pierce Burnette. | Photo by Kylie Birchfield   Appointments Newfields Board of Trustees announced the “departure” of its CEO, Colette Pierce Burnette, (above) in a brief statement on Nov. 10, abruptly ending her 15-month tenure....
White Cube Gallery Announced Its Global Representation of Sculptor Richard Hunt, a 'Giant Hiding in Plain Sight for Decades'

White Cube Gallery Announced Its Global Representation of Sculptor Richard Hunt, a ‘Giant Hiding in Plain Sight for Decades’

RENOWNED SCULPTOR Richard Hunt, is now represented worldwide by London-based White Cube. Hunt produces abstract, organic forms that often suggest the figure and speak to African American history and culture. Working with steel, aluminum, copper, and bronze, he describes the forms as “volumetric.” In December, White Cube will present Hunt’s sculpture, “Years of Pilgrimage” (1999),...
Latest News in Black Art: Rashid Johnson Installation at Whitney Museum Restaurant, Black Women Win Photography Prizes, Kaloki Nyamai Joins James Cohan Gallery

Latest News in Black Art: Rashid Johnson Installation at Whitney Museum Restaurant, Black Women Win Photography Prizes, Kaloki Nyamai Joins James Cohan Gallery

  Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   RASHID JOHNSON, “New Poetry,” 2023 (black steel, ceramics, grow lights, plants, wood, shea butter, books, films on CRT monitors, 190 x 359 1/2 x 65 inches / 482.6 x 913 x 165 cm). | © Rashid...
Forthcoming: Pérez Art Museum Miami is Presenting First Solo Museum Exhibition of Calida Rawles, Her Poetic Water Portraits Blend Hyperrealism and Abstraction

Forthcoming: Pérez Art Museum Miami is Presenting First Solo Museum Exhibition of Calida Rawles, Her Poetic Water Portraits Blend Hyperrealism and Abstraction

WATER AND ITS MANY THEMES, characteristics, and metaphors is central to the practice of Calida Rawles and serves as an anchoring through line in her paintings. A hybrid mix of hyperrealism and abstraction, her poetic images capture men, women, and young people submerged and floating in waves of stunning blue pool water. Drawing on the...
Painter Cy Gavin Wins Studio Museum in Harlem's Annual $50,000 Wein Artist Prize

Painter Cy Gavin Wins Studio Museum in Harlem’s Annual $50,000 Wein Artist Prize

Thelma Golden presents artist Cy Gavin with the 2023 Wein Prize at the Studio Museum in Harlem’s annual gala. | Photo by Bre Johnson, BFA   The museum’s Oct. 30 gala honored Cy Gavin and Elizabeth Alexander   THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM has been recognizing the potential of individual artists since 2006 with the...
Honolulu Museum of Art Acquired 55 Works From Robert and Jean Steele, More Than Doubling Representation of African American Artists in its Collection

Honolulu Museum of Art Acquired 55 Works From Robert and Jean Steele, More Than Doubling Representation of African American Artists in its Collection

RON ADAMS (American, 1934–2020), “Blackburn,” 2000 (lithograph). | Lawrence Lithography Workshop, Kansas City, Mo. Partial gift of Robert and Jean Steele; Partial purchase with funds from the John V. Levas Trust, 2023. (2023-06-01)   ONE MASTER PRINTER paying homage to another, “Robert Blackburn” (2003) by Ron Adams pictures Blackburn pulling a figurative print from a...
Latest News in Black Art: Lauren Halsey Joins Gagosian, Todd Gray Now Repped by Lehmann Maupin, Harvey B. Gantt Center Turns 50, Plus Major Shake Up at Artforum

Latest News in Black Art: Lauren Halsey Joins Gagosian, Todd Gray Now Repped by Lehmann Maupin, Harvey B. Gantt Center Turns 50, Plus Major Shake Up at Artforum

  Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Lauren Halsey. | Photo by Russell Hamilton   Representation Gagosian, which has locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia, announced its representation of artist Lauren Halsey. Despite characterizing the relationship as global, she will continue...
David C. Howse Appointed President of California College of the Arts in San Francisco

David C. Howse Appointed President of California College of the Arts in San Francisco

California College of the Arts in San Francisco was established in 1907 and offers more than 30 programs and disciplines across art, design, architecture and writing. | Photo Courtesy CCA   David C. Howse starts in the new role in December, joining the ranks of a few other African Americans leading U.S. art schools  ...
Gish Prize Goes to Thelma Golden, Director of Studio Museum in Harlem is First Curator to Receive $250,000 Award

Gish Prize Goes to Thelma Golden, Director of Studio Museum in Harlem is First Curator to Receive $250,000 Award

THE 30TH ANNUAL Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize was awarded to Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. A transformational figure in the world of art, for more than 35 years, Golden has provided a platform for Black artists as a curator, museum leader, mentor, and advocate. The prize was...
Kerry James Marshall Donated Portrait of His Friend, Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., to University of Cambridge

Kerry James Marshall Donated Portrait of His Friend, Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., to University of Cambridge

HENRY LOUIS GATES JR., is a towering figure in the field of African American history and literature. He is closely associated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., where he built his academic career and currently serves as Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Gates also...
Theaster Gates Will Receive 2023 Vincent Scully Prize From National Building Museum, Honor Celebrates Excellence in Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Urban Design

Theaster Gates Will Receive 2023 Vincent Scully Prize From National Building Museum, Honor Celebrates Excellence in Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Urban Design

Theaster Gates is his Chicago studio, Sept. 29, 2020. | Photo by Lyndon French, Courtesy of Theaster Gates   The National Building Museum is honoring Theaster Gates and hosting a conversation with the artist on Nov. 3   AN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED potter, sculptor, performance artist, and social innovator, Theaster Gates has developed an ambitious archiving...
Latest News in Black Art: Luke Agada Joined Monique Meloche Gallery, New Atlanta Art Fair,  Black Studies x Art History & More

Latest News in Black Art: Luke Agada Joined Monique Meloche Gallery, New Atlanta Art Fair, Black Studies x Art History & More

  Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   ART FAIRS A new art fair is coming to Atlanta next year. The inaugural edition of the Atlanta Art Fair is Oct. 3-6, 2024, coinciding with Atlanta Art Week. Featuring leading local, regional, and national art...
Nasher Sculpture Center Announced Artist Otobong Nkanga is Next Recipient of $100,000 Nasher Prize

Nasher Sculpture Center Announced Artist Otobong Nkanga is Next Recipient of $100,000 Nasher Prize

Otobong Nkanga. | Photo by Wim van Dongen   EACH YEAR SINCE 2016, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas, has presented an international award to a living artist whose practice “elevates the understanding of sculpture and its possibilities.” The recipient of the 2025 Nasher Prize is Otobong Nkanga. The Nigerian Belgian artist is the...