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

Ryan N. Dennis Named Co-Director and Chief Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Closely Watched Curator Will Lead Museum in Her Hometown

Ryan N. Dennis Named Co-Director and Chief Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Closely Watched Curator Will Lead Museum in Her Hometown

From left: Ryan N. Dennis. | Photo by Charles A. Smith; Melissa McDonnell Luján. | Photo by Fernanda Varela Rivera. Both Images Courtesy CAMH   Ryan N. Dennis and Melissa McDonnell Luján appointed co-directors of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, effective January 2025   NEW LEADERSHIP is coming to Contemporary Arts...
Naomi Beckwith Appointed Artistic Director of Forthcoming Documenta in Kassel, Curator Called Opportunity to Lead International Exhibition 'Honor of a Lifetime'

Naomi Beckwith Appointed Artistic Director of Forthcoming Documenta in Kassel, Curator Called Opportunity to Lead International Exhibition ‘Honor of a Lifetime’

DOCUMENTA 16 will take place under the artistic direction of Naomi Beckwith. An American curator, scholar, and art historian, Beckwith is Deputy Director and Jennifer & David Stockman Chief Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation in New York. Documenta is one of the most prominent art shows...
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Studio Museum in Harlem Annual Gala Celebrates Wein Artist Prize Recipient Toyin Ojih Odutola and New $10 Million Endowment Grant From Ford Foundation

Studio Museum in Harlem Annual Gala Celebrates Wein Artist Prize Recipient Toyin Ojih Odutola and New $10 Million Endowment Grant From Ford Foundation

Toyin Ojih Odutola, recipient of 2024 Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, and Studio Museum in Harlem Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden, who presented the prize. | Photo by Julie Skarratt, Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem   THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM’s fall fundraising gala is an annual celebration of the institution and the artists...
Latest News in Black Art: The Greatness of Lorna Simpson and Theaster Gates, Tyler Mitchell and Luke Agada Join New Galleries, Artist Alicia Henry Has Died, Ernest Cole Film & More

Latest News in Black Art: The Greatness of Lorna Simpson and Theaster Gates, Tyler Mitchell and Luke Agada Join New Galleries, Artist Alicia Henry Has Died, Ernest Cole Film & More

Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   TYLER MITCHELL, Self-portrait in the artist’s studio, 2024. | Photo by Tyler Mitchell, Courtesy the artist and Gagosian   REPRESENTATION Gagosian Announced Representation of Tyler Mitchell One of the largest international galleries in the world, Gagosian added...
On View: 'Devin B. Johnson: Ritual of Welcome' Exhibition Features New Figurative and Abstract Paintings at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles

On View: ‘Devin B. Johnson: Ritual of Welcome’ Exhibition Features New Figurative and Abstract Paintings at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles

DEVIN B. JOHNSON, “Cluster,” 2024 (oil on linen, 60 x 62 inches / 152 x 157 cm). | © Devin B. Johnson. Courtesy the artist and Nicodim. Photo by Yubo Dong / ofstudio photography   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   FOR HIS FIFTH SOLO EXHIBITION with Nicodim Gallery, Devin B. Johnson (b....
Jonell Logan is New Executive Director and Curator at Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston, Va.

Jonell Logan is New Executive Director and Curator at Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston, Va.

ON THE OUTSKIRTS of Washington, D.C., the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) in Reston, Va., appointed Jonell Logan executive director and curator, effective Oct. 28. “I am excited to join Tephra ICA at this dynamic point in its history. We are committed to the legacy of supporting local and national/international artists in concrete...
Estate of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Who Memorialized Everyday Lives and Culture of Black People, is Now Represented by Fort Gansevoort Gallery

Estate of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Who Memorialized Everyday Lives and Culture of Black People, is Now Represented by Fort Gansevoort Gallery

AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON, “Dad’s Journey,” 1995 (watercolor, graphite, pen, ink, and fabric, on watercolor paper, 11 x 15 inches). | © Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Trust. Courtesy of the Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Trust, Columbus Museum of Art, and Fort Gansevoort, New York   THE AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON ESTATE is now exclusively represented...
Recent News in Black Art: Kim Dacres Joined Charles Moffett Gallery, Jordan Carter Co-Curating 2026 Counterpublic Triennial, Mabel O. Wilson to Deliver Mellon Lectures

Recent News in Black Art: Kim Dacres Joined Charles Moffett Gallery, Jordan Carter Co-Curating 2026 Counterpublic Triennial, Mabel O. Wilson to Deliver Mellon Lectures

Recent News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   From left, Kim Dacres portrait. | Photo by Antony Artis; KIM DACRES, “Zora,” 2024 (found tires, tire rims wrapped in tire inner tubes, washers, wood and screws mounted on wood pyramid plinth with black paint, felted wool...
President Biden Will Award 20 National Medals of Arts, Recipients Include Carrie Mae Weems, Mark Bradford, and Spike Lee

President Biden Will Award 20 National Medals of Arts, Recipients Include Carrie Mae Weems, Mark Bradford, and Spike Lee

From left, National Medal of Arts recipients Mark Bradford and Carrie Mae Weems. | Photos: Courtesy of Mark Bradford; © Rolex, Audoin Desforges. Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin   The President will also award National Humanities Medals today   PRESIDENT BIDEN is celebrating...
Darren Walker Elected President of National Gallery of Art, Head of Ford Foundation Has Been Member of Museum Board Since 2019

Darren Walker Elected President of National Gallery of Art, Head of Ford Foundation Has Been Member of Museum Board Since 2019

A PROMINENT AND INFLUENTIAL FIGURE in philanthropy and the arts, Darren Walker was elected president of the National Gallery of Art (NGA). Walker has been a member of the museum’s board since 2019. The nine-member board governs the museum, appointing the executive director and executive officers, advising on policies such as acquisitions, and supporting the...
Remembering Artist Floyd Newsum, 74, Co-Founder of Project Row Houses and 'Pillar of the Houston Arts Community'

Remembering Artist Floyd Newsum, 74, Co-Founder of Project Row Houses and ‘Pillar of the Houston Arts Community’

Floyd Newsum (1950-2024) stands before his work. | Photo: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art   HOUSTON, TEXAS, LOST a celebrated arts leader over the summer. Floyd Newsum (1950-2024), an artist, educator, and co-founder of Project Row Houses (PRH), died on Aug. 14. He was 74. Newsum was a professor of art at the University of...
Recent News in Black Art: Michaela Yearwood-Dan Joined Mega-Gallery Hauser & Wirth, Nikita Gale Awarded $100,000 Whitney Biennial Prize, Architect Charles Fleming & More

Recent News in Black Art: Michaela Yearwood-Dan Joined Mega-Gallery Hauser & Wirth, Nikita Gale Awarded $100,000 Whitney Biennial Prize, Architect Charles Fleming & More

Recent News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Michaela Yearwood-Dan in her studio, 2024. | Photo by Ollie Adegboye   REPRESENTATION Michaela Yearwood-Dan Now Represented by Hauser & Wirth Hauser & Wirth announced its representation of Michaela Yearwood-Dan (b. 1994) in collaboration with Marianne Boesky...
MacArthur Foundation Announced 2024 'Genius' Fellows, Recipients of $800,000 Grants Include Artists Ebony G. Patterson and Tony Cokes

MacArthur Foundation Announced 2024 ‘Genius’ Fellows, Recipients of $800,000 Grants Include Artists Ebony G. Patterson and Tony Cokes

Ebony G. Patterson. | Courtesy John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation   EMPLOYING BEAUTY, BLING, brilliant color, and the symbolism of the garden, Ebony G. Patterson, makes intensely layered and embellished works that explore complex themes—many of them not so pretty—including visibility, pageantry, violence, death, mourning, and regeneration. Over the past few years, the...
Sotheby's is Partnering With ARTNOIR and Artist Yinka Ilori, Tapped Rich Paul as 'Curator' and Titus Kaphar as Cover Star

Sotheby’s is Partnering With ARTNOIR and Artist Yinka Ilori, Tapped Rich Paul as ‘Curator’ and Titus Kaphar as Cover Star

  Sotheby’s engages in partnerships, collaborations, and content creation to promote its international auction business. Recent projects feature Black artists and organizations, including a pop-up redesign of its London café   Pride is Within My Story: Artist and Designer Yinka IIori at his Sotheby’s Cafe Pop Up. | Photo by Credit Chris McAndrew, Courtesy Sotheby’s...
Artists for Kamala: Dozens of Artists Donated Works to Auction Benefitting Harris-Walz Presidential Campaign

Artists for Kamala: Dozens of Artists Donated Works to Auction Benefitting Harris-Walz Presidential Campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a White House NCAA Sports Day event, Monday, July 22, 2024, on the South Lawn of the White House. | Official White House Photo by Oliver Contreras   ARTISTS ARE COMING TOGETHER to help Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for the presidency. Artists for Kamala announced that some of...
Taylor Renee Aldridge Joined Modern Ancient Brown Foundation in Detroit as Executive Director, Appointment Marks Return to Her Hometown

Taylor Renee Aldridge Joined Modern Ancient Brown Foundation in Detroit as Executive Director, Appointment Marks Return to Her Hometown

IN DETROIT, MICH., the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation (MAB) welcomed Taylor Renee Aldridge as executive director. Aldridge joined the foundation from the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles, where she had been visual arts curator & program manager since 2020. The MAB appointment marks a homecoming for Aldridge, who was born and raised...
History Maker: 'Amy Sherald: American Sublime' Will Be First Solo Exhibition of a Black Female Artist at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

History Maker: ‘Amy Sherald: American Sublime’ Will Be First Solo Exhibition of a Black Female Artist at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

AMY SHERALD, “A God Blessed Land (Empire of Dirt),” 2022 (oil on linen, 96 1/8 x 130 1/8 inches). | Tymure Collection, © Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo by Joseph Hyde   THE LARGEST-EVER EXHIBITION of Amy Sherald (b. 1973) opens in November at the San Francisco Museum of Modern...
Celebrating African American Art Throughout the Year, 2025 Calendars Focus on Richard Mayhew, Alma Thomas, Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Feature Barkley Hendricks

Celebrating African American Art Throughout the Year, 2025 Calendars Focus on Richard Mayhew, Alma Thomas, Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Feature Barkley Hendricks

THE POWERFUL PORTRAITS of Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) are in a category of their own. Key elements characterize the late artist’s paintings, including his masterful use of color. “Miss Brown To You” (1970) by Hendricks, pictures his subject wearing a red top against a red background. When he employed this stylized approach, Hendricks described the...
Moving On Up: 35 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in First Half of 2024

Moving On Up: 35 Museum Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in First Half of 2024

Culture Type reports on new appointments of Black curators and arts leaders to get a sense of representation in museums, with an emphasis on art museums. Museum leaders, curators, and educators shape the management and intellectual direction of institutions, determine the art visitors see and the programming they experience and, by extension, whether audiences of...
2024 Heinz Award Goes to Jennie C. Jones, Honor Includes $250,000 Prize

2024 Heinz Award Goes to Jennie C. Jones, Honor Includes $250,000 Prize

Jennie C. Jones. | Photo by Joshua Franzos   THE UNIQUE PRACTICE of Jennie C. Jones (b. 1968) has gained increasing attention and more prominent platforms in recent years. A sonic and visual artist, Jones works across painting, sculpture, sound, and installation. In 2022, her exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York...
On View: First International Institutional Survey of Noah Davis Now Open in Germany, Will Travel to London and Los Angeles, Where the Late Artist Was Based

On View: First International Institutional Survey of Noah Davis Now Open in Germany, Will Travel to London and Los Angeles, Where the Late Artist Was Based

NOAH DAVIS, “The Missing Link 4,” 2013 (oil on canvas, 78 x 86 1/4 inches / 198.1 x 219.1 cm). | Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by AHAN: Studio Forum, 2013 Art Here and Now purchase. © The Estate of Noah Davis. Courtesy The Estate of Noah Davis and David...
Jessica Bell Brown to Lead Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond

Jessica Bell Brown to Lead Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond

IN RICHMOND, VA., the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University appointed Jessica Bell Brown its next executive director. ICA at VCU opened its doors in 2018. In less than a decade, the young institution has established itself as a dynamic space with a formidable contemporary art program engaging with local and regional figures...