THE QUEENS MUSEUM in Queens, N.Y., announced the appointment of Lauren Haynes as director of curatorial affairs and programs this morning. Haynes spent a decade on the curatorial team at the Studio Museum in Harlem, departing in 2016 to join the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. Last year, she accepted...
Venice Biennale: “Simone Leigh: Sovereignty,” U.S. Pavilion, 2022 A TOWERING SCULPTURE pays homage to the ritual performances of the Baga peoples of the Guinea coast. Face jugs made by enslaved and free African Americans in the Edgefield District of South Carolina inspired a five-foot-tall vessel embellished with outsized forms that read as cowrie shells....
Ceramic works by Akinsanya Kambon at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions MAKING HIS SOLO DEBUT in New York City, Akinsanya Kambon is presenting figurative sculptures and wall reliefs at Jack Shainman Gallery. The ceramic works were made using an American raku firing technique, creating...
THE CONTEMPORARY ART DEPARTMENT at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is now led by Jessica Bell Brown. After joining the museum as associate curator of contemporary art in November 2019, Brown was promoted to curator and department head for contemporary art earlier this month. In her new role, she is overseeing a growing...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Veronica Ryan is one of four artists shortlisted for the 2022 Turner Prize. | © Veronica Ryan. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Steven Probert Awards & Honors On April 12, Tate Liverpool...
Installation view of “Black American Portraits,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art THE OBAMA PORTRAITS were such a hit at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the museum launched a multi-city tour to give people throughout the country a chance to see the historic paintings. Kehinde Wiley‘s portrait of President Barack Obama...
MINDFULLY BUILDING a national collection that showcases a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences is one of the most visible ways a museum can tell important stories. At the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, our curators have been acquiring artworks that present an inclusive story of American art, including often-overlooked histories...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Civil Rights Photographer Doris Derby. | Photo courtesy Doris Derby via University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Lives Bronx, N.Y.-born civil rights photographer Doris Derby died in Newnan, Ga., outside Atlanta on March 28. She was...
IN A FORMAL, TRADITIONAL, and somber-toned room, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson stood for her first official portrait. Wearing all black, she posed before a black backdrop and studio lighting, the trappings of contemporary photography temporarily inserted into the White House complex space, literally disrupting history. The Senate confirmed Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court...
THE SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF QUILTS AND TEXTILES (SJMQT) announced its new director will be Camille Ann Brewer. A Detroit, Mich.-based curator, handweaver, and archivist, Brewer will shape the museum’s vision and strategy, leading operations, exhibitions and programming, the collection, community engagement, and donor relations. Brewer brings a spectrum of experience to SJMQT, more than...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Nancy Lane at Studio Museum in Harlem 2015 gala. | Photo by Julie Skarratt, Courtesy The Studio Museum in Harlem Lives New York art collector and philanthropist Nancy Lee Lane (1933-2022) died March 28....
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A NEW LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATION by Hew Locke, “The Procession” features nearly 150 life-sized figures outfitted in hand-made garments and masks. The latest Tate Britain Commission is a sculptural gumbo evoking celebration, sorrow, and world events across time—from slavery to climate change, the Black Lives Matter Movement,...
THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM recently welcomed Ernestine White-Mifetu as Sills Foundation Curator of African Art. White-Mifetu was working as an independent artist and curator when she joined the Brooklyn Museum. She brings two decades of experience to the role. Previously, she served as director and chief curator of the William Humphreys Art Gallery in Northern Cape,...
Christie’s Hong Kong, Dec. 1, 2021 A STRIKING PORTRAIT by Amoako Boafo, “Hands Up” (2018) features a stylish young woman wearing yellow sunglasses against a yellow background. The painting sold for more than $3 million, nearly 10 times the estimate and an astounding new record at auction for the fast-rising artist. The record-setting result...
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A RENOWNED SCHOLAR of African American art, David Driskell (1931-2020) had a deep interest in African Art, which he was introduced to when he was a student at Howard University. More than a dozen years later, in 1969-70 and 1972, when he was a professor of...
Installation view of “Prints from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives: Creative Communities” at Harvard Art Museums On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THROUGH COLLABORATION AND EXPERIMENTATION, master printers and a diverse slate of artists have been producing new works at Brandywine Workshop and Archives for half a century. The Philadelphia organization was...
CELEBRATIONS OF ONE OF AMERICA’s most insightful artists are finally arriving at a pace that measures up to the significance and longevity of her practice. Harlem-born Faith Ringgold, 91, is being recognized all over her hometown. Currently on view at the New Museum, “Faith Ringgold: American People” is her first full-scale retrospective in New...
SINCE THE LATE 1970S, New York photographer Jamel Shabazz has been cataloging his iconic street portraits in thematic albums. Housing small prints, numerous albums form a visual archive across nearly half a century documenting the city’s cultural shifts, sociopolitical landscape, and evolving style. The treasure trove will soon be published in book form. Shabazz is...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Artist Lauren Halsey. | Photo by Russell Hamilton, Courtesy David Kordansky Gallery Commissions Lauren Halsey is the latest artist commissioned to create a site-specific installation for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop garden. Titled...
THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION in Washington, D.C., named a new chief diversity officer. Yuma Tomes, a psychologist whose experience includes teaching, research, and academic administration, was appointed Horning Chair for Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion. Tomes joined The Phillips Collection in February from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where he had been serving as...