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

New Obama Presidential Center Artist Commissions Include Lindsay Adams Painting Inspired by Langston Hughes Poem

New Obama Presidential Center Artist Commissions Include Lindsay Adams Painting Inspired by Langston Hughes Poem

THE AWE-INSPIRING poetry of Langston Hughes informed a floral abstract painting with a rich and varied blue background by Lindsay Adams (b. 1990). “Weary Blues” shares the title of the Harlem poet’s iconic 1925 work. The poem speaks of the transformative power of blues music. Employing his signature simple and...
Turner Prize 2025 Shortlist of Four British Artists Includes Nnena Kalu and Rene Matić

Turner Prize 2025 Shortlist of Four British Artists Includes Nnena Kalu and Rene Matić

RENE MATIĆ, Installation view of “Untitled (No Place for Violence),” 2024, “AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH,” CCA Berlin (2024).| Photo: Diana Pfammatter/CCA Berlin   A LARGE-SCALE FLAG by British artist Rene Matić (b. 1997) features the words “No Place” on one side and “For Violence” on the reverse. The flag...
Recently Published
Latest News in Black Art: Rashid Johnson is Incoming Board Chair at Performa, New Representation for Brazilian Artist Elian Almeida, Fast Company Recognizes Destinee Ross-Sutton, Mabel O. Wilson & More

Latest News in Black Art: Rashid Johnson is Incoming Board Chair at Performa, New Representation for Brazilian Artist Elian Almeida, Fast Company Recognizes Destinee Ross-Sutton, Mabel O. Wilson & More

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Artist Rashid Johnson. | Photo by Chris Sorensen   Appointments Artist Rashid Johnson will be the next chair of the board of directors at Performa, the New York City organization “dedicated to live interdisciplinary performance...
Latest News in Black Art: Tunji Adeniyi-Jones Now Repped by White Cube, Marcus Jahmal Joins Anton Kern Gallery, Seattle Artist Denzil Hurley Has Died & More

Latest News in Black Art: Tunji Adeniyi-Jones Now Repped by White Cube, Marcus Jahmal Joins Anton Kern Gallery, Seattle Artist Denzil Hurley Has Died & More

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   From left, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones. | Photo by William Jess Laird; TUNJI ADENIYI-JONES, “Bird Charmer II,” 2016 (oil on canvas, 78 × 52 inches / 198.1 × 132.1 cm). | © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones   Representation  ...
Coming Soon: Toyin Ojih Odutola's 'A Countervailing Theory' Exhibition Will Make U.S. Debut at Hirshhorn Museum This Fall

Coming Soon: Toyin Ojih Odutola’s ‘A Countervailing Theory’ Exhibition Will Make U.S. Debut at Hirshhorn Museum This Fall

  THIS FALL, A FASCINATING STORY about Nigerian women, female warriors who ruled a prehistoric civilization, will be told at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Presented through a series of 40 large-scale monochromatic drawings by Toyin Ojih Odutola, the mythological narrative conceived by the artist will unfold on the Smithsonian museum’s...
Encore Presentation: Cut Short By COVID-19 Closure, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's Tate Britain Exhibition is Returning in Fall 2022

Encore Presentation: Cut Short By COVID-19 Closure, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Tate Britain Exhibition is Returning in Fall 2022

  THE MOST EXTENSIVE SURVEY of British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye will open and close at Tate Britain in London. “Lynette Yiadom- Boakye: Fly in League with the Night” features about 80 works made over the span of nearly two decades, dating back to 2003. After debuting at Tate last December, the run of the exhibition...
Best of Both Worlds: For Three Decades, British Painter Frank Bowling Shuttled Between Studios in London and New York

Best of Both Worlds: For Three Decades, British Painter Frank Bowling Shuttled Between Studios in London and New York

  WHEN BRITISH PAINTER Frank Bowling moved to New York in the mid-1960s, the new art scene broadened his perspective. He connected with Jack Whitten, Mel Edwards, Al Loving, and Daniel LaRue Johnson, met Jasper Johns, and began a decades-long dialogue with Clement Greenburg. It was also in New York that Bowling shifted away from...
Acquisition Highlights: Baltimore Museum of Art Adds 250+ Works to Collection, Including Dozens by Black Contemporary Artists

Acquisition Highlights: Baltimore Museum of Art Adds 250+ Works to Collection, Including Dozens by Black Contemporary Artists

  THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART (BMA) recently made a major acquisition announcement. The museum has received a promised gift of 90 works of art by nearly 70 artists from museum patrons Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff, alongside 175 purchases and gifts made during winter and spring 2021. Dozens of works by Black contemporary artists...
Latest News in Black Art: Guggenheim Hires Diversity Chief, Galerie Myrtis Presenting Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Kehinde Wiley Redesigns MTV Moon Person & More

Latest News in Black Art: Guggenheim Hires Diversity Chief, Galerie Myrtis Presenting Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Kehinde Wiley Redesigns MTV Moon Person & More

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture     Kehinde Wiley reimagined MTV’s iconic Moon Person. He is the third artist to create a special edition of the symbol, which has served as the network’s VMA Trophy since 1984. A large-scale version inspired...
Black Female Artists Who Got Their Start in 1960s and 70s are Focus of Two Group Exhibitions in New York

Black Female Artists Who Got Their Start in 1960s and 70s are Focus of Two Group Exhibitions in New York

  ACTIVE IN THE 1960S AND 70S, Black women artists had to deal with politics, even if their work wasn’t overtly political. Some of the most prominent figures from the time, including Vivian Browne, Emma Amos, Camille Billops, Suzanne Jackson, Senga Nengudi, and Betye Saar, rallied with their peers, taking stands and speaking up for...
Industrious: Theaster Gates is Selling the Contents of a Now Closed Chicago Hardware Store in an Art Gallery

Industrious: Theaster Gates is Selling the Contents of a Now Closed Chicago Hardware Store in an Art Gallery

“Theaster Gates: How to Sell Hardware” at Gray Warehouse, Chicago   THE COLLECTING PRACTICE of Theaster Gates is about preserving archives and memorializing social history, cultural history, and changing urban landscapes. His artistic practice imagines new ways to activate, share, present, and reinvent the archives, as he does with his latest exhibition “Theaster Gates: How...
On Occasion of New Exhibition 'Alma Thomas: Everything is Beautiful,' Curators and Scholars Reflect on Lesser-Known Aspects of Artist's Life and Work

On Occasion of New Exhibition ‘Alma Thomas: Everything is Beautiful,’ Curators and Scholars Reflect on Lesser-Known Aspects of Artist’s Life and Work

“Alma W. Thomas: Everything is Beautiful,” Chrysler Museum of Art   A NEW FOUR-CITY traveling exhibition offers an expansive look at the life and work of Alma Thomas (1891-1978). A pioneer in post-World War II abstraction, Thomas is arguably the earliest example of a highly regarded African American female artist working in abstraction. Best known...
Latest News in Black Art: Tau Lewis Joins Stephen Friedman Gallery, Christopher Blay Named Chief Curator at Houston African American Museum, Housing Gallery Receives Armory Show's Gramercy International Prize

Latest News in Black Art: Tau Lewis Joins Stephen Friedman Gallery, Christopher Blay Named Chief Curator at Houston African American Museum, Housing Gallery Receives Armory Show’s Gramercy International Prize

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Tau Lewis in her Brooklyn, N.Y., studio. | Photo by Flo Ngala, Courtesy National Gallery of Canada   Representation Jamaican-Canadian artist Tau Lewis is now represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery in London. Lewis makes hand-stitched,...
Art Institute of Chicago Appoints Grace Deveney Associate Curator of Photography and Media

Art Institute of Chicago Appoints Grace Deveney Associate Curator of Photography and Media

  LAST WEEK, Grace Deveney joined the Art Institute of Chicago as the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Associate Curator of Photography and Media. She is currently associate curator of Prospect.5, the contemporary art triennial in New Orleans. Deveney will serve in both roles concurrently, until she completes her tenure at the triennial, which opens...
Isolde Brielmaier Named Deputy Director of New Museum in New York

Isolde Brielmaier Named Deputy Director of New Museum in New York

  THE NEW MUSEUM IN NEW YORK announced today that Isolde Brielmaier has been named deputy director. Brielmaier brings more than two decades of museum, academic, and private sector experience to the New Museum. She is currently serving as curator at large at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. Her new appointment...
Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco Will Host First Solo Museum Exhibitions of Amoako Boafo and Billie Zangewa This Fall

Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco Will Host First Solo Museum Exhibitions of Amoako Boafo and Billie Zangewa This Fall

  THE SEMINAL TEXT OF W.E.B. DU BOIS (1868-1963) inspired the title of a forthcoming solo exhibition of Amoako Boafo. The Ghanaian-born painter grew up in Osu, where Du Bois, the author of “The Souls of Black Folk” is buried. “Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks” will be on view this fall at the Museum...
On View: 'Beautiful Disruption,' Photographer Nadine Ijewere's First-Ever Solo Exhibition at C/O Berlin

On View: ‘Beautiful Disruption,’ Photographer Nadine Ijewere’s First-Ever Solo Exhibition at C/O Berlin

  On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   THE FRESH PERSPECTIVE and imaginative eye of Nadine Ijewere have produced beautiful and novel images, bringing international attention to the rising young photographer. Known for her striking fashion portraiture, Ijewere became the first Black woman to photograph a Vogue magazine cover when she shot the cover...
Latest News in Black Art: Elvira Dyangani Ose Named Director of Barcelona Museum, Kandis Williams Wins $100K Mohn Prize, Photography Curator Oluremi C. Onabanjo Joins MoMA & More

Latest News in Black Art: Elvira Dyangani Ose Named Director of Barcelona Museum, Kandis Williams Wins $100K Mohn Prize, Photography Curator Oluremi C. Onabanjo Joins MoMA & More

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   From left, Elvira Dyangani Ose will head the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona and Oluremi C. Onabanjo is joining the Museum of Modern Art in New York as associate curator of photography in October....
Ngaire Blankenberg Named Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art: 'My Main Priority is to Hire More BIPOC Staff in Positions of Power'

Ngaire Blankenberg Named Director of Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art: ‘My Main Priority is to Hire More BIPOC Staff in Positions of Power’

  IN WASHINGTON, D.C., the Smithsonian announced Ngaire Blankenberg has joined National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) as director. She started July 6. A consultant for museums and heritage sites around the world, Blankenberg has advised clients on some of the most challenging matters cultural institutions are currently navigating—how to address diversity issues, approach decolonization...
On View: 'Wardell Milan: Amerika. God Bless You If It's Good To You' at Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York

On View: ‘Wardell Milan: Amerika. God Bless You If It’s Good To You’ at Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York

“The Timmerman’s Kitchen, New Canaan, CT” (2020) by Wardell Milan   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   THE FIRST MAJOR solo museum exhibition of Harlem-based Wardell Milan confronts the hate entrenched in American society. Milan presents new works on paper that explore the daily lives of white supremacists alongside a chapel-inspired “safe space.”...
Faith Ringgold, 90, Talked to CBS About Her Art, Activism, and Perseverance: 'Anyone Can Fly, All You've Got to Do is Try'

Faith Ringgold, 90, Talked to CBS About Her Art, Activism, and Perseverance: ‘Anyone Can Fly, All You’ve Got to Do is Try’

  FOR DECADES, Faith Ringgold fought to be seen and heard and for representation of Black artists and women artists in New York City museums, all the while following her own creative path. Her activism has opened doors for many, including the artist herself. On the occasion of a major survey of her work at...
Latest News in Black Art: Thomas J. Price Joins Hauser & Wirth, Inaugural Recipients of $50K Latinx Artist Fellowship, New Monument to Ida B. Wells by Richard Hunt

Latest News in Black Art: Thomas J. Price Joins Hauser & Wirth, Inaugural Recipients of $50K Latinx Artist Fellowship, New Monument to Ida B. Wells by Richard Hunt

  Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture   Thomas J. Price’s sculptures depict contemporary, composite figures. The artist is a key voice in the conversation around Britain’s public sculptures, representation, perception, problematic histories, and the language of monumentalism. | Photo Courtesy Thomas J....