WITH MUSEUMS CLOSED and galleries shuttered for months on end in 2020, a succession of new art books focused on Black artists provided much needed solace, insights, and deep dives into the practices of up-and-coming artists and historic figures. When exhibitions dedicated to Kamoinge Workshop, Tyler Mitchell, Jordan Casteel, and Yvette Yiadom-Boakye were temporarily...
A MAJOR TRAVELING SURVEY of David Driskell (1931-2020) opens at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in February 2021. “David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” will present an overview of Driskell’s illustrious career and celebrate highlights of his oeuvre, across painting, printmaking and collage. About 60 paintings and works on paper will...
Gesù Church in Brussels A DECONSECRATED CHURCH in Brussels, Belgium, served as the venue for a recent exhibition of religious paintings by Titus Kaphar. “The Evidence of Things Unseen” was presented by Maruani Mercier gallery at Gesù Church. Kaphar’s practice is a sustained interrogation of Western art. He challenges historic narratives and questions what...
“Nina Chanel Abney: The Great Escape” at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. A CAMPFIRE, BIKES, AND FRESHLY CAUGHT FISH have replaced the tumult and complexity of contemporary urban life that have animated Nina Chanel Abney‘s paintings in recent years. Her latest exhibition features rural scenes: farming, hunting, and kayaking. The graphic, boldly hued paintings...
REGULAR OPERATIONS AT MUSEUMS and cultural institutions were disrupted this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector faced (and continues to contend with) temporary closures, severe financial losses, widespread layoffs, and racial reckonings. Against this backdrop and despite these challenges, dozens of Black curators were appointed to a variety of new posts this...
THE SIX-DECADE CAREER of Sam Gilliam has been defined by a commitment to color and a penchant for invention, innovation, and charting his own path. In the mid-1960s, Gilliam developed two new formats for presenting his work. He began wrapping his canvases on top of frames, creating his signature Beveled-Edge paintings. Then he removed...
A RECORD BREAKER opened the Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale conducted by Sotheby’s New York last week. The first lot was a 1972 portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017). His subject in “Mr. Johnson (Sammy From Miami)” wears a football jersey and a red visor atop a vertically impressive afro. He’s holding...
PUBLISHED TO DOCUMENT her solo exhibition at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, “Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi” is the first major publication to explore the work of artist Deborah Roberts. It’s an exceptional volume and an award winner. “Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi” received a 2020 Mary Ellen...
AN ASSEMBLAGE WORK by Betye Saar set a new artist record at auction recently. “ABCD Education” (2001) sold for $81,900 at an online sale hosted by Sotheby’s. The result was nearly three times the high estimate ($20,000-$30,000) setting a new benchmark. Saar’s work can be read as a meditation on Black education that comments...
Painter Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, 2019. | Photo © Jo Metson Scott VICTORIA MIRO IN LONDON has added Kudzanai-Violet Hwami (b. 1993, Zimbabwe) to its roster. Hwami’s work explores themes of identity, displacement, the diaspora, and the Black body, often in the form of intimate nudes. Working with sourced images and family photographs, she makes figurative...
A DOUBLE PORTRAIT by Amy Sherald set an astronomic new auction record Dec. 7 at Phillips New York. “The Bathers” (2015) soared to $4,265,000 against a low-six figure estimate of $150,000-$200,000. The painting sold for about 20 times its high estimate with bidding ongoing for 15 minutes. “The Bathers” was the first lot in...
Installation view of “Ernie Barnes: Liberating Humanity From Within.” | Photo by Jeff McLane, Courtesy UTA Artist Space THEIR INITIAL SIT DOWN was highly productive, a real meeting of minds. Luz Rodriguez manages the estate of artist Ernie Barnes (1938-2009). Arthur Lewis is creative director of UTA Fine Arts & UTA Artist Space. Just...
FAITH RINGGOLD COLLABORATED with Vans and the Museum of Modern Art. The estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat partnered with Coach and Derrick Adams joined forces with a swimsuit brand. Considering an art-inspired gift? This year, highly acclaimed Black artists have made their work more accessible to wider audiences in the form of products such as...
FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION since joining Gagosian in April, Titus Kaphar is showing a series of new paintings. “Titus Kaphar: From a Tropical Space” is on view in New York. Kaphar has developed a practice around challenging art historical images from the 18th and 19th centuries and the American history narratives they normalize. He...
THE SERPENTINE in London has appointed Yesomi Umolu director of curatorial affairs and public practice. In the newly created position, Umolu will lead all of Serpentine’s curatorial, educational, and editorial programming. The news was announced Nov. 18. Founded in 1970, Serpentine is marking a half century of presenting contemporary art this year and is taking...
“Afro Abe II” (2010) by Sonya Clark THE SINGULAR PRACTICE of Sonya Clark will be showcased for the first time with a full-scale survey at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. A textile and social practice artist, Clark explores issues of race, identity, visibility, and Blackness, expressing herself...
“Women in Jazz Saturday” (2020) by Dindga McCannon EMPLOYING TRADITIONAL QUILTING TECHNIQUES in combination with paint, printed images, and beaded embellishments, mixed-media works by Dindga McCannon reference the March on Washington and Monet’s Garden and pay tribute to Maya Angelou, Faith Ringgold, Nelson Mandela, Mariam Makeba, women in jazz, and Lavinia Williams, a lead...
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOR HER FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION with Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, Caroline Kent is presenting a suite of large-scale paintings. Kent explores the intersection of language, abstraction, and painting. She begins by covering her canvases with black paint, creating a “non-space” of “unlocatability.” From there, the...
WORKS BY THREE BLACK ARTISTS, who are among the most critically recognized painters focused on figuration and Black subjects, were featured in Sotheby’s latest Contemporary Art Evening Auction, held on Oct. 28 in New York. The sale included 41 lots showcasing premium artworks by highly regarded artists. “Barbershop” by Jordan Casteel opened the auction....
FROM ST. LOUIS TO MIAMI and New York, five photography exhibitions are showcasing the work of Black image makers. John Edmonds, Awol Erizku, and a new generation of fast-rising photographers are exploring fashion, art history, and contemporary culture. On the documentary front, two photographers capture New York. Lyle Ashton Harris’s archival work tracks the...
Turner Prize 2025 Shortlist of Four British Artists Includes Nnena Kalu and Rene Matić
Apr 24, 2025
Diallo Simon-Ponte is Joining Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, as Inaugural Sam Gilliam Assistant Curator of Artist Programs
Apr 23, 2025
On View: ‘Alberta Whittle: Towards a Motherful Loving Praxis, We Cast Seeds Into the Darkness’ at Nicola Vassell Gallery in New York
Apr 19, 2025
Jack Shainman Gallery Now Represents the Estate of Faith Ringgold, ‘Artist Played Significant Role in Shaping Culture of American Art’
Apr 17, 2025
On View: ‘Robert Carter and Charles White in Dialogue’ Presents Moving Figurative Compositions at ACA Galleries in New York
Apr 12, 2025
