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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

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...
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All in the Family: Aaron Fowler's Elaborate Assemblage Works are Highly Personal

All in the Family: Aaron Fowler’s Elaborate Assemblage Works are Highly Personal

“You Deserve It Mama!!” (2017) by Aaron Fowler.   ABOUT 20 IRONING BOARDS, a broom, family photographs, LED rope lights, a stuffed donkey, a stuffed dog sans the stuffing, and a tall pane of glass are among the myriad objects Aaron Fowler incorporated into a massive assemblage work called “You Deserve It Mama!!” The artist...
Maren Hassinger is Now Represented by Susan Inglett Gallery

Maren Hassinger is Now Represented by Susan Inglett Gallery

  SUSAN INGLETT GALLERY announced its representation of Maren Hassinger today. The news comes the week after the artist’s exhibition, “Maren Hassinger: As One,” concluded at the gallery. The show featured recent works examining issues of equality. “Love” was made with hundreds of pink plastic bags, inflated with “breath” and containing love notes. Another work,...
British Artist Steve McQueen's Latest Film is a Heist Thriller Starring Viola Davis

British Artist Steve McQueen’s Latest Film is a Heist Thriller Starring Viola Davis

Viola Davis leads an ensemble cast in Steve McQueen’s latest film “Widows.” | Screenshot from Trailer   A DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, screenwriter, and video artist, Steve McQueen has a dual career making movies for museums and movies for the cineplex. In the art world, recent video installations have included “End Credits,” an homage to Paul Robeson,...
Artistic Director Okwui Enwezor Steps Down From Haus der Kunst Museum Due to Health Reasons

Artistic Director Okwui Enwezor Steps Down From Haus der Kunst Museum Due to Health Reasons

Okwui Enwezor served as artistic director of the 56th Venice Biennale (2015).   His global perspective and influence have played a significant role in transforming the contemporary art world   INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED curator and critic Okwui Enwezor announced on Monday that he is leaving the Haus der Kunst due to health reasons. He had been...
At Sotheby's, New Painting by Lorna Simpson Sets Artist's First Six-Figure Record

At Sotheby’s, New Painting by Lorna Simpson Sets Artist’s First Six-Figure Record

Lorna Simpson in her studio with “Day for Night” (2018) panels before they are painted.   AN ARCHIVAL IMAGE of a woman standing precariously on the window ledge of a brick building inspired “Day for Night” (2018), a four-panel painting by Lorna Simpson. The new work sold for $375,000 including fees at Sotheby’s New York...
Charles White Retrospective Opens Next Week at the Art Institute of Chicago, Where the Artist Regularly Wandered as a Child

Charles White Retrospective Opens Next Week at the Art Institute of Chicago, Where the Artist Regularly Wandered as a Child

Charles White: A Retrospective. | Video by Art Institute of Chicago   NEXT WEEK, THE LONG-AWAITED Charles White (1918-1979) retrospective opens at the Art Institute of Chicago. An artist, activist, and educator, Chicago-born White was a master draftsmen known for his powerful, realist images of African Americans. Featuring more than 80 paintings, drawings, and prints,...
Fresh From Art School, Illustrator Loveis Wise Lands New Yorker Cover

Fresh From Art School, Illustrator Loveis Wise Lands New Yorker Cover

The cover for the New Yorker’s new fiction issue is illustrated by Loveis Wise.   THE LATEST EDITION of The New Yorker features a black mother and child on the cover. The image by Loveis Wise illustrates the magazine’s new Fiction Issue, a double issue dated June 4 and June 11. Wise, who graduated from...
Cuban-Born Artist Ricardo Brey is Now Represented by Alexander Gray Associates, First Solo Show in New York Slated for 2019

Cuban-Born Artist Ricardo Brey is Now Represented by Alexander Gray Associates, First Solo Show in New York Slated for 2019

Born in Havana, Cuba, Ricardo Brey lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. | Courtesy Alexander Grey Associates   MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST Ricardo Brey has joined Alexander Gray Associates in New York. Brey’s research-oriented practice explores the roots of who we are—the origins of humanity, the intersection of nature and culture, and how we understand our place...
The Week in African American Art: 7 Board Resignations at Chicago's DuSable Museum, Naima Keith is Co-Organizing Prospect.5 in New Orleans, VMFA Acquisitions & More

The Week in African American Art: 7 Board Resignations at Chicago’s DuSable Museum, Naima Keith is Co-Organizing Prospect.5 in New Orleans, VMFA Acquisitions & More

NEWS | Seven members have resigned from the DuSable Museum of African American History board of trustees in Chicago. The departures include the chair and two vice chairs.   The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture:   NEWS Seven...
Studio Museum in Harlem Sale Raises $20.2 Million at Sotheby's, Yields 24 Artist Records

Studio Museum in Harlem Sale Raises $20.2 Million at Sotheby’s, Yields 24 Artist Records

WATCH The sale of Mark Bradford’s “Speak, Birdman” (2018) to benefit the Studio Museum in Harlem’s new building fund. Bids started at $1.6 million and quickly climbed to $5.8 million, the hammer price, which amounted to $6,776,200 with fees. | Video by Sotheby’s   FIFTY YEARS AFTER AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS played a prominent role in...
Njideka Akunyili Crosby Sets New Auction Record with Non-Figurative Painting, Proceeds Benefit Studio Museum in Harlem

Njideka Akunyili Crosby Sets New Auction Record with Non-Figurative Painting, Proceeds Benefit Studio Museum in Harlem

“Bush Babies” (2017) by Njideka Akunyili Crosby.   THE AUCTION PRICE FOR A PAINTING by Njideka Akunyili Crosby climbed a bit higher last week. “Bush Babies” by the Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based artist sold for nearly $3.4 million including fees at Sotheby’s New York, a new artist record. Her previous high was just north of $3...
Two 1970s-Era Portraits by Barkley L. Hendricks Top $2 Million at Sotheby's, Shattering the Artist's Previous Record

Two 1970s-Era Portraits by Barkley L. Hendricks Top $2 Million at Sotheby’s, Shattering the Artist’s Previous Record

  A STRIKING PORTRAIT of a statuesque woman named Brenda P set a new auction record for Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) on Wednesday at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York. The 1974 painting sold for $2.1 million including fees, which was twice the high estimate and shattered the artist’s previous high, which was...
Kerry James Marshall's 'Past Times' Soars to Record-Setting $21.1 Million at Sotheby's, Artist Assumes Mantle as Most Expensive Living African American Artist

Kerry James Marshall’s ‘Past Times’ Soars to Record-Setting $21.1 Million at Sotheby’s, Artist Assumes Mantle as Most Expensive Living African American Artist

  A GRAND-SCALE PAINTING by Kerry James Marshall had bidders battling last night. Marshall’s “Past Times” (1997) soared beyond the high estimate and sold for $18.5 million ($21.1 million, including fees). The high bid came by phone, setting an artist record. The painting was featured in Sotheby’s May 16 Contemporary Art Evening Auction and carried...
Corcoran Collection Art Goes to Howard University, and Smithsonian African American and Anacostia Museums

Corcoran Collection Art Goes to Howard University, and Smithsonian African American and Anacostia Museums

Sam Gilliam’s 1969 painting, “Light Depth” will be added to the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. | Courtesy Corcoran Collection   THE REMAINING ART from the Corcoran Gallery of Art has been distributed. More than 10,750 works were given away. Nearly all of it went to 22 institutions in Washington, D.C. The...
Creating Space: Here's the List of 42 Artists Whose Works Are For Sale at Sotheby's to Benefit the Studio Museum in Harlem

Creating Space: Here’s the List of 42 Artists Whose Works Are For Sale at Sotheby’s to Benefit the Studio Museum in Harlem

Lot 3: LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE, “An Assistance of Amber,” 2017 (oil on linen). | Estimate $100,000-$150,000. Sold for $555,000 including fees   THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM and Sotheby’s are collaborating on a major sale of works by some of the most prominent and critically recognized artists of African descent working today. Artists including Mark Bradford,...
Coming Soon: Denver Art Museum is Presenting Jordan Casteel's First Major Museum Exhibition in 2019

Coming Soon: Denver Art Museum is Presenting Jordan Casteel’s First Major Museum Exhibition in 2019

  “Benyam” (2018) by Jordan Casteel   DENVER-BORN Jordan Casteel‘s hometown museum is hosting her first major museum show. “Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze,” an exhibition of nearly 30 paintings, opens at the Denver Art Museum (DAM) in February 2019. Recognized for her large-scale painted portraits of black men, Casteel lives and works in Harlem,...
In a New Documentary, 4 Los Angeles Area Artists Explore the Creative and Practical Implications of Motherhood

In a New Documentary, 4 Los Angeles Area Artists Explore the Creative and Practical Implications of Motherhood

Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle is among the artists profiled in the documentary “Artist and Mother.” | Video by KCET   DOES MOTHERHOOD ALTER an artist’s practice or change her work and approach to creativity? It’s a question rarely discussed publicly that a new documentary takes on and addresses directly. “You have very significant successful artists and...
The Week in African American Art: Designer Gail Anderson Recognized by Cooper Hewitt, Artist Kapwani Kiwanga Presents Frieze Commission & More

The Week in African American Art: Designer Gail Anderson Recognized by Cooper Hewitt, Artist Kapwani Kiwanga Presents Frieze Commission & More

Gail Anderson of New York received the Cooper Hewitt Design Award for Lifetime Achievement. | Photo by Declan Van Welie; Paris-based Kapwani Kiwanga won the first Frieze Artist Award in New York. | Photo by Bertille-Chérot   The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African...
Archibald Motley's Favorite Painting, a Portrait of His Grandmother, Has Entered the Collection of the National Gallery of Art

Archibald Motley’s Favorite Painting, a Portrait of His Grandmother, Has Entered the Collection of the National Gallery of Art

  A SELECTION OF PAINTINGS OF WOMEN IN WHITE is displayed in the American Galleries in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Portraits by artists including Gilbert Stuart, Cecilia Beaux, Whistler, George Bellows, Winslow Homer, and John Singer Sargent are among the group. Stuart’s rendering of Catherine Brass Yates...
A New Documentary About André Leon Talley Traces His Southern Roots and Unimaginable Rise in High Fashion

A New Documentary About André Leon Talley Traces His Southern Roots and Unimaginable Rise in High Fashion

  A WISE AND SEASONED arbiter of style, André Leon Talley has been cutting a fabulous figure in the fashion world for more than 40 years. Before he became a fixture at Vogue, he worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory, volunteered with Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and did stints at...