FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION in Milan, Theaster Gates presented “True Value” (July 7-Sept. 25, 2016) which centered around the inventory of a shuttered Chicago hardware store. Installed in an art context, he reimagined the abandoned tools and supplies as a monumental visual display. An artist who trained as a potter, Gates has become more...
THE ARMORY SHOW NAMED CURATORS for its Focus and Platform sections today and also announced a new curatorial leadership summit for its 2018 fair. Bringing together an international roster of prominent curators, the daylong summit is designed to foster “new ideas and developments within the curatorial landscape.” Naomi Beckwith, curator at the Museum of...
THE SUGAR HILL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM of Art and Storytelling is promoting from within. The Harlem museum whose primary audience is 3 to 8-year-olds, announced the appointment of Lauren Kelley (above) as director and chief curator. Kelley has been with the museum since 2013, when it was still in development. Previously serving as associate director...
FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION to the 2017 Whitney Biennial, Pope.L utilized processed lunch meat and found photography to raise issues of representation and the pitfalls of population counting and “baloney” that can be embedded in its “accuracy” and use. Always thought-provoking, the multidisciplinary artist’s clever approach has been duly recognized. The Whitney Museum of American...
THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (VMFA) named Valerie Cassel Oliver its new Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Recognized for her ability to connect with artists and identify promising emerging figures, Cassel Oliver is expected to invigorate the department, introducing an innovative exhibition program and a broad range...
THE OBAMA FOUNDATION in Chicago announced Louise Bernard will serve as the first director of the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center. Bernard, who has previously been associated with the New York Public Library, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, will...
Embed from Getty Images FASCINATION WITH THE LIFE AND WORK of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) has never really quelled since his death three decades ago. Over the past few years, a crush of exhibitions and catalogs, and soaring auctions sales have further shaped the legacy of Basquiat whose life was cut short by a drug...
Lot 2: DAVID HAMMONS, “African-American Flag,” 1990 (dyed cotton, edition of 5). | Estimate $700,000-$1,000,000. Sold for $2,050,000 (including fees) NEARLY THREE DECADES AGO, David Hammons hoisted his newly created red, black, and green “African-American Flag” (1990) above Museum Overholland. He was participating in “Black USA,” a group show organized by Christiaan Braun, director...
Sotheby’s New York Contemporary Art Day Auction, May 19, 2017 – Lot 416: HENRY TAYLOR, “Miss Kelley,” 2010 (acrylic on canvas). | Estimate $50,000-$70,000. Sold for $231,250 (including fees) THIS MONTH, FOUR PAINTINGS by Henry Taylor were auctioned at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York. As recognition of Taylor increases—his work is displayed prominently...
Lot 75: HENRY TAYLOR, “‘The Young, the Brave, Bobby Hutton’ R.I.P. Oakland, California,” 2007 (acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas). Estimate $35,000-$45,000. Sold for $235,500 (including fees) IN MARCH, TWO PAINTINGS by Henry Taylor set artist records at auction. A couple of weeks after Henry Taylor‘s 2011 painting “Terri Philips” sold for $182,078 (including...
Lot 24: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988), “Untitled,” 1982 (acrylic, spray paint and oilstick on canvas, 72 1/8 x 68 1/8 inches). | Bids began at $57 million. Sold for $110,487,500 (including fees) THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORK OF ART by an American artist ever sold at auction was painted by a black man. A large-scale canvas...
Barkley Hendricks (1945-2017). | Photo by Duke University, Courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery THE NASHER MUSEUM OF ART at Duke University is celebrating the life and work of Barley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) today. The extended museum and campus community, along with the family, friends, and fans of Hendricks are gathering at the museum to pay...
Lot 187: BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS, “Yocks,” 1975 (acrylic on canvas). | Estimate $300,000-$400,000. Sold for $942,500 (including fees) WEARING A GREEN LEATHER COAT with wide, white fur lapels, the “Boston-based brother” who appears in a triple portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) was among the subjects for which the artist “felt one pose was...
Installation view of Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair” at GWU Museum and The Textile Museum. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine MUSEUMS ARE BEING CELEBRATED around the world with an emphasis on the critical role the institutions play in civil society. On May 18, hundreds of museums are observing Art Museum...
Christie’s New York, May 17, 2017 – Lot 64B: NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, “I Refuse to be Invisible,” 2010 (ink, charcoal, acrylic and transfers on paper, 117 3/4 x 82 inches). | Estimate $1.5 million-$2 million. Sold for $2,647,500 (including fees) THIS EVENING, A MAJOR PAINTING by Njideka Akunyili Crosby is going on the auction...
Lot 112: ALVIN D. LOVING JR. (1935-2006), “Untitled,” 1968 (diptych of acrylic on shaped cotton canvas). | Estimate $80,000-$120,000. Sold for $130,000 / $161,000 (including fees). RECORD KNOWN FOR THEIR UNIQUE APPROACHES to abstraction, painters Alvin D. Loving Jr. (1935-2005) and Frank Bowling reached new benchmarks at Swann Auction Galleries last month. A geometric...
Lot 38: PHILLIP HAMPTON, “Untitled,” (mixed-media, watercolor and enamel on illustration board). | Estimate $2,000-$3,000. Sold for $2,000 including fees A SHORT MENTION in the May 22, 1952, edition of Jet magazine documents a historic first. The headline reads: “Missouri Art School Graduates First Negro MA.” The pathbreaker was Phillip J. Hampton (1922-2016), an...
Installation view, from left, MARK BRADFORD, “Leucosia,” 2016 (mixed media on canvas); “Medusa,” 2016 (acrylic, paint, paper, rope, caulk), and “Raidne,” 2017 (mixed media on canvas). OVER THE PAST YEAR, Mark Bradford has been ruminating. Chosen in April 2016 to represent the United States at the 57th Venice Biennale, the Los Angeles artist has...
MUST-SEE EXHIBITIONS featuring some of the most interesting black female artists working today are opening around the world this month. The first solo museum show of Los Angeles-based Martine Syms opens May 27 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the same city, an amazing show of new portrait paintings by British...
Works exploring trade and migration by SERGE ATTUKWEI CLOTTEY of Accra, Ghana, at Gallery 1957. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine THIS WEEK, A WIDE SELECTION of art fairs opened around New York. Catering to serious collectors and the art curious, the offerings include Art New York, Collective Design, Spring Break, and TEFAF at...
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
Culture Type: The Month in Black Art, Here’s What Happened in April 2025
Apr 11, 2025
