James Baldwin in “I Am Not Your Negro.” | Photo by Dan Budnick THERE IS TRUE ARTISTRY in “I Am Not Your Negro.” Inspired by the writings and profound insights of James Baldwin (1924-1987), Raoul Peck’s seminal film manages to synthesize more than 50 years of America’s woeful racism and dogged inhumanity into 93...
HOW DID THE 20TH CENTURY’S most important African American artists discover their crafts? These beautifully illustrated books reveal how each got their start. For Jacob Lawrence, it was his childhood in Harlem where the hustle and colors of the neighborhood inspired his interest in art. His compelling story and those of Benny Andrews, Romare...
MONUMENTAL INSTALLATIONS composed of black scaffolding have been the star attraction at Rashid Johnson‘s recent exhibitions. Last fall, “Fly Away” at Hauser & Wirth in New York featured “Antoine’s Organ,” the artist’s largest architectural grid work ever shown in the United States. Overflowing with plants, and filled with lights, video screens, shea butter and...
SAM MIDDLETON, “Jazz is Free As a Bird,” 1972 (mixed media oil and collage on board). | Courtesy GP Contemporary LAST FALL, LEAFING THROUGH the catalog for the Oct. 6, 2016, African-American Fine Art sale at Swann Auction Galleries, an abstract painting by Sam Middleton (1927-2015) stood out. Titled “Jazz Is Free As A...
Embed from Getty Images INNOVATIVE AND RELEVANT PROGRAMMING has become a signature of the California African American Museum (CAAM) over the past year. Recent presentations have included “Hank Willis Thomas: Black Righteous Space”; “Genevieve Gaignard: Smell the Roses,” the first museum exhibition of the emerging artist; and a group exhibition featuring four contemporary African...
Julie Mehretu, “Looking Back to a Bright New Future” (2003). EARLY NEXT MONTH, major auction houses in New York and London are holding post-war and contemporary art sales. In anticipation of the first significant offerings of the year, Culture Type is assessing the state of art by Black artists. In recent years, a cluster...
Embed from Getty Images LONDON’S ART FUND announced the appointment of artist Isaac Julien to its board of trustees for a five year term. Art Fund is a national fundraising charity that encourages exposure and access to art in public collections throughout the UK by supporting museum and gallery acquisitions, exhibitions, special curatorial projects,...
A NUMBER OF EXHIBITION FIRSTS coincide with Black History Month this year. “Royal Flush,” Nina Chanel Abney’s first solo museum show opens Feb. 16 at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. In February, South African artist Nicholas Hlobo is presenting his first exhibition in Sweden. Major works by British artists Yinka Shonibare...
KARA WALKER, “40 Acres of Mules,” 2015 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S collection boasts dozens of new additions by African American artists. Over the past two years the museum has acquired paintings by Mark Bradford, Kerry James Marshall, Chris Ofili, and Faith Ringgold; drawings by Palmer Hayden, Adrian Piper, and Kara Walker; sculptures by...
Los Angeles-based independent curator Erin Christovale specializes in film programming. | Photo by Jamie Costa, Courtesy Hammer Museum EVERY OTHER YEAR, Los Angeles comes alive with coordinated exhibition programming showcasing the city’s most promising artists and innovative practices. Made in L.A. is the citywide biennial presented by the Hammer Museum. The fourth edition will...
PALMER HAYDEN, “Untitled (Dreamer),” circa 1930 IN DECEMBER, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) acquired “Three Folk Musicians” (1967), a major work by Romare Bearden. When the purchase was announced, VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said the collage painting “bolsters our effort to represent a diverse range of cultures in our galleries and allows...
Embed from Getty Images THE J. PAUL GETTY TRUST announced today the addition of influential art collector Pamela J. Joyner to its board of trustees. A financial industry veteran, Joyner is the founder of Avid Partners, LLC. Currently, she has turned her focus to philanthropy and an increasingly pivotal role in the arts. Joyner’s...
STANDING PROUD AND UNITED, a multi-generational African American family is featured on the February 2017 cover of Ebony magazine. They stand before a brick home on an expanse of land with a city skyline visible in the background. The image illustrates a special package featuring 10 thought leaders weighing in on how black communities...
London-based Elvira Dyangani Ose is joining Creative Time. | Photo by Hendrik Zeitler, Courtesy Creative Time CREATIVE TIME, THE PUBLIC ARTS ORGANIZATION that commissioned Kara Walker’s monumental, sugar-coated sphinx/mammy sculpture in Brooklyn and Nick Cave’s choreographed parade of colorful “horses” through Grand Central Station, announced two appointments today—a new hire and a promotion. Elvira...
“We the People” at Barnes Foundation, 2016 SIX YEARS AGO, artist Nari Ward created a textile installation composed of nearly 1,000 shoe laces spelling out “We the People.” The work of art is particularly relevant today. The divisive political climate in the United States has awakened Americans anew to the values of democracy, importance...
EMERGING FROM HER SUCCESSFUL THESIS SHOW with the sole painting she presented selling to prominent Miami collectors, Nina Chanel Abney (b. 1982) has never looked back since earning her MFA from Parsons in New York. The aforementioned painting, “Class of 2007,” helped her secure gallery representation and appeared in “30 Americans,” the traveling group...
FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, “Three Folk Musicians” (1967) by Romare Bearden (1911-1988) has appeared in major exhibitions of the artist’s work hosted by the nation’s top-tier museums. One of his most renowned and recognizable individual works, the 1967 collage painting was presented in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1971 exhibition “Romare Bearden: The Prevalence...
Chicago-based McArthur Binion is among the artists invited to participate in the 57th Venice Biennial. HOW TIME FLIES. It certainly doesn’t seem like two years has elapsed since Nigerian-born Okwui Enwezor’s historic turn as artistic director of the 2015 Venice Biennale and “All the World’s Futures” featured more than 35 black artists, including Glenn...
SYMBOLIZING THE BLACK BODY, Simone Leigh‘s black ceramic busts embellished with textured glaze or countless tiny roses are a sight to see. Imagine a monumental version of one of her sculptures installed on the High Line, rising so high it is visible from the street below. It’s a possibility that might materialize next year....
Installation view, 1:54 New York 2016 © Katrina Sorrentino WHAT BEGAN AS A POP-UP is turning into an annual event. After its debut in 2015, and return in 2016, the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair is staging its third edition in New York. This year, the fair is May 5-7 at Pioneer Works in...
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
