THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART in Norfolk, Va., announced the appointment of Kimberli Gant as curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. She joins a succession of young black women who have accepted prestigious curatorial appointments at important institutions across the country this year. “With her bold vision, international perspective, scholarship, and verve, Kimberli Gant will...
Clockwise, from left, Deana Lawson, Pope.L, Lyle Ashton Harris, Maya Stovall, and Cauleen Smith (center). THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART announced 63 individual artists and collectives participating in the museum’s 2017 biennial. Largely informed by the contentious political climate and the socioeconomic issues dividing Americans, the exhibition will explore themes including “formation of...
For Freedoms: NARI WARD, “Mass Action,” 2016 (shoelaces). | ©Nari Ward. Courtesy the Artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong ONE WEEK AGO TODAY, AMERICA WOKE UP to a new president-elect. The largely unexpected result has struck fear, anger, disappointment, and disbelief, in a majority of the voting populace. Americans are dismayed...
CURATOR, SCHOLAR, AND WRITER Isolde Brielmaier is joining the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College as curator-at-large. The Tang is expanding its curatorial team in order to advance its 21st century approach to presenting innovative contemporary art exhibitions and programming. In announcing the appointment, which begins this month, the...
THE FINAL DAYS OF THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION are playing out in a handful of states, battlegrounds with key electoral votes likely to determine the outcome of a hard fought, stranger-than-fiction race for the White House. There are 538 electoral votes up for grabs and 270 are needed to win. The campaigns of Hillary...
CHARLES “TEENIE” HARRIS, Linda Starkey handing bouquet to Shirley Chisholm, surrounded by Delta Sigma Theta sorority members, including Christine Jones Fulwiley on left, Vivian Mason Lane, and Marcia Davis, in Loendi Club, March 5, 1972 (black and white: Kodak Safety Film). | Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz Family Fund FOR GENERATIONS, AFRICAN AMERICANS in...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, Theaster Gates announced a groundbreaking apprenticeship program to provide training for local residents through his Rebuild Foundation in Chicago; Rodney McMillian received an important...
NINA CHANEL ABNEY, “Class of 2007,” 2007 (acrylic on canvas). ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING PAINTINGS in the exhibition “30 Americans” is by Nina Chanel Abney. It’s a compelling work, depicting her MFA class at Parsons School of Design in New York. The artist envisions herself as a bespectacled, gun-toting blonde; Her classmates don...
Kemang Wa Lehulere’s first American museum exhibition, “In My Wildest Dreams” at the Art Institute of Chicago, is on view through Jan. 16, 2017. | Video by Art Institute of Chicago LIKE COUNTLESS OTHER NATIONS, South Africa has an uneven history. Unlike its African neighbors, its recent past has garnered sustained international attention—from apartheid-era...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, the Studio Museum in Harlem announced the recipient of its annual Joyce Alexander Wein prize; and art news outlets published lists of the most...
THE LOS ANGELES-BASED ARTIST Betye Saar is known for her assemblage works, mixed-media objects that explore race, history, death and rebirth through found objects. Indeed, Saar herself is enjoying a bit of a renaissance. After serving as a resident faculty member in 1985, Saar returned to Skowhegan in 2014 as a visiting artist. Further,...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, Mark Bradford designed a museum logo; Sanford Biggers joined a new gallery; and Ralph Lemon was recognized with a dance award. New exhibitions opened...
BOOK REPORT CHARTS recently published art books. The four titles featured here explore the work of African African contemporary artists Whitfield Lovell, Rashid Johnson, and Shinique Smith through recent and current exhibitions. “Whitfield Lovell: Kin,” with contributions by Sarah Lewis, Julie L McGee, Klaus Ottmann and Elsa Smithgall, and an introduction by Irving Sandler...
A FEW MONTHS AGO, Kerry James Marshall gave First Lady Michelle Obama a tour of “Mastry,” his career-spanning exhibition at MCA Chicago. Now both Marshall and Obama are among “The Greats,” seven people who are redefining our culture, according to the New York Times. Marshall is certainly making his mark on American culture and...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, highlights include news that women artists will gather in Brooklyn for a historic group photo; the grand re-opening of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora...
Kerry James Marshall’s retrospective, featuring “Untitled (Studio), opens at The Met Breuer Oct. 25. THE VISIONARY AND IMAGINATIVE PAINTINGS of Kerry James Marshall are coming to New York. Presenting 35 years of painting, “Mastry” is the largest retrospective of the artist’s work to date. After debuting at MCA Chicago in April, the exhibition opens...
WADSWORTH JARRELL’s 1973 “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage)” achieved an artist’s record at Swann’s Oct. 6 sale of African American art. WHEN THE HAMMER CAME DOWN, a brief round of applause followed the sale of Wadsworth Jarrell‘s “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage).” The vibrant mixed-media painting sold for $78,000 ($97,500 including fees), more than...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, highlights include news from Frieze London and the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair; sales of African and African American art at auctions in New York,...
Kara Walker’s work is on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art; A massive Nick Cave installation open at MASS MoCA Oct. 15. BEYOND NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, AND CHICAGO, there are major U.S. museums and innovative art institutions presenting the work of world-renowned artists. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is one of...
THIS FALL, NEW EXHIBITIONS featuring work by and about black people are opening in a political season like no other. Social justice issues are at the fore and change is afoot as the presidential election nears. The climate is reflected in the subjects African American artists are addressing in their work and is also paralleled...
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
