BORN IN PORTLAND, ORE., IN 1953, photographer Carrie Mae Weems has steadily built a critically acclaimed, internationally recognized practice. Weems uses photography and video to test and explore assumptions about race, gender, class and history. She is a trailblazer, who had few examples to turn to, model her career after or use as a...
CURRENTLY ON VIEW at the National Gallery of Art (NGA), “Into Bondage” by Aaron Douglas hangs in the rear of a three-room gallery dedicated to “masterworks” acquired from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Depicting a procession of Africans chained and walking toward a pair of distant slave ships, the painting is a landmark acquisition...
BROWSING EBAY, LOTS FEATURING Hale Woodruff, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence and Kara Walker appear. Better known for selling collectibles, resale designer clothing and used books and magazines, eBay is launching a live bidding product with several New York auction galleries today. An offering of African American Fine Art at Swann Galleries is the debut...
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, Kehinde Wiley has been painting regal portraits of men of color. First focusing on young African American men in Harlem, Wiley eventually expanded his oeuvre and launched his World Stage series featuring “urban” men in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. His contemporary subjects replicate poses...
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Afropunk portraits, Kara Walker, Rashaad Newsome and more Vogue Publishes Afropunk Hair Portraits by Awol Erizku Vogue.com dispatched Awol Erizku to the 10th annual Afropunk Festival in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn to document the fabulous, natural and architectural hairstyles...
EARLIER THIS WEEK, the Studio Museum in Harlem made two major announcements. The storied institution that describes itself as a nexus for artists of African descent has tapped Amanda Hunt (at right) to join its curatorial team. The Philadelphia native will serve as assistant curator, filling a coveted post left vacant when Thomas J. Lax...
JUXTAPOSITION CAN BE INCREDIBLY ILLUMINATING. Earlier this year, Kara Walker collaborated with Bernardaud and LizWorks to create a limited-edition porcelain pitcher and this week the New York Times asked J. Crew Creative Director Jenna Lyons and singer-songwriter Courtney Love what they thought about it. In a new feature called “Take Two: A Dual Review...