Uprising of the Sun: Multi-Story Window Painted by Julie Mehretu Will Greet Visitors at Forthcoming Obama Presidential Center
Rendering of “Uprising of the Sun” by Julie Mehretu – Women’s Garden View, Obama Presidential Center Museum Building. | Photo: Lamar Johnson Collaborative and Julie Mehretu Studio WHEN THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER opens in 2026, visitors will be greeted by the work of Julie Mehretu. Working with glass for the first time, the renowned...
Arthur Jafa: ‘I Think Being Black in a White Supremacist Environment is Fascinating, Often Fun, Generally Harrowing’
ARTHUR JAFA, “Mickey Mouse was a Scorpio,” 2017 (chromogenic print mounted on aluminum, 52 × 83 inches / 132.1 × 210.8 cm). | Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift of Marilyn and Larry Fields, 2023.61. Photo by Fredrik Nilsen A PROLIFERATION OF CELEBRATED Black contemporary artists focuses on figuration and portraiture and explores...
Brendan Fernandes is Now Co-Represented by Galleries in New York and Chicago, Artist Works at Intersection of Dance and Visual Art
BRENDAN FERNANDES, “As One X,” 2017 (digital print, 14 x 20 inches), Edition of 3 plus 2 A.P. (BF0010). | © Brendan Fernandes. Courtesy Susan Inglett Gallery, NY, and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION of dance and visual art, Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979) has developed a singular practice. “For me, dance...
White Cube Gallery Announced Its Global Representation of Sculptor Richard Hunt, a ‘Giant Hiding in Plain Sight for Decades’
RENOWNED SCULPTOR Richard Hunt, is now represented worldwide by London-based White Cube. Hunt produces abstract, organic forms that often suggest the figure and speak to African American history and culture. Working with steel, aluminum, copper, and bronze, he describes the forms as “volumetric.” In December, White Cube will present Hunt’s sculpture, “Years of Pilgrimage” (1999),...
Theaster Gates Will Receive 2023 Vincent Scully Prize From National Building Museum, Honor Celebrates Excellence in Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Urban Design
Theaster Gates is his Chicago studio, Sept. 29, 2020. | Photo by Lyndon French, Courtesy of Theaster Gates The National Building Museum is honoring Theaster Gates and hosting a conversation with the artist on Nov. 3 AN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED potter, sculptor, performance artist, and social innovator, Theaster Gates has developed an ambitious archiving...
Smithsonian’s African American Museum Acquired Ebony Magazine Test Kitchen, Adding Important Element of Black Culinary History to Collection
Installation view of the Ebony Test Kitchen, “African/American Making the Nation’s Table” exhibition, The Museum of Food and Drink in New York, N.Y., 2022. | © Museum of Food and Drink THE SMITHSONIAN’S VAST COLLECTION of art and cultural objects includes two famous kitchens. In 2001, the National Museum of American History acquired Julia...
Latest News in Black Art: New Name for DuSable Museum, Public Art Works by Basil Watson, Thomas J. Price and Charles Gaines, Plus Plans for African American Dictionary
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Thomas J. Price’s bronze sculpture “Warm Shores” (2022) was unveiled on Windrush Day. | Photo by Damian Griffiths Public Art On Windrush Day (June 22), the legacy of Afro-Caribbeans who emigrated to the UK after...
On View: See Images From ‘Greg Breda: Still’ at Patron Gallery in Chicago, Exhibition Pays Tribute to Sidney Poitier and Resilient Characters in Black Cinema
“Feeling Free” (2021) by Greg Breda On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions PAINTING ON VELLUM, Greg Breda creates portraits defined by mesmerizing brushstrokes and the contemplative expressions of his subjects. For his second solo exhibition at Patron Gallery in Chicago, Ill. Breda presents seven new paintings focusing on resilient characters and memorable...
Industrious: Theaster Gates is Selling the Contents of a Now Closed Chicago Hardware Store in an Art Gallery
“Theaster Gates: How to Sell Hardware” at Gray Warehouse, Chicago THE COLLECTING PRACTICE of Theaster Gates is about preserving archives and memorializing social history, cultural history, and changing urban landscapes. His artistic practice imagines new ways to activate, share, present, and reinvent the archives, as he does with his latest exhibition “Theaster Gates: How...
On View: ‘Chase Hall: Half Note’ at Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THE TITLE of Chase Hall‘s new solo exhibition, “Half Note,” references both the improvisation of jazz and biracial identity. He explores both in a new series of portraits on view at Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago. One of the paintings is named for a famous impromptu...
Chicago Painter is Central Character in New ‘Candyman’ Horror Film From Jordan Peele and Director Nia DaCosta
“Candyman” stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who also had roles in HBO’s “Watchmen” and Jordan Peele’s “Us.” A NEW HORROR FILM from Jordan Peele weaves the contemporary art world and Chicago gentrification with an urban legend about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand. According to the legend, if you say Candyman five...
Mariane Ibrahim is Opening Her New Chicago Gallery in September with a Solo Exhibition Dedicated to Ayana V. Jackson
AFTER SEVEN YEARS in Seattle, Mariane Ibrahim has moved her eponymous gallery to Chicago. The new gallery opens next month with an inaugural exhibition dedicated to Ayana V. Jackson, an American artist whose photography examines the construction of identity. Titled “Take Me to the Water,” the presentation will feature a new series of large-scale...
On View: ‘Show Me Yours’ with Brittney Leeanne Williams, Jake Troyli, and Bianca Nemelc at Monique Meloche in Chicago
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THE UNIFYING THEME of “Show Me Yours” is not readily apparent, until you look closely. The exhibition features paintings by three emerging artists—Brittney Leeanne Williams, Jake Troyli, and Bianca Nemelc—each offering a unique interpretation of the nude form through the lens of identity. Rendered in electric pink,...
City of Chicago Pulls Kerry James Marshall Painting From Christie’s Auction After Public Outcry and Artist’s Objection to Sale
“Knowledge and Wonder” (1995) by Kerry James Marshall. CHRISTIE’S WON’T BE SELLING “Knowledge and Wonder” by Kerry James Marshall after all. The 1995 site-specific mural was commissioned by the City of Chicago for the Legler Branch Library, where it was on display for more than two decades. On Oct. 1, the auction house announced...
Priced to Set New Artist Record, ‘Past Times’ by Kerry James Marshall is Consigned to Sotheby’s by Chicago Convention Center
KERRY JAMES MARSHALL, “Past Times,” 1997 (acrylic and collage on unstretched canvas). | Estimate $8 million-$12 million. Sold for $21.1 million including fees ($18.5 million hammer price). RECORD MARQUIS WORKS BY AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS are increasingly showing up at major auction houses. The latest is “Past Times” by Kerry James Marshall, which is being...
Kerry James Marshall Mural is Monumental Tribute to Women Who Have Shaped Chicago’s Cultural Arts Scene
BEFORE: His largest work to day, Kerry James Marshall’s mural is being installed at the Chicago Cultural Center in Garland Court. | Courtesy City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) GENERATIONS OF WOMEN have made groundbreaking contributions to Chicago’s arts and culture scene. A new mural by painter Kerry James...
Culture Talk: Duke Professor Richard J. Powell on Archibald Motley
THE NASHER MUSEUM OF ART at Duke University is infused with Chicago jazz and Paris blues. Since January 19, the museum has been exhibiting 45 paintings by Chicago artist Archibald J. Motley Jr. (1891-1981). “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist” presents a rare opportunity to experience the work of one of the 20th century’s most...
