Chris Ofili’s ‘Holy Virgin Mary’ Make News Again, This Time Setting Auction Record
AT CHRISTIE’S LONDON, expectations were high for Chris Ofili‘s “The Holy Virgin Mary” and the results didn’t disappoint. The mixed-media painting sold for more than $4.5 million (including fees) at the Post-War and Contemporary Evening Auction last night, setting a record for the British-born Ofili. In a post-sale press release announcing the record, Christie’s called...
Recommended: Time on Chris Ofili, Wall St. Journal on Adam Pendleton, W on Hank Willis Thomas
RECOMMENDED FEATURES recently published content from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to explore: “Visionary Artist: Chris Ofili” by David Adjaye | Time Magazine This week, Time magazine published its annual list of The 100 Most Influential People and Chris Ofili made the list of artists who are at the...
11 Best Black Art Books of 2014
THE BEST EXHIBITION CATALOGS do more than document their gallery counterparts. They provide critical context, visual reference, an opportunity for innovative design that reflects the work, and a format in which the exhibition can live beyond its presentation dates. This year, there were a number of remarkable exhibitions featuring Black artists and the coinciding catalogs...
In New York for the Holidays? 17 Exhibitions for Your Agenda
NOTHING BEATS SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS in New York City and the best way to avoid the clutch of shoppers is to sneak away and take in some art. All around Manhattan, from the New Museum, where British-born Chris Ofili’s first solo exhibition at a major U.S. museum is on view, to the Metropolitan Museum of...
Assessing the Fall Contemporary Auctions in New York
ALL THAT STANDS BETWEEN YOU and owning works by some of the most highly regarded artists practicing today is the wave of a paddle. Major auction houses are staging their fall contemporary sales this week. Works by El Anatsui, Chris Ofili, Mickalene Thomas and Glenn Ligon are up for consideration. Bidding is underway already with...
Shelf Worthy: New Books on Black British Artists, Chris Ofili, Basquiat and More
A SELECTION OF SHELF-WORTHY, COFFEE TABLE-READY books and catalogs published recently that explore black art and artists “The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume V: The Twentieth Century, Part 2: The Rise of Black Artists” edited by David Bindman and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Belknap Press, 368 pages) Since 2010, Harvard University Press...
‘Afro Margins’ by Chris Ofili Featured on New ‘Art in America’ Cover
THE LATEST ISSUE OF ART IN AMERICA is covered with a series of vertically stacked afros. The image is a detail of “Afro Margins,” a 2007 pencil drawing by Trinidad-based artist Chris Ofili. The work is part of a series Ofili began in 2004 in London and continued when he moved to Trinidad in 2005...
The Week in Black Art | May 24-30, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Johnetta B. Cole, Andres Serrano, Chris Ofili, Kara Walker, Jacolby Satterwhite, Hank Willis Thomas and more ANDRES SERRANO is bringing the city’s homeless population to the attention of New Yorkers with a new photography project (video above). Using a large-format camera,...
The Week in Black Art | May 10-16, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Yams Collective, Thomas J. Lax, Christian Rosa and contemporary auction results Yams Collective Pulls Out of Whitney Biennial As the final days of the Whitney Biennial approach, a race-related kerfuffle has emerged. The Yams, (shown above) a collective of 38...
Bartlett’s Black Quotations: New Volume Features Insight from Artists
HAPPY 2014! WHAT BETTER WAY to plunge into the new year than to study the wise words of black artists past and present? After years of establishing itself as the chief purveyor of notable quotes and sayings, Bartlett’s recently published “Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations: 5,000 Years of Literature, Lyrics, Poems, Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs from Voices...
Black Artists Join Powerhouse Galleries
ART CRITIC JERRY SALTZ recently expressed his frustration with Gagosian, Pace, Hauser & Wirth and David Zwirner galleries in New York magazine, describing the four mega dealers as overwhelming behemoths causing much consternation in the art world. In the course of breaking down the situation, one of his most fascinating anecdotes involved artist Mark...
