Seeing in Texas: From Dallas to Houston and San Antonio, Museums are Showcasing a Spectrum of African American Art
Detail of “Lonnie Holley: Coming From the Earth” at Dallas Contemporary FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION IN TEXAS, Lonnie Holley, 72, is presenting a new series of ceramic works at Dallas Contemporary. The Alabama artist’s creativity is informed by struggle and hardship and draws on his curiosity. Holley works in a variety of mediums but...
Latest News in Black Art: Roxane Gay Named Board President at Performance Space, Alexis Assam Joins Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as Assistant Curator, Emma Amos Catalog Wins Gold Medal & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Author and Art Collector Roxane Gay is the new board president at Performance Space New York. | Photo by Reggie Cunningham Appointments BESTSELLING AUTHOR and art collector Roxane Gay is the new president of...
Latest News in Black Art: Simone Leigh Departs Hauser & Wirth, CAAM Names Isabelle Lutterodt Deputy Director, Collectors Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys Grace Cover of Architectural Digest & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Simone Leigh photographed at Stratton Sculpture Studios, 2020. | © Simone Leigh, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo by Shaniqwa Jarvis Repesentation BROOKLYN-BASED ARTIST Simone Leigh is departing Hauser & Wirth. ARTnews...
Heritage Auctions Staging Single-Owner Sale of Nearly 100 Works by African American Artists, Including Sargent Johnson, James Lesesne Wells, and Elizabeth Catlett
UPDATE (10/29/21): This auction has been postponed. Culture Type received the following statement from Heritage Auctions: “Concerns involving the provenance of a handful of lots in ‘The Soul of a Nation: Black Art from a Distinguished Collector’ were recently presented to Heritage Auctions. Out of an abundance of caution, the sale scheduled for Nov....
October Openings: 26 U.S. Museum Exhibitions Feature Betye Saar, Conrad Egyir, Jennifer Packer, ‘Afro-Atlantic Histories,’ Plus Prospect 5 New Orleans, and More
NEW U.S. ART MUSEUM and institutional exhibitions opening in October include solo shows of Conrad Egyir in San Jose, Betye Saar in Miami, Thaddeus Mosley in Baltimore, and Jennifer Packer in New York. A visit to the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., will make efficient use of your time, with three must-see shows opening...
Two Dozen Lots Featured in Swann African American Art Auction Will Benefit Brandwine Workshop and Archives in Philadelphia
THE FORTHCOMING AFRICAN AMERICAN ART sale at Swann Auction Galleries in New York features a selection of rare prints and a few paintings benefitting the Brandywine Workshop and Archives (BWA), the printmaking institution in Philadelphia. A handful of works were consigned directly by the artists. Most are sourced from the collection of BWA and...
A Rare Occurrence, New 2022 Wall Calendars Feature Celebrated Black Women Artists Faith Ringgold and Alma Thomas
ANNUAL SURVEYS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART, wall calendars provide an affordable way to appreciate and display the work of Black artists. In recent years, the broadening interest in African American art has been reflected in an increasing number of wall calendars featuring the work. The selections have included surveys of historic, modern, and contemporary...
Black Female Artists Who Got Their Start in 1960s and 70s are Focus of Two Group Exhibitions in New York
ACTIVE IN THE 1960S AND 70S, Black women artists had to deal with politics, even if their work wasn’t overtly political. Some of the most prominent figures from the time, including Vivian Browne, Emma Amos, Camille Billops, Suzanne Jackson, Senga Nengudi, and Betye Saar, rallied with their peers, taking stands and speaking up for...
International Recognition: From America to Africa, Europe and Asia, Museum Exhibitions are Celebrating Black Female Artists
CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, in many ways represents the modus operandi of Black female artists. Achieving a certain level of success and recognition requires beating profound odds in a field where women, particularly women of color, are underrepresented and undervalued at nearly every turn—from exhibitions, gallery representation,...
Artist Emma Amos on Her Falling Series: I Liked the Idea Somebody Was ‘Trying to Catch You’ or ‘Holding Onto You’
IN THIS MOMENT OF CHALLENGES, uncertainty, and promise, Ryan Lee Gallery is presenting a timely exhibition of works by Emma Amos (1937-2020). “Emma Amos: Falling Figures” brings together figurative paintings that depict bodies in free fall—indeterminable states of abandon, loss, anxiety, rescue, and trust. This exhibition is the first dedicated to the falling figure...
Curator Shawnya L. Harris is Planning a Major Museum Retrospective of Emma Amos, Forthcoming in 2021
AN UNPRECEDENTED RETROSPECTIVE dedicated to Emma Amos (1937-2020) has been in the works for five years and is forthcoming in 2021 at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in Athens. Shawnya Harris is curating “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey.” Amos was a progressive painter. From the beginning, she explored and challenged...
Emma Amos, 83, a Dynamic Painter, Masterful Colorist, and Member of Spiral Collective, Has Died
A PIONEERING ARTIST who made captivating, poignant, and culturally insightful works, Emma Amos (1937-2020) has died. She was 83. Amos passed away on May 20 in Bedford, N.H., of natural causes after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Ryan Lee Gallery in New York, where Amos has been represented since 2016, shared news of her...
The Printmaking Practice of Late Artist Emma Amos Was Expansive and Experimental and Her Output Will Endure
OFTEN DESCRIBED as the youngest and only female member of Spiral, the short-lived artist collective co-founded more than half a century ago by Romare Bearden, Charles Alston, Hale Woodruff, and Norman Lewis, Emma Amos (1937-2020) bridged that historic period and the current moment. Based in New York throughout her career, Amos died May 20...
Crystal Bridges Museum Announced 29 Acquisitions, Adding Works by Emma Amos, Jordan Casteel, Clementine Hunter, Henry O. Tanner, and Kehinde Wiley to Collection
EMMA AMOS, “The Reader,” 1967 (oil on canvas in artist’s frame, 41 1/4 × 61 inches). | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE Gallery, New York A PORTRAIT of a Harlem suit shop owner by Jordan Casteel is on view in the 1940s to Now...
Black Female Artists Are Headlining Exhibitions Throughout London This Summer
MORE THAN A DOZEN EXHIBITIONS, most in and around London, are showcasing the work of black female artists this summer. Presented at museums, nonprofits, and commercial galleries, many of the shows are breaking new ground for the artists, who span generations. Faith Ringgold at Serpentine Galleries is making her European institutional solo debut and...
Whitney Museum’s ‘Spilling Over’ Exhibition Celebrates Color and Calls to Mind an Earlier Moment in Art History
INSTALLED ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, a group exhibition celebrates color. “Spilling Over: Painting Color in the 1960s” considers the technical, formal, and substantive possibilities of painting with bold, neon, and saturated hues. Drawing exclusively on the Whitney Museum’s collection, the show brings together 18...
Swann African American Art Sale Yields Records for Women Artists Including Simone Leigh, Emma Amos, and Howardena Pindell, Top Lot by Norman Lewis
THE LATEST SALE of African-American Fine Art at Swann Auction Galleries resulted in auction records for several living women artists, including Simone Leigh, Emma Amos and Howardena Pindell. In addition, works by Sonya Clark and Allison Janae Hamilton appeared at auction for the first time and established benchmarks well above their estimates. Lot 171:...
Charles White Drawing Tops Swann African American Art Sale, 12 Artists Achieve Auction Records
DAYS BEFORE THE OPENING of “Charles White: A Retrospective” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York on Oct. 7, a dramatic drawing by the pivotal, 20th-century figure topped the latest African-American Fine Art sale at Swann Auction Galleries. “Nobody Knows My Name #1” sold for $485,000 (including fees) on Oct. 4....
Latest News in African American Art: Nina Simone Home Declared National Treasure, Exhibition Labels Note Ties to Slavery, Sondra Perry Wins Toby Prize & More
When Nina Simone’s childhood home was in danger of demolition, four prominent artists bought it for $95,000. The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: NEWS Artists Adam Pendleton, Ellen Gallagher, Rashid Johnson, and Julie Mehretu came together...
Following a Series of Feminist Art Exhibitions, Brooklyn Museum Announces 96 Acquisitions, Including works by Betye Saar, Beverly Buchanan, and Emma Amos
The acquisitions included “Untitled (Frustula Series),” a circa 1978 cast concrete sculpture by Beverly Buchanan. THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM recently organized more than a year of exhibitions and programming dedicated to feminist art. “A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum” marked the 10th anniversary of the museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for...
