Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2019
ONCE RELEGATED TO THE MARGINS, artists of African descent continued to migrate toward the center of the art world in 2019, claiming space on just about every front as the decade came to a close. Black contemporary artists won many of the year’s most prestigious and lucrative international art prizes. They shared their work...
Artist Kehinde Wiley Talks About President Obama and His ‘Rumors of War’ Monument on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
VISITING THE DAILY SHOW, Kehinde Wiley discussed his recent projects with host Trevor Noah. Wiley explained the symbolism of “Rumors of War,” his largest work to date depicting a young black man with dreads, wearing a hoodie and Jordans, astride a horse. Standing 27 feet high, the monumental work debuted in Times Square in...
Latest News in African American Art: Kehinde Wiley’s First Public Monument Unveiled, Darren Walker Joins National Gallery of Art Board & More
The following review presents a snapshot of recent news in African American art and related black culture: NEWS Joined by a sea of onlookers gathered in Times Square, Kehinde Wiley unveiled “Rumors of War” (2019) on Sept. 27. The artist’s first public monument is made of patinated bronze and stands more than 27...
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...
Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock Senegal Residency Announced 16 Artists Selected for Inaugural Year
Black Rock Senegal. | Photo by Mamadou Gomis, © Kehinde Wiley BLACK ROCK SENEGAL announced the first group of artists selected for the residency program established by Kehinde Wiley. Located in Dakar, Black Rock is hosting an international slate of 16 artists working in a variety of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, film, and...
Latest News in African American Art: Curators Named for First-Ever Tennessee Triennial, Kehinde Wiley Sculpture in Times Square, Arthur Ashe Boulevard Dedicated in Richmond & More
The following review presents a snapshot of the recent news in African American art and related black culture: Lauren Haynes and Teka Selman Named Co-Curators for Inaugural Tennessee Triennial A new triennial launching in Tennessee in 2021 will be co-organized by Lauren Haynes, curator of contemporary art at the Crystal Bridges Museum of...
Latest News in African American Art: Camille Billops (1933-2019), Joe Overstreet (1933-2019)
Camille Billops (1933-2019), Joe Overstreet (1933-2019) The following review presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: TWO LEGENDARY New York City artists have died. Painter Joe Overstreet passed away yesterday. He co-founded Kenkeleba House, a Lower East Side artist space in 1974. Meanwhile, Camille Billops, a singular figure...
Oklahoma City Museum Acquires Kehinde Wiley Portrait Commissioned for Recent St. Louis Exhibition, Subject Proudly Dons ‘Ferguson’ Cap
“Jacob de Graeff” (2018) by Kehinde Wiley THE LATEST ADDITION to the collection of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is “Jacob de Graeff,” a large-scale portrait by Kehinde Wiley. Brincel Kape’li Wiggins Jr., is the subject of “Jacob de Graeff.” He wears a cap with “Ferguson,” the neighborhood where Michael Brown was killed...
Looking in London: 10 Exhibitions to See This Season Featuring Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, and Adam Pendleton Among Others
YEAR AFTER YEAR, serious art aficionados descend on various locales around the world for art fairs, biennials, and major exhibition opening. The rolling schedule unfolds in New York, Basel, Paris, Venice, Berlin, Chicago, Miami, Johannesburg, Lagos, Los Angeles, and beyond. Each fall brings buyers and lookers to London for the 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair,...
Frieze London: Black Artists, Women in Particular, are Notably Present in Select Programming and Exhibitions
“Untitled” (1998) by Berni Searle FRIEZE LONDON AND FRIEZE MASTERS officially open to the public today and black women are notably present. This afternoon, artist Julie Mehretu will be in conversation with Thelma Golden of the Studio Museum in Harlem. The conversation is part of Frieze Masters Talks, which is focusing on women speakers...
Commencement 2018: Glenn Ligon, Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and Joyce J. Scott Are Among the Artists Imparting Wisdom and Expectations on New Graduates
Glenn Ligon spoke at The New School’s 2018 commencement on May 18. A NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS were declared doctors over the past month. Invited to participate in commencement ceremonies for undergraduate and MFA students at institutions around the country, prominent artists, critics, and curators were bestowed honorary doctorate degrees. Addressing 2018 graduates,...
Basel and Beyond: Overdue Recognition of African American Artists at Home is Generating Unprecedented Curatorial and Collector Interest Throughout Europe
“The Music of Color: Sam Gilliam, 1967-1973” recently opened in Basel, Switzerland. THE GALLERIES OF KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL are alive with color in the form of 45 abstract paintings by Sam Gilliam. “The Music of Color: Sam Gilliam, 1967-1973” is the Washington, D.C.-based artist’s first solo survey exhibition in a European museum. The show is...
The Week in African American Art: Solange Creates Performance with Dozens of Dancers and White Minimalist Cube & More
PROJECTS/UNVEILINGS | Solange Ferguson, “Metatronia (Metatron’s Cube),” 2018, at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles The following review of the past week presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: NEWS Jerome Meadows, a Savannah, Ga.-based artist has been commissioned to create a memorial to Ed Johnson,...
Kehinde Wiley, the Portrait Artist Who is ‘Transforming the Way African Americans are Seen,’ Makes Time 100 List
Kehinde Wiley is among the artists who made the 2018 Time 100 list. | Video by Time Magazine TIME MAGAZINE RELEASED its Time 100 list for 2018 and it features three visual artists—Judy Chicago, JR, and Kehinde Wiley, who appears in the wake of painting his news making portrait of President Barack Obama, which...
The Week in African American Art: Kehinde Wiley Signed with a Hollywood Agent & More
The following review of the past week presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: Kehinde Wiley has signed with a Hollywood talent agency. Shown here, he attends the opening for his 2017 exhibition “Trickster” at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City. | Photo by Johnny...
Art & Commerce: Scenes From the Armory Show 2018
Works by Emma Amos at Ryan Lee Gallery, Armory Show 2018 NEW YORK CITY WAS FLUSH with art fairs over the weekend and The Armory Show was the central attraction. Solo exhibitions featuring Sanford Biggers at David Castillo Gallery, Emma Amos at Ryan Lee Gallery, and Simphiwe Ndzube at Nicodim Gallery were among the...
The Month in African American Art: Here’s What Happened in February 2018
Kara Walker and her crew install “The Katastwóf Karavan” at Algiers Point in New Orleans. | Photo © Ari Marcopoulos by via Prospect New Orleans BLACK HISTORY MONTH was rife with notable moments in art history, chief among them, the unveiling of the Obama portraits at the National Portrait Gallery on Feb 12. Washington...
Painting Power, Capturing Character: Smithsonian Unveils Official Obama Portraits
WASHINGTON, DC—There are many ways to define and depict power. When President Obama’s portrait was unveiled Monday, it was a reminder that leadership, command, and influence, can be inspiring and reassuring, powerful and black. Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of the former president artfully captures the man and the symbol. The image of the first African...
Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2017
POLITICS PAST AND PRESENT coursed through the art world in 2017. Issues of censorship and debates around who has the right to depict black bodies came to the fore. The biggest news stories, from White House machinations, gun violence, and immigration to the fate of Confederate monuments, racial division, and sexual harassment and assault revelations,...
The Artist Project: New Volume Explores What Artists See, What Inspires Them, When They Look at Art at The Met Museum
HOWARDENA PINDELL, Detail of “Oval Memory Series II: Castle Dragon,” 1980-81. LAST YEAR, ANDREA BOWERS was in conversation with Martha Rosler at the Dia Art Foundation. The two artists discussed “If You Lived Here…,” a project about homelessness and real estate in New York City Rosler presented at the Dia in 1989. Invited to...
