Latest News in Black Art: Valerie Cassel Oliver and Lowery Sims Headline Armory Show Curatorial Summit, Sadé Ayorinde Named Fellow at American Folk Art Museum, Beyoncé’s Problematic Tiffany Diamond
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Left, VMFA Curator Valerie Cassel Oliver is chairing the Armory Show’s 2021 Curatorial Leadership Summit. Right, Lowery Stokes Sims recently co-curated the traveling retrospective “Art & Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott.” Her current...
Latest News in Black Art: Samson Kambalu Wins Fourth Plinth Commission, Artists Casey Namoda and Ludovic Nkoth Join New Galleries, Photo Editing Software Designed With Black and Brown Skin Tones in Mind
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture SAMSON KAMBALU, “Antelope,” 2021. The artist’s work won the Fourth Plinth Commission and will be installed in London’s Trafalgar Square in 2022. | Photo: James Jenkins, Courtesy Goodman Gallery Awards & Honors Oxford-based artist...
Lucas Museum Acquires Robert Colescott’s ‘George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware’ Painting for Record-Smashing $15.3 Million From Sotheby’s Auction
A PROFOUND AND PROVOCATIVE parody of American history painting by Robert Colescott (1925-2009) was acquired yesterday by the forthcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. “George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook” (1975) sold for a record-breaking $15.3 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New...
In Memoriam, Artists, Curators, and Scholars Share Memories of David C. Driskell: He ‘Was an Agitator for African American Art’ and ‘Lit the Way in Our Lives and Careers’
DAVID C. DRISKELL (1931-2020) helped build the field of African American art history and was a nexus for three generations of artists, curators, and scholars who have studied and are fortifying the discipline. A pivotal figure in American art and leading authority on African American art, Driskell died on April 1. He was 88....
‘Art & Race Matters’: First Comprehensive Retrospective of Robert Colescott Opens at CAC Cincinnati This Week
BLENDING PROVOCATIVE PERSPECTIVES on race and gender relations, a unique sense of humor, knowledge of Western art history, and lived experience with American identity, culture, and traditions, Robert Colescott (1925-2009) developed an insightful and thought-provoking practice that didn’t shy away from controversial topics and images that might offend. He was an exceptional painter whose...
History Makers: 10 African American Firsts in Modern and Contemporary Art Continue to Resonate Today
THE LIST OF HISTORY-MAKING firsts and groundbreaking achievements made by African American artists, and more recently curators, is endless, spanning probably as early as the 17th century to the present. The following briefly captures 10 milestones and a corresponding “where are they now” look at each of these important figures. ALMA THOMAS with...
Benny Andrews: The People’s Painter
Benny Andrews in 1982, detail of photo by Kathy Mims (page 120). Today would have been the artist’s 83rd birthday. | Reproduced from “Benny Andrews: There Must Be a Heaven” AN EXPRESSIVE COLLAGE TECHNIQUE introduces both tactile and narrative dimensions to the canvases of Benny Andrews (1930-2006). Evoking a tangible sense of pride, strength...
A ‘Freestyle’ Take on Post-Black Art
SINCE ITS FOUNDING in 1968, The Studio Museum in Harlem has been identifying and nurturing talented black artists, the next big names in contemporary art. Through its exhibitions and coveted residency program, countless accomplished black artists can point to a connection with the museum as a turning point in their careers—from Fred Wilson and Kara...
