Nikki Giovanni, 81, Profound Poet Whose Poignant Verse Reflected the Evolving Times in Which She Lived, Has Died
Nikki Giovanni. | Photo © Nikki Giovanni A PROFOUND VOICE and insightful wordsmith has passed on. Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), the American poet, professor, public intellectual, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, died in Blacksburg, Va., on Nov. 9. She was 81 years old. Virginia C. Fowler, Giovanni’s wife, told the New York...
On View: ‘Shinique Smith: Parade’ at Florida’s Ringling Museum Presents Contemporary American Sculptures in Dialogue With Historic European Art
“Mitumba Deity II” by Shinique Smith installed in the Astor Salon gallery, The Ringling Museum of Art. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions GIVING CONTEXT, highlighting connections, and challenging accepted art histories, recent museum exhibitions have presented works by contemporary Black artists in dialogue with historic...
The Year Ahead in African American Art: What to See and Do in 2020
THE YEAR IN BLACK ART is off to a fascinating start. In January, Helen Molesworth organized a Noah Davis (1983-2015) exhibition at David Zwirner gallery in New York, a rare look at more than 20 paintings by the late Los Angeles-based artist and founder of the Underground Museum. The Johnson Publishing Company art collection...
Culture Talk: Collector Pamela Joyner on the Artists Defining the History and Shaping the Future of Black Abstract Art
SINCE 1999, PAMELA J. JOYNER and Alfred J. Giuffrida have focused their collecting on abstract art by artists of African descent. Nearing 100 artists, the collection is documented in a hefty volume, “Four Generations: The Joyner / Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art,” and a traveling exhibition. After touring four museums, “Solidary & Solitary: The...
Sugar Hill Children’s Museum in Harlem Announces New Leadership: Lauren Kelley Promoted to Director and Chief Curator
THE SUGAR HILL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM of Art and Storytelling is promoting from within. The Harlem museum whose primary audience is 3 to 8-year-olds, announced the appointment of Lauren Kelley (above) as director and chief curator. Kelley has been with the museum since 2013, when it was still in development. Previously serving as associate director...
Book Report: New Titles Explore Work of Artists Shinique Smith, Rashid Johnson, and Whitfield Lovell
BOOK REPORT CHARTS recently published art books. The four titles featured here explore the work of African African contemporary artists Whitfield Lovell, Rashid Johnson, and Shinique Smith through recent and current exhibitions. “Whitfield Lovell: Kin,” with contributions by Sarah Lewis, Julie L McGee, Klaus Ottmann and Elsa Smithgall, and an introduction by Irving Sandler...
Retrospective: The Latest News in Black Art – Black Panthers at 50, Museums Respond to Charges of Racism and Historical Inaccuracy
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, highlights include news that women artists will gather in Brooklyn for a historic group photo; the grand re-opening of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora...
Where My Girls At? 20 Black Female Artists with Solo Exhibitions on View this Fall
Installation by Ebony G. Patterson. IN JUNE, ARTNEWS DEVOTED a special issue to women in the art world and the findings revealed a major gulf between the experiences of male and female artists and curators. According to ARTnews, women are seriously underrepresented when it comes to running major museums. Female artists trail far behind...
Collector Rodney Miller Enlists Curators to Hang His Art
THE SUMMER 2014 ISSUE OF ARTNEWS features its annual list of top art collectors in the world. The issue also profiles collector Rodney M. Miller, whose Upper East Side townhouse is filled with modern and contemporary African American and African diasporic art. A member of the acquisitions committee at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where...
