May Exhibitions: Mark Bradford Reps U.S. at Venice Biennale, Martine Syms at MoMA, Plus Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Pope.L, Beauford Delaney, Kehinde Wiley, and More
MUST-SEE EXHIBITIONS featuring some of the most interesting black female artists working today are opening around the world this month. The first solo museum show of Los Angeles-based Martine Syms opens May 27 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the same city, an amazing show of new portrait paintings by British...
How Much is That Painting? Top 25 Auction Lots by African American Artists, 2014-2016
Julie Mehretu, “Looking Back to a Bright New Future” (2003). EARLY NEXT MONTH, major auction houses in New York and London are holding post-war and contemporary art sales. In anticipation of the first significant offerings of the year, Culture Type is assessing the state of art by Black artists. In recent years, a cluster...
Mining the Collection: Julie Mehretu, Rashid Johnson and Wangechi Mutu Discuss Compelling Works at the Met
“HOW DO YOU PAINT YOUR SLAVE?” artist Julie Mehretu wonders. She is looking at “Juan de Pareja,” a 1650 oil on canvas by Spanish painter Velázquez (1599–1660). She describes it as portrait of a black man with copper skin and brown eyes. “He was one of his primary assistants and he was his slave… The...
The Year in Black Art: May 2015
CULTURE TYPE IS REVIEWING The Year in Black Art 2015 in monthly installments over the coming weeks. The report began with a look at The Newsmakers, seven artists and curators who continue to advance their practices and their projects with fresh approaches and new ideas—efforts that are recognized and often garner significant news coverage. The...
New York Times Publishes First-Ever, Art-Themed Issue of Sunday Book Review
FEATURING “ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, art-themed fiction, artist biography, nonfiction about the art world, original photography and original artwork,” the New York Times published its first-ever art-themed Sunday Book Review section today (June 28, 2015). The print version arrived in this morning’s paper, but the reviews began appearing online Wednesday and a specially designed web page...
ARTnews Publishes Special Report on Women in the Art World, Black Artists Respond
BORN IN PORTLAND, ORE., IN 1953, photographer Carrie Mae Weems has steadily built a critically acclaimed, internationally recognized practice. Weems uses photography and video to test and explore assumptions about race, gender, class and history. She is a trailblazer, who had few examples to turn to, model her career after or use as a...
Commencement 2015: African American Artists Bestow Wisdom on Graduates
LIKENING ARTISTS TO SUPER HEROES, Los Angeles-based artist Alison Saar offered an animated message of encouragement at the Maryland Institute of College of Art (MICA) undergraduate commencement on May 18. “In our studios…our super hero persona emerges, determined to save the day, with the desire to make this world a better place through our creative...
Art x Music: Art World Embraces Kanye West, Afrika Bambaataa and Drake
View image | gettyimages.com THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND MUSIC is increasingly ever present. Several new examples emerged over the past week. A cartoon-like action figure of Pharrell Williams entitled “Happy” was presented at the Perrotin Gallery booth at Art Basel Hong Kong (March 15-17). According to ARTnews, the small-scale sculpture by Japanese artist Mr....
Links: Kerry James Marshall and David Hammons in London, USA Fellows and More
LINKS TO THE PAST WEEK’S TOP NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE WORLD OF BLACK ART The Independent talks with Kerry James Marshall about his childhood introduction to art and the motivation behind the images in his paintings, which are on view at David Zwirner in London. Read Article ARTnews publishes an effusive...
On Exhibit: What to See on Art Museum Day 2014
THE ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM OF DIRECTORS is celebrating Art Museum Day on Sunday, May 18. For the fifth year, museums across the country are using the annual event to promote the cultural and educational benefits of their programming and encourage the public to visit. Participating museums are offering free or reduced admission and...
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...
Critics’ Best: El Anatsui Exhibition Among Those Recognized for Excellence
AICA-USA ANNOUNCED THE WINNERS of its annual Best Show awards this week. “Gravity and Grace: Works by El Anatsui” at the Brooklyn Museum (shown above) was recognized for excellence in the Best Monographic Museum Show in New York category. Exhibitions featuring Nick Cave, Isaac Julien, Kerry James Marshall and Wangechi Mutu, were among the...
‘Art Studio America’: Glenn Ligon Makes Those Text Paintings in an Old Canning Factory
WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE AN ARTIST’S WORK at a museum or gallery, do you wonder where it all came from? Where it was imagined, conceptualized and created? “Art Studio America: Contemporary Artist Spaces” answers these questions in spades, taking readers inside the studios of 116 artists from the West Coast to Chicago and New York and...
