While museums and galleries are temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 virus, On View will continue to showcase images from noteworthy exhibitions REPRESENTING THE BODY as flexible and free, contorted and constricted, intertwined and engaged, the work of Christina Quarles reflects the pressures and pleasures of life and the complexities of identity. The...
MUSEUM CURATORS are constantly immersed in art, which might make it a challenge to choose one single work to which they are particularly drawn. When asked to name an artwork she’d want to live with, Zoé Whitley thought about the spring tones of a stunning abstract painting made half a century ago. “I don’t...
While museums and galleries are temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 virus, On View will continue to showcase images from noteworthy exhibitions SINCE 2005, the Astrup Fearnley Museum has been staging expansive exhibitions exploring national and continental art scenes around the world. After showcasing the United States, Brazil, India, China and Europe, the...
GRAND SCALE narrative installations, figurative scenes produced as cut-paper silhouettes, brought early acclaim to Kara Walker more than 25 years ago. More recently, she has ventured into monumental public art. Her first foray was in 2014, when she created “A Subtlety,” her massive sphinx-like mammy figure, a sculpture covered entirely with sugar installed at...
DETAILS ARE CRITICAL in Kerry James Marshall‘s paintings. In “Our Town” (1995), the artist portrays a pleasant 1950s-era neighborhood scene. A young boy bikes down a vehicle-free lane with his sister and their dog running alongside him. Wearing an apron, their mother can be seen in the distant background waving from the walkway of...
ART BASEL HONG KONG transitioned to an online experience this month. In the wake of COVID-19, exhibitions and art events have been canceled and postponed across the world. In response, the Hong Kong art fair never opened to the public and instead announced it would move forward as a digital-only experience, introducing online viewing...
PUBLIC LIFE has come to a virtual standstill in much of the United States and parts of Europe and Asia, amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Museums and art galleries are closed. Major events are canceled and art fairs are among the casualties. Earlier this month, The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in...
Trailer: “Get Out” (2017), Written and Directed by Jordan Peele. | Video by Universal Pictures ‘GET OUT’ was “a phenomenal piece of work,” artist Kerry James Marshall said. Kenya Barris, the television writer and producer, is drawn to the neon work “Double America 2” (2014) by Glenn Ligon. “The simplicity of it is radical...
DOZENS OF PUBLICATIONS documenting the work of artists of African descent are scheduled to be published this year. Volumes dedicated to Noah Davis, Jordan Casteel, and Zanele Muholi coincide with major first-time exhibitions. Others are long-awaited volumes surveying the careers of established artists, such as Ming Smith, Samuel Fosso, and Richard Mayhew. The monographs...
LOS ANGELES was a site of inspiration and productivity for a number of artists represented in the forthcoming African-American Fine Art sale at Swann Auction Galleries in New York. The sale (originally scheduled for April 2 has been postponed) features lots by Charles White (1918-1979), David Hammons, Samella Lewis, Suzanne Jackson, ABDU, Richmond Barthé...
A CONSORTIUM OF NONPROFITS purchased the Johnson Publishing Archive for $30 million last July. The goal was to safeguard the unparalleled collection for the public benefit. Now a significant next step in the process has been announced. The co-owners have established an advisory council to evaluate and interpret the collection and provide guidance about...
ACTIVE FOR ABOUT TWO DECADES, American artist William H. Johnson (1901-1970) made paintings in two distinct styles over the course of his career. Living in Europe from the mid-1920s to 30s, he developed a modern aesthetic making expressive and moody landscapes and later took an interest in folk art and what he called a...
The exhibition galleries at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles remain open to visitors, but public programs are postponed until further notice. CITING SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES from the California Department of Public Health designed “to slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19,” the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles cancelled...
THE MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM OF ART (MMA) in Jackson, Miss., announced two new curatorial appointments this week. Following a national search, the museum named Ryan N. Dennis, chief curator and artistic director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange (CAPE), and Holly R. Harrison, deputy director for art and programs. Dennis will lead the museum’s...
In Memoriam, Artists, Curators, and Scholars Share Memories of David C. Driskell: ‘He Was an Agitator for African American Art’
Apr 8, 2020
On View: ‘Christina Quarles’ at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Apr 5, 2020
Asked to Name an Artwork She’d Want to Live With, Curator Zoé Whitley Immediately Thought of a 1973 Alma Thomas Painting
Mar 30, 2020
On View: ‘Alpha Crucis – Contemporary African Art’ at Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo, Norway
Mar 29, 2020
Kara Walker Has Opened Her Personal Archive, Showing Nearly 270 Drawings
Mar 26, 2020
