This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week
Ashley Harris is heading up marketing at Mana Culture. | Photo by Angela Pham
March 20, 2021
Ashley Harris Joins Mana Culture
Ashley Harris was appointed head of marketing, Arts and Culture for Mana Culture based in Miami, Fla. Previously, she held roles as associate director of advisory and marketing director at Sotheby’s. She also served a short stint as executive director of the Independent Art Fair. In her new post, Harris is a member of the executive team, overseeing Mana Contemporary, Mana Fine Arts, and Mana Public Arts. | ArtDaily
RU Announces New York Artist Residencies
Brooklyn-based Residency Unlimited announced Damali Abrams, Elivra Carlton, Zachary Fabri, and Helina Metaferia have been selected from an open call for 2021 New York City-based residencies. Designed for artists who identify as Black with research-based practices, the three month residencies (April 5-July 2) culminate with a June 2021 exhibition.
Lot 4: LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE, “The Like Above All Lovers,” 2013 (oil on canvas, 78 ¾ x 98 3/8 inches / 200 x 250 cm). | Estimate £400,000–£600,000 ($555,000–$833,000)
March 19, 2021
Turner Prize Painting Heads to Auction
“The Like Above All Lovers” (2013) by British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye will be offered at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale in London on March 23. Estimated at £400,000–£600,000 ($555,000–$833,000), the painting was featured in the Turner Prize exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art Derry-Londonderry in 2013. Yiadom-Boakye was shortlisted for the prize that year (Laure Prouvost won). | ARTnews
Art Institute of Chicago Appoints New Learning and Public Engagement Director
Veronica Stein (left) is joining the Art Institute of Chicago as Woman’s Board Executive Director, Learning and Public Engagement. In the role, she will “explore what museum education can be, guiding a holistic vision for learning and creativity that fulfills the needs of diverse constituents of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.” Stein previously served as program director at Snow City Arts Foundation in Chicago. She starts at the Art Institute on April 19.
Artadia Announced Los Angeles Awardees
Three artists were selected for the 2021 Los Angeles Artadia Awards. The recipients of the unrestricted awards are Adee Roberson ($10,000), Paul Sepuya ($10,000), and Sichong Xie ($25,000).
IMAGE: Veronica Stein. | Courtesy Art Institute of Chicago
March 18, 2021
Professional Alliance for Curators of Color Launched
The Association of Art Museum Curators Foundation announced a new initiative designed to “address issues of isolationism, racism, inequity, and lack of access.” The Professional Alliance for Curators of Color will provide 30 curators of color with two to five years of experience with the opportunity to engage with mentors and advisors and gain access to networks and resources to advance their careers. | Apply Here
FIND MORE about these virtual conversations with Richard J. Powell here
March 17, 2021
Local Seattle Artist to be Featured in Amazon Prime Series
Mixed-media artist Lisa Myers Bulmash (left) will represent the city of Seattle on an upcoming Amazon Prime TV series. Created and produced by Pierre Gervois, the series “The Story of Art,” will focus on 10 different cities, featuring artists and museum in each location. Bulmash was selected by the public through a monthlong social media campaign conducted by the Northwest African American Museum that sought to identify a local artist who personifed the “DNA and soul of Black art.” | The Seattle Times
Performa Moves Biennial Outdoors
Performa, New York’s citywide biennial dedicated to live interdisciplinary performance by visual artists, will present all of its programming outdoors this year. Slated for Oct. 12-31, 2021, the Performa 2021 Biennial includes new commissions by Kevin Beasley, Tschabalala Self, and Shikeith, among other artists.
Naudline Pierre Joins James Cohan Gallery
Brooklyn-based painter Naudline Pierre is now represented by James Cohan Gallery in New York. She was a 2019-20 artist in residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Pierre’s first solo exhibition with the gallery will be presented in April 2022. | Culture Type
WANGECHI MUTU, “The Seated III,” 2019 (bronze, 82 7/8 x 37 3/4 x 33 3/4 inches / 210.5 x 95.9 x 85.7 cm), Edition of 3 + 1AP. | © Wangechi Mutu. Gift of Sydney and Walda Besthoff, 2021.1. Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels. Photoby Joseph Coscia Jr. Imaging: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
March 16, 2021
NOMA Acquires Wangechi Mutu Sculpture
The New Orleans Museum of Art announced the acquisition of “The Seated III” (2019) by Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu for its Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The sculpture is one of four works by Mutu commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for the inaugural installation of its exterior facade niches.
Charles Gaines on Diversifying Art Schools
A fellowship named for Charles Gaines provides at least four scholarships over two years at CalArts, where the artist has taught for three decades. “If you want to diversify the art world, you need to begin by diversifying the art schools,” Los Angeles-based Gaines wrote in an opinion essay. During his long tenure, he observed that without race-based scholarships, achieving diversity was impossible. His fellowship initiative finally gained momentum and institutional support when fellow artist Cauleen Smith joined the faculty and “took up the mantle.” After Gaines committed to funding the program for two years, donors including David Kordansky, a gallery owner and his former student, stepped forward with matching funds. In addition to sharing the challenges he experienced recruiting Black students at CalArts over the years, due to the costly tuition, Gaines discussed growing up under Jim Crow, and white supremacy in the art world. | ARTnews
Jenkins Johnson Gallery Now Represents Philemona Williamson
Philemona Williamson joined Jenkins Johnson, a Black-owned, female-founded gallery with locations in San Francisco and Brooklyn, N.Y. New Jersey-based Williamson makes narrative paintings that reflect adolescent experiences and capture poetic, dream-like moments. Her first solo exhibition with the gallery is planned for September in San Francisco. | Culture Type
Installation view of SAM GILLIAM, “Double Merge,” 1968 (acrylic on canvas), Dia Beacon, New York, 2019. | © Sam Gilliam / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York
March 15, 2021
Dia Art Foundation and MFA Houston Jointly Acquire Major Sam Gilliam Work
Sam Gilliam‘s Double Merge (1968), a major installation comprised of two drape paintings, both titled “Carousel II” (1968) was acquired jointly by the Dia Art Foundation in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH). Since 2019, the monumental work has been on long-term view at Dia Beacon, where the canvases are being shown together publicly for the first time. Double Merge will be presented at MFAH in 2022 and thereafter the work will travel between the two institutions every five years.
LACMA Reopening April 1
After temporarily closing for more than a year due to COVID-19, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced it is reopening to the public on April 1, at 25 percent capacity with advanced online tickets. Exhibitions on view will include “Cauleen Smith: Give It Or Leave It.” | Los Angeles Times
Baltimore Museum of Art Reopening March 28
With limited capacity and timed tickets, the Baltimore Museum of Art is reopening March 28. Three new exhibitions are debuting with the reopening, including “Tschabalala Self: By My Self,” which features 15 new and recent paintings and sculptures. The ongoing exhibitions include “She Knew Where She Was Going: Gee’s Bend Quilts and Civil Rights.”
Garrett Bradley Gets Oscar Nod
“Time,” directed by artist and filmmaker Garrett Bradley was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category. The heart-wrenching film follows Sibil “Fox Rich” Richardson, a mother of six sons trying desperately for two decades to bring her husband home from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. “Time” incorporates Richardson’s home movie footage, making the film particularly intimate and personal and incredibly emotional. Bradley won the Directing Award for “Time” in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Earlier this month, the artist joined a new gallery. Bradley is now represented by Lisson Gallery. Co-organized with the Studio Museum in Harlem, “Projects: Garrett Bradley” is on view at the Museum of Modern Art through March 31. Bradley’s work is also featured in “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” at the New Museum in New York. Oscar nominations were announced Monday morning. The award ceremony is April 25.
Trailer for “Time” , the Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Garrett Bradley. | Video by Amazon Prime Video
1 comment
Marty Sullivan II says:
Mar 17, 2021
Reading this week’s article on black art news was great for me to find. As I follow black art on a smaller level, this was a nice way to learn about art outside of my “backyard” and community. I already know that I am going to gain so much from each week’s ‘The Week in Black Art’, learning about other artists, creators, and news.