Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture
Portrait of Tiona Nekkia McClodden. | Photo by Gioncarlo Valentine
REPRESENTATION
White Cube Gallery announced its representation of visual artist, filmmaker, and curator Tiona Nekkia McClodden. Addressing issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality, and social commentary, she works across documentary film, experimental video, sculpture, painting, sound installation, and poetry. McClodden, who grew up in Greenville, S.C., and is currently based in Philadelphia, Pa., won the Bucksbaum prize at the 2019 Whitney Biennial. This fall, when White Cube opens its new New York space, the artist will be featured in the inaugural exhibition. The gallery will present McClodden’s first UK solo exhibition in London at White Cube Bermondsey in February 2024.
(7/13) | More
APPOINTMENTS
Eola Lewis Dance was named president & CEO of The Montpelier Foundation (TMF), which operates James Madison’s historic home in Montpelier, Va. Most recently, Dance served briefly as executive director of Black Lunch Table. Previously, she spent two decades as a public historian at the National Park Service, rising to superintendent of Fort Monroe National Monument in Fort Monroe, Va. Her new appointment is effective Aug. 14. (6/28) | More
Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon in She’s Gotta Have It (Spike Lee, 1986, 84 min.). | Photo © David C. Lee
EXHIBITIONS
This fall, the Brooklyn Museum is presenting an exhibition dedicated to groundbreaking filmmaker Spike Lee and the art and objects that have inspired his four-decade career. “Spike Lee: Creative Sources” (Oct. 6, 2023–Feb. 4, 2024) draws on the personal collection of the New York icon, who was raised in Brooklyn. More than 300 items spanning Black history and culture, cinema history, family, sports, music, politics, and Brooklyn will be on display in an immersive installation featuring art by Elizabeth Catlett, Michael Ray Charles, Deborah Roberts, James Van Der Zee, and Kehinde Wiley; historic photographs: instruments by celebrated musicians; and an array of memorabilia. The exhibition is curated by Kimberli Gant with Indira A. Abiskaroon. (7/10) | Art Newspaper
The Brooklyn Public Library is paying homage to Jay-Z with an exhibition spread across two floors of the Central Library. Created by Roc Nation, the hip-hop icon’s entertainment company, “The Book of HOV: A celebration of the life and work of Shawn ‘JAY-Z’ Carter” showcases an expansive collection of art, images, and ephemera from Jay-Z’s archive that is being shown publicly for the first time. (7/14) | New York Times
Romi Crawford conducting a Black Arts Movement Modality session. | Photo by Susanna Yu Bai
EDUCATION
After Romi Crawford introduced her Black Arts Movement School Modality in 2021 during Art Design Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago professor announced a new collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Designed to democratize art education, the inaugural New Art School Modality Program debuts this fall with artists, scholars, and art professionals serving as faculty. “There’s intentionally less handholding, and the art school apparatus is reduced. All of this is a nod to prior historical moments when making art and being an artist was less reliant on costly infrastructures,” Crawford said. “Applications are open July 15 to Aug. 14, 2023. The first course explores FESTAC ’77 and is free. (Future sessions will be no-cost or low-cost, not exceeding $500.) (7/10) | New York Times
“The primary currency is not the course credit or degree. Instead, the New Art School Modality offers opportunities to take part in and produce a course outcome, such as being part of an exhibition, publication, or civic project that lives in the world.” — Romi Crawford
AWARDS & HONORS
“Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour – Frederick Douglass” by Isaac Julien won the Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book Award. The UK prize, including £5,000 (about $6,500), is presented by the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation. The foundation was established by Andor Kraszna-Krausz (1904-1989), founder of Focal Press, which focused on books about photography. (6/27) | More
Supporting future museum leaders, Art Bridges announced its 2023 fellows who will spend three years gaining new skills and experience in museums. The new cohort includes six fellows: Demetri Burke – High Museum of Art, Education; Nyree Dowdy – Chrysler Museum of Art, Curatorial; Lianna González – Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Collections and Exhibitions; Darwin Hu – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Exhibition Design and Production; Austin Losada – American Folk Art Museum, Curatorial, Collections and Exhibitions; and Kristin Pedrozo – Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Curatorial. (7/13) | More
Trailer for the documentary “The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons.” | Video by Greenwich Entertainment
FILMS
“The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons” is now available on Prime Video and Apple TV (for a fee to rent or buy). The documentary by Judd Tully and Harold Crooks explores the life and work of David Hammons, one of the most intriguing contemporary artists of our time. After premiering last summer at the Sheffield DocFest in the UK, the documentary has been shown internationally at additional film festivals and museums. In May, it was screened at the Film Forum in New York, before debuting July 4 on the streaming services. | More
OPPORTUNITIES
The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., is hiring for a newly created position: Curator, African-American Art. Application deadline is July 31, 2023. | More
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