Bisa Butler Quilt Illustrates May/June Cover of Essence Magazine Dedicated to ‘Year That Changed the World’
A ONE-OF-A-KIND QUILT by Bisa Butler graces the cover of the forthcoming Essence magazine. The specially commissioned quilt illustrates the magazine’s May/June 2021 edition. Dedicated to “The Year that Changed the World,” the issue looks back at the past year, which brought political unrest, police brutality, economic inequality, and a global pandemic. Butler is...
Culture Talk: Long-Serving Museum Trustee Denise Gardner on Her Historic Election as Next Board Chair of Art Institute of Chicago
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO announced last week that Denise Gardner was elected chairperson of the Art Institute of Chicago Board of Trustees. She will be the first woman and first African American to chair the board, which serves as the governing body of both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)...
Daisy Desrosiers Appointed Director of Gund Gallery at Kenyon College in Ohio
GUND GALLERY at Kenyon College named Daisy Desrosiers director and chief curator. Located in Gambier, Ohio, the gallery serves Kenyon students and the broader public. Desrosiers will develop exhibitions and public programming and manage the institution’s contemporary art collection. Desrosiers is currently director of artist programs at the Lunder Institute for American Art at the...
Trailblazing New York Gallerist Paula Cooper Indicates Succession Plan, Including Two New African American Partners
A PIONEERING PRESENCE in the New York gallery scene, Paula Cooper founded her eponymous gallery in 1968. A half century later she’s formed a partnership “ensuring continuity for years to come.” Cooper named four new partners, led by her son Lucas Cooper. The team also includes Steve Henry, Anthony Allen, and Alexis Johnson. Cooper,...
On View: ‘Phumelele Tshabalala: Becoming Water From the Same Source’ at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THE FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION of Phumelele Tshabalala presents new mixed-media works on canvas, board, and paper at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London. “Becoming water from the same source” features 13 works by the South African artist. Electric colors cast his fascinating subjects in a theatrical light....
Kerry James Marshall Painted a Portrait of Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
A NEW PORTRAIT of Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., was painted by Kerry James Marshall, the critically acclaimed Chicago painter. A prolific author and Harvard University professor, Gates is a widely regarded authority on African American history and literature whose influence extends far beyond academia. Most recently, he served as executive producer of the...
Latest News in Black Art: New Weeksville CEO, Cranbrook Academy Investing $30 Million Gift in Student Diversity, Major Acquisitions at PAFA, Morgan Library, and High Museum
The following is a snapshot of the latest news in Black art: Raymond Codrington. | Courtesy Weeksville Heritage Center Appointments Brooklyn’s Weeksville Heritage Center Names New CEO Raymond Codrington is joining Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn as CEO. The news was announced April 6. A cultural anthropologist, Codrington has served as...
Eunice Bélidor Joins Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Curator of Contemporary Art is First Black Curator in Institution’s History
THE MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (MMFA) has hired a new curator. Eunice Bélidor is joining the museum as the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator of Quebec and Canadian Contemporary Art (1945 to Today). The news was announced April 7. The appointment is historic. Bélidor is the first Black full-time curator at the...
New Auction Records For Joy Labinjo, Jammie Holmes and Aboudia at Christie’s London, Self Portrait by Amoako Boafo Also Exceeds Expectations
RECENT SALES AT CHRISTIE’S LONDON resulted in new auction records for British-Nigerian artist Joy Labinjo and Dallas, Texas-based Jammie Holmes, two up-and-coming artists garnering increasing attention after receiving institutional recognition. Aboudia, who splits his time between his native Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Brooklyn, N.Y., also set a new high mark. Labinjo’s “No Wahala” (2019)...
Whitney Museum in New York Promotes Adrienne Edwards From Curator of Performance to Director of Curatorial Affairs
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART announced the promotion of Adrienne Edwards today, she has been named director of curatorial affairs. For the past three years, Edwards has served as the Engell Speyer Curator and Curator of Performance at the Whitney. In her new role as Engell Speyer Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, Edwards...
Rhea L. Combs Named Director of Curatorial Affairs at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (NPG) in Washington, D.C., announced a new appointment today. Rhea L. Combs is joining the Smithsonian museum as director of curatorial affairs. Leading the curatorial and conservation teams and working closely with the history and audience engagement departments, Combs will oversee NPG’s exhibitions, acquisitions, and collection. She will also be...
On View: ‘Evita Tezeno: Better Days’ at Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A REAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY and familiarity threads the portraits of Evita Tezeno. A selection of new works by the artist is currently on view at Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. Her characters possess overwhelming pride in their surroundings, their loved ones, and...
Nicole R. Fleetwood Wins National Book Critics Circle Award for ‘Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration’
IN THE CATEGORY OF CRITICISM, Nicole R. Fleetwood won the National Book Critics Circle Award for
On View: Addis Fine Art is Showcasing Tadesse Mesfin, Addis Gezehagn, Tsedaye Makonnen, and Tizta Berhanu at Art Dubai
“Rest in the arms of trust” (2020) by Tizta Berhanu On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions NEW WORKS BY FOUR ARTISTS at different stages of their careers are being presented by Addis Fine Art at Art Dubai 2021 (March 29-April 3). Hailing from Ethiopia and its diaspora, their diverse works address similar...
Greenville County Museum of Art in South Carolina Sells Alma Thomas Painting to Anonymous Buyer for $2.8 Million
THE GREENVILLE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (GCMA) in Greenville, S.C., sold “Alma’s Flower Garden” (circa 1968) for $2.8 million to an anonymous buyer. The museum confirmed the sale to The Greenville News and USA Today Network last week. The museum’s board voted unanimously on Oct. 21, 2020, granting approval to deaccession one work of...
The Week in Black Art, March 29-April 4, 2021: Artist Winfred Rembert Has Died, Curator Danielle A. Jackson is Going to Artists Space, Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle Appointed Online Director at Pace Gallery
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Surviving a Lynching | Ashes to Ashes: An award-winning, short documentary made in 2019, considers artist Winfred Rembert’s traumatic experiences in the Jim Crow South, a narrative that reflects America’s dark history with racism and injustice. | Video...
Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Key Works by African American Artists Amy Sherald, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Wadsworth Jarrell, and D’Angelo Lovell Williams
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (CMA) is presenting “Women Now” in spring 2022. The forthcoming exhibition will focus on contemporary women printmakers, including Amy Sherald. “Handsome” (2020), her first-ever print, will be featured in the show. Recently added to the museum’s collection, the limited-edition screenprint is based on Sherald’s 2019 painting of Jamar Roberts,...
Damon Reaves is Joining Washington’s National Gallery of Art as Head of Education
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (NGA) has appointed Damon Reaves head of education. An experienced educator in museum and classroom settings, Reaves brings more than a dozen years of experience to the position. He joins the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) where he has been on staff since...
At 93, Lilian Thomas Burwell is Making Her Solo Debut in New York Where Her Artwork Will Be on View at Berry Campbell Gallery
STILL PUSHING HER PRACTICE to new heights, Lilian Thomas Burwell will have her first New York solo exhibition at age 93. “Lilian Thomas Burwell: Soaring” opens April 22 at Berry Campbell Gallery. An abstract artist, Burwell makes nature-inspired paintings and sculpture. She was featured in “Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today,” a...
The Week in Black Art, March 22-28, 2021: Smithsonian Hiring 6 New Museum Directors, Veronica Ryan Now Represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, Gary Simmons Joins Hauser & Wirth
This post will be updated with the latest news in Black art throughout the week Portrait of Gary Simmons. | Photo by Tito Molina, HRDWRKER March 25, 2021 Smithsonian Hiring 6 New Museum Directors For the first time in its history, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is searching for directors...
